Yes, Veterans Day in 2025 will likely be remembered for military conflicts. Not the kind that claims human life. Instead, conflicts that involve restoring some sanity to our military. These battles came at a cost, however.

Our first engagement might have fallen under the banner of “Shape up. Or ship out.” New policies that sounded a lot like the “olden days” were announced in the fall by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. And, yes, it resulted in a number of military members opting to “ship out.”

Why, you ask? Hegseth set in motion behavioral modifications, to return the fighting forces to the administration’s stated goal of re-establishing a “warrior ethos” in the military. Tough talk to get troops to become tough people. Most Marines likely did not need this part of the pep talk.

A good number of those with stars on their lapels seemingly were offended.

Secretary Hegseth put a significant emphasis on the fitness and appearance of service members. Specifically, he briefed a room full of senior officers that he did not want to see any “fat” generals clogging up the halls of the Pentagon. I have to believe that in a “top down” military those generals who remain will be sending that same not-so-gracious reminder to all in the lower commands.

This “calling out” should come as no surprise—yet it does. I served in the Air Force from 1971-1975. Even then, one of my immediate supervisors was so out of shape that the Viet Cong would have been snickering in their Củ Chi tunnels. Plenty of senior officers in my service years fit that bill as well.

The Defense Secretary’s speech went farther than physical appearance. He announced directives that largely rolled back policies that the Trump administration considered “woke.” In Hegseth’s words, “The era of politically correct, overly sensitive, don’t-hurt-anyone’s-feelings leadership ends right now.” No more division, distraction, or gender delusions.

Many will recall that in the modern age of military wokeness, the Navy succumbed to the wishes of the gay community by naming one of their vessels the USNS Harvey Milk. This happened during “Pride Month” last June. True, Milk served in the Navy in his younger years. Then became a gay rights leader as he served as a San Francisco Supervisor. He had a dubious past and should never have been honored on a Navy ship. But worry not.

The Defense Secretary ordered the U.S. Navy to rename the ship in honor of a different service member. Oscar V. Peterson was a World War II Navy veteran who received the Medal of Honor posthumously for his actions during the Battle of the Coral Sea.  LGBTQ+ leaders viewed this decision negatively (surprise!), calling it “a harmful erasure.“

Next is the Battle of the Bible. This story was first reported in July of this year. That’s when the Secretary of the Army ordered the U.S. Military Academy at West Point to restore the school’s crest on the Bibles at the West Point Cadet Chapel. This decision reversed a Biden-era order to exclude the crest when replacing the Bibles.

Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll explained to Fox News,

“Since the founding of West Point and before, generations of cadets, officers, and soldiers have drawn strength and inspiration from God’s word. The decision to remove the Academy’s historic crest from the Bibles in the Cadet Chapel is yet another example of the previous administration pushing far-left politics into our military institutions.”

Not everyone is on board with this last item. It seems that combining religious content or symbols with military material has often faced backlash. The church vs. state folk get very nervous here.

As I said in my opening, Veterans Day this year will likely be remembered for conflicts within the military. Back in Jesus’ day, He made a lot of folks uncomfortable when He told the crowds,

“If a soldier demands that you carry his gear for a mile, carry it two miles.” (Matthew 5:41, NLT)

I wonder what Jesus would be telling our U.S. military recruits today?

One thing of which I’m fairly certain: If our ambitious Illinois governor is someday our president, the recent military changes will be overturned. And a lot of “fat generals” would be welcomed back.

Fellow military veterans, I salute you.