The Club, The Purge, And The Collapse Of Accountability Inside The U.S. Military

I understand exactly how this is supposed to go. I’m supposed to stay quiet, accept the label that was put on me, and disappear. But when I hear a retired Major General publicly dismiss the Secretary of War as a “disgraced major” from the DC National Guard, I don’t just hear a political insult. I hear the mechanical click of a system protecting itself.

That label—“disgraced”—is not about accuracy. It is about insulation. It is designed to ensure that once you are marked, your role is no longer to speak, but to serve as a warning to others. The system does not need to argue with your facts if it can successfully disqualify your person.

I am a former National Guard officer. I’ve worn the uniform I’ve served, and I’ve watched firsthand how that system treats people who fall outside of its protection. I have seen how quickly credibility is stripped, how narratives are shaped, and how inconvenient voices are removed rather than answered.

So when I see the outrage over Secretary of War Pete Hegseth removing senior leaders, I don’t see a crisis of norms. I see a system reacting to being challenged by someone who is not bound by its internal rules.