The nomination of Peter Hegseth as secretary of Defense represents a clear and present danger to America’s national security.

He does not possess the leadership or management experience to successfully manage a workforce of 2.9 million people and a more than $800 billion budget. He has expressed alarmingly poor judgment across a broad range of policy and political issues. Finally, he has demonstrated a number of moral failures in his personal life. 

The U.S. military operates at four levels: tactical, operational, strategic and geopolitical. All of his military experience is as a part-time National Guard officer, solely at the tactical level. I applaud him for his service, but the gap between the tactical and the geopolitical level is too great to close through on-the-job training. Nor does his service as a television commentator does not qualify an individual to serve as secretary of Defense.

Beyond his professional inexperience, I have found that his own commentary solidifies his lack of qualification for the position. As expressed through numerous interviews and his own book, there are a plethora of examples that represent what I believe to be politically poor and divisive judgment.

Read the full piece in The Hill here. 

By no means am I an apologist for the Defense Department. I believe there are many failing policies and procedures in the department, and that greater accountability is necessary. However, the confirmation of Hegseth would not fix these failures — it would only add to and compound them. 

Maj. Gen. Dennis Laich