Secretary of War Pete Hegseth used a visit to Texas A&M University to deliver a forceful call for patriotic service and a sharp rebuke of elite universities he says have turned against the nation that made them great.
Speaking to the storied Corps of Cadets in College Station, Hegseth framed his appearance as the opening salvo of a broader national effort to restore a warrior ethos rooted in faith, duty, and love of country. According to Gateway Pundit, the trip marked the first stop on what the Secretary has branded the SEND ME TOUR, a deliberate echo of Scripture and a direct challenge to the culture of grievance and self-loathing that dominates much of higher education today.
Secretary Hegseth began his day before sunrise, joining cadets for early morning physical training and using the moment to underscore why military service remains indispensable to the survival of the American republic. He told the assembled students, This is actually our first stop in what you see up on the screen right there, which were calling the Send Me Tour.
Grounding his message in biblical language that has long resonated with soldiers and patriots, Hegseth invoked the prophet Isaiah as a model of willing sacrifice. If you know your book of Isaiah, chapter 6, verse 8, the Lord said, Who will I send? And Isaiah says, Lord, Im here, send me, send me, he said, drawing a straight line from ancient obedience to modern American service.
Hegseth reminded the cadets that their commitment stands in continuity with generations of Americans who stepped forward when history demanded courage. And if you think about it, across the 250 years of our country, I know you got 150 years of this great Corps here. Over 150 years of this Corps and 250 years of our country, there have been men and women who raised their right hand, and they said, Send me. Send me to go fight the Redcoats. Send me to go fight the communists. Send me to go fight the Islamists.
He then turned from the past to the future, insisting that the next era of American security will depend on young Texans willing to shoulder the same burden. And you are saying, send me to go fight whatever threats threaten our nation for the next 250 years, he said, casting the cadets not as passive students but as heirs to a living tradition of defense and sacrifice.
For Hegseth, that tradition is not merely regional pride but the backbone of national survival. If we dont have Texans like these out there on the front lines, we dont have a republic. So we need the nation to raise their right hand and say, Send me. Ill serve something greater than myself, God and country. Ill swear an oath to something timeless, the Constitution, that doesnt bend, it doesnt break, and that we swear that oath to defend, he declared, tying service to transcendent principles rather than transient politics.
He stressed that the oath taken by American warriors is anchored in founding documents, not partisan agendas or ideological fads. Its not about a political party. Its not about a point of view. Its not about an ideology. Its about a belief in our Declaration and our Constitution and the principles that those stand for. This ground that we stand on, that we pledge to protect, our homeland, Hegseth said, emphasizing that the militarys legitimacy flows from the nations core ideals.
Later in the day, his remarks shifted from inspiration to indictment as he contrasted Texas A&M with elite campuses that have embraced radical left-wing narratives. You see, for too long, the Defense Department and now the War Department, the leadership looked to schools like the Ivy League for answers, he said, prompting an immediate and visceral reaction from the crowd.
The cadets responded with loud hisses, a rare but telling rebuke of institutions once considered the pinnacle of American education. Hegseth welcomed the reaction, replying, Thank you. Hiss all day long on that one.
He accused those universities of actively undermining the very nation that funds and protects them, and of poisoning the pipeline of future military leaders. Sending our best and brightest uniformed officers to anti-American campuses that actively disdain the uniform. Rewrite our history and undermine our national resolve, sending our uniformed class to countries that hate our to campuses that hate our country. Those days are finished, he vowed, signaling a decisive break with the old deference to Ivy League credentials.
Hegseth explained that the War Department has reoriented its priorities away from academic prestige and toward mission clarity. Our department severed ties with those types of institutions because our department has one core non-negotiable mission. First, to deter war, he said, underscoring that national defense cannot be subordinated to ideological experiments.
If deterrence fails, he continued, the task becomes brutally simple and non-negotiable. But if deterrence fails, its to fight defeat, and destroy the enemies of the United States of America. We fight to win, Hegseth said, rejecting the defeatism and moral relativism that often dominate faculty lounges and activist circles.
He dismissed the fashionable obsessions of globalist and identity-based politics as distractions from the hard realities of war and peace. You see, in order to do that, we dont need globalist seminars. We dont need land acknowledgments. And we dont need to feel guilty about American power. We need lethal leaders who know how to win. Thats it, he said, making clear that the militarys purpose is victory, not virtue-signaling.
That, he explained, is precisely why Texas A&M and its Corps of Cadets occupy a central place in his Send Me initiative. And thats why Im here at Texas A&M on this Send Me tour, Hegseth noted, positioning the university as a model for the kind of unapologetically pro-American institutions the country must rely on.
Looking out over the campus, Hegseth contrasted what he saw in College Station with the self-flagellation and ideological conformity that dominate so many other universities. Walking onto this campus, I do not see an academic institution trying to apologize for American strength. I see backbone and resolve and the uncompromising future of the United States and the United States Armed Forces. I see a real, grounded, strong institution, which is exactly what our nation needs, he said, arguing that the path to national renewal runs through places that still teach honor, courage, and love of country without apology.
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