Human Events Special: Department of War

Summary

Podcast Summary: Human Events Special – Department of War

Podcast: Human Events Daily with Jack Posobiec
Episode: Human Events Special: Department of War
Date: December 12, 2025
Host: Jack Posobiec

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Main Theme & Purpose

This episode offers an inside look at the dramatic culture shift within the U.S. military under the “Department of War” in the Trump administration, emphasizing a return to traditional warfighting priorities, mission readiness, and “America First” policies. Jack Posobiec interviews top advisers and officials at the Pentagon about the evolving role of the military, the rollback of social engineering initiatives, recruiting surges, and the renewed focus on national defense and law & order.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Surge in Military Recruitment & Retention

[00:50–02:37]

• Military officials report historic spikes in recruitment and retention after what’s described as a return to “warfighting and lethality” at the core of military identity.
  • “The U.S. Air Force, 100% of its goal…War fighters are happy to have a warfighter up top.” — Military Official 1 (00:51)
  • “We barely have enough throughput in basic training to deal with the amount of Americans that want to stand up and serve.” — Military Official 2 (01:15)
• Recruitment numbers are framed as an affirmation of the military’s restored mission under the new administration.

2. Rejection of “Social Engineering” in the Military

[04:20–07:24]

• Jack Posobiec describes the shift away from DEI, transgender policies, and other social initiatives, positioning the military squarely as a warfighting organization.
  • “The mission of the military...is not social programs, is not DEI, is not transgenderism. It’s basic defense of the homeland.” — Jack Posobiec (05:08)
• He recalls his own service experience and expresses relief at the rollback of experimental social policies.
  • “Treat each other with respect. That was it. That was the bottom line. And get the job done.” — Jack Posobiec (06:13)

3. America First and “Peace Through Strength” Doctrine

[07:24–09:16]

• The Pentagon’s transparency with the media, and responsiveness to criticism about drone strikes and border operations, are discussed as part of the new “America First” mindset.
  • “Nothing will stand in our way. And our golden age has just begun.” — Commentator/Friend of Jack (07:24)
  • “What you’re watching in real-time is peace through strength and America first.” — Military Official 2 (02:37, referenced again)

4. Homeland Defense and Border Operations

[09:16–17:57]

• Patrick Weaver (Senior Advisor, Secretary of War) outlines new authorities granted for military operations against cartels and drug traffickers.
  • “When the President designated these as foreign terrorist organizations, he unleashed a whole new level of authorities for us to stop the drug flow…” — Patrick Weaver (09:17)
• The military’s enhanced role at the U.S. border, including support for law enforcement, counter-UAS systems, and adapting to cartel shifting tactics (boats, drones).
  • “The cartels have had a hard time making money...so they’ve switched to the boats, but they’re increasingly dangerous.” — Patrick Weaver (16:05)

5. Support for Law Enforcement in Cities

[10:56–13:28]

• Discussion of military support to law enforcement, especially in major cities facing violence, riots, and increased crime rates.
  • “The administration…we have the backs of the law enforcement officers who are out there keeping Americans safe.” — Patrick Weaver (10:56)
• Specific mention of arming National Guardsmen and involvement in joint patrols with federal and local law enforcement.

6. Interagency Coordination and Policy Transformation

[14:00–15:19]

• The interagency dynamic is described as far more effective, with Defense now an "equal player" on border security.
  • “I’ve never seen government agencies work like this together…that brought the Department of War up to be an equal player on border operations…” — Patrick Weaver (14:00)

7. Restoring Warrior Ethos: Education and Standards

[19:55–23:55]

• Under Secretary Arteta explains stripping CRT and DEI from curricula at service academies and focusing on readiness, unity, and the “warrior ethos.”
  • “We rip the DEI and CRT out of all the childcare stuff and the education things…Refocus on those things that unify.” — Under Secretary Arteta (20:58)
  • “You have to take care of home before you can take care of the mission…” — Jack Posobiec (23:38)
• Discussion of family support, spouse employment, and operational readiness as paths to a focused, cohesive force.

8. Recruiting, Standards, and Military Culture

[27:06–36:57]

• Eric Garrison (Senior Advisor for Strategy) emphasizes the renewed prioritization of physical standards, marksmanship, and high expectations.
  • “We want higher standards. We want the soldiers to raise the level of their physical fitness…when we pile on things that have nothing to do with that, we shouldn’t be focused on it at all.” — Eric Garrison (27:28, 29:15)
• Highlight of the critical role of military families for sustaining recruitment and service culture.
  • “When we got to the point where parents are saying, I don’t want my sons and daughters to do this, we were at a breaking point.” — Eric Garrison (35:41)

9. Military Action Against Cartels and Public Opinion

[38:00–45:18]

• Strong support for aggressive military action (drone strikes) against drug cartels, with polling showing 60% approval among Americans.
  • “There’s almost 60% of Americans who support this out of the Harvard Harris poll. 60%.” — Jack Posobiec (39:39)
• Jack frames anti-cartel operations as a true “war,” involving lethal force, not merely policing.
  • “In a war, you don’t sit around and fight it like a policing operation. You kill people. That’s the difference. In a war, you kill the enemy.” — Jack Posobiec (41:16)
  • “There is an unlimited amount of violence that I would be willing to employ in the defense of my wife and in the defense of my children.” — Jack Posobiec (45:18)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On mission focus:
  • “The point of the military is to perform military operations…and you do that until you make sure those people never come back to your homeland.” — Jack Posobiec (05:45)
• On unity and standards:
  • “Let’s focus on those things that unify us, instead of those things that divide us.” — Under Secretary Arteta (22:14)
• On lethal force:
  • “Someone else will raise your sons and daughters.” — Military Personnel/Warrior (02:22)
• On the restoration of tradition:
  • “We’re definitely…changing the culture back to where it needs to be. The troops are all on board. They want to be part of a winning team.” — Eric Garrison (33:41)
• On supporting families:
  • “If I’m a trigger puller in Afghanistan, as I was, and I know my family’s taken care of, I can focus on my mission.” — Under Secretary Arteta (23:28)
• On the use of force:
  • “There is an unlimited amount of violence that I would be willing to employ in the defense of my wife and…children.” — Jack Posobiec (45:18)

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Important Segment Timestamps

• 00:50–02:37: Military officials on record recruitment and retention numbers
• 04:20–07:24: Jack summarizes the military’s mission shift away from social issues
• 09:16–10:56: Patrick Weaver discusses new military authorities against cartels
• 14:00–15:19: Inside view on interagency cooperation for border operations
• 19:55–23:55: Under Secretary Arteta details stripping CRT/DEI from education and restoring the warrior ethos
• 27:28–36:57: Eric Garrison on restoring standards, physical fitness, and the importance of military families
• 39:39–45:18: Jack discusses polling, public support for drone strikes, and uncompromising military defense

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Tone and Style

• The episode’s tone is assertive, unapologetically pro-military, and critical of previous social policies.
• Regular moments of camaraderie and banter highlight shared military backgrounds and mutual respect among the guests.
• Direct language, military metaphors, and “real talk” are frequent (“suck it up, Buttercup”).

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For Listeners Who Haven’t Tuned In

• Expect a robust and detailed walkthrough of the Trump administration’s “Department of War” philosophy and actions.
• The episode explores both practical changes (recruitment, operations, education) and ideological shifts (rejection of DEI/CRT, “America First”).
• Interviews with high-level Pentagon officials provide a rare inside view of military policy evolution under the new regime.

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Note:
This summary omits advertisements, promotional segments, and non-content banter, focusing exclusively on core discussions.

Transcript

[Jack Posobic]

I want to take a second to.

[Announcer]

Remind you to sign up for the POSO Daily Brief. It is completely free. It'll be one email that's sent to you every day. You can stop the endless scrolling trying to find out what's going on in your world. We will have this delivered directly to you totally for free. Go to humanevents.com poso Sign up today. It's called the POSO Daily Brief. Read what I read for show prep. You will not regret it. Human Events.com poso Totally free the POSO Daily Brief.

[Jack Posobic]

This is what happens when the fourth turning meets fifth generation warfare.

[Patrick Weaver]

A commentator, international social media sensation and former Navy intelligence veteran.

[Host/Interviewer (Jack Posobic or another Human Events host)]

This is Human Events with your host Jack Posobic.

[Jack Posobic]

Christ is king.

[Military Official 1]

The Army Air Force Marines 108% in November 119% in February 108% after the election 105% with the Navy with the Marines up 112% and 100%. They are through the roof. The U.S. air Force, 100% of its goal. Same thing in February. I think the war fighters are happy to have a warfighter up top.

[Military Official 2]

Those numbers are a reflection of why we're here. When war fighting and lethality is brought back and it's serious that what we're doing here is serious about getting after soldiering and war fighting, American people want to come back in. They want to sign up. These recruiting numbers don't surprise me. You're a part of a huge surge right now, a historic surge of Americans that are stepping up to serve this country. As President Trump points out, record breaking numbers of Americans are enlisting to serve. A year ago we couldn't get folks to serve. Today we barely have enough throughput and basic training to deal with the amount of Americans that want to stand up and serve. It is historically historic. The level of recruitment that we're getting and those that are in in the ranks already, retention is at record breaking levels.

[Military Personnel/Warrior]

We don't care what you look like. It doesn't matter if your dad left or if you knew who your father was.

[Jack Posobic]

Getting annihilated.

[Military Personnel/Warrior]

We have been honed into a machine of lethal moving parts that you would be wise to avoid if you know.

[Military Official 1]

It'S good for you that three sites have been struck by US bombers.

[Military Personnel/Warrior]

We will not back down. We've seen war. We don't want war. But if you want war with the United States of America, there's one thing I can promise you. So help me God, someone else will raise your sons and daughters.

[Military Official 2]

What you're watching in real time is peace through strength and America first.

[Jack Posobic]

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome aboard today's edition of Human Events daily. Today is December 12, 2025 Anno Domini, folks. Today we've got a special treat for all of you. Today is the Human Events Department of War special. Because what we're doing today is, if you remember, we went to the Department of War earlier in the week. We conducted a series of interviews with department officials who were there. And in those interviews, we talked about the new mission of the military. And I should actually say it's the old mission of the military. Funny enough, it's the mission of the military that I joined when I joined the United States Navy. The mission of defending the United States of America, its Constitution and its people. That is the point of the US Military. So not social programs, is not dei, is not transgenderism. It is none of this stuff. It is basic defense of the homeland. Are you defending your home, patriot? Are you actually able to be there and be someone who's part of an organization whose job it is? Yes, to defend the homeland by hurting people and breaking stuff. That is what the point of the military is. Military is not a humanitarian organization. The point of the hill of the military is to perform military operations. And military operations are those sorts of operations where, yes, bad guys get hurt and their stuff gets broken. That's the entire point. And you continue to do that until you make sure that those people never come back to your homeland, do the same thing. But at the same time, you don't want to go around picking fights all over the world. And unfortunately, prior to the Trump administration, that is what we saw time and time again. The way our military be used, it was wrong. And that's why the American people voted against it. So what did we also see? Well, we also saw the US Military being used for social engineering, for pushing trans programs, for pushing all sorts of just, I'm going to say it, abject insanity, pushing experimental vaccines, pushing all of this nonsense. And look, I got out right before, I want to say right before the, you know, this all really hit. I did, actually. I had to sit. When I was still in the military, I had to sit through one, just one actual transgender training for a sensitivity class to have it explained to me as a Navy officer what it would be like if I. And the way that I would be expected to treat a fellow member who was trans. Now, what's interesting is I never had to do that with, you know, serving with anyone in the military. And I, I believe me, I served with everyone I served with. I served with white people, I served with black people, I served with Hispanics, I served with Asians. I served with just everything under the sun. Everything you can think of. All right? Christians, Muslims, Jews, serve them all. Okay. Probably some Buddhists too, if I think about it. You know, and the thing is, we never had any special classes on how to treat one another. It was very simple. Treat each other with respect. That was it. That was the bottom line. And get the job done. And the standard was always, as long as you can get the job done and perform your work up to mission standard, then you are good to go. That's the standard of the military that I joined. Right. You have to. And you have to maintain physical standards. You have to maintain your physical fitness. You have to maintain all of that as well, as well as grooming standards, etc. For example, right now, I have a beard. I am out of grooming standards. My hair is in grooming standards. That is basically the way the military used to work, and that is the way that now, finally, thank God, the Department of War is returning the United States military to military operational readiness. So join with us today as we embark on the Human Events Department of War special. Stay tuned. With the special interviews of various officials from the department, filmed right inside the Department of War, the Pentagon itself. Folks, you're in for a big treat. Stay tuned. Human Events Daily continues.

[Commentator/Friend of Jack]

Nothing will stand in our way. And our golden age has just begun.

[Host/Interviewer (Jack Posobic or another Human Events host)]

This is Human Events with Jack pos.

[Jack Posobic]

Now it's time for everyone to understand what America first truly. Welcome to the second American Revolution.

[Host/Interviewer (Jack Posobic or another Human Events host)]

We're really excited here at Human Events Daily to be sitting down with Patrick Weaver. He is the senior advisor to the Secretary of War, specifically for Homeland Defense.

[Jack Posobic]

Patrick, thank you for being here.

[Patrick Weaver]

Thanks for having me.

[Host/Interviewer (Jack Posobic or another Human Events host)]

I mean, you work here, so actually, for me, it's like, you know, it wasn't that far. How long was the commute to the. To this studio?

[Patrick Weaver]

Two minutes.

[Host/Interviewer (Jack Posobic or another Human Events host)]

Two minutes.

[Under Secretary Arteta]

All right. All right.

[Host/Interviewer (Jack Posobic or another Human Events host)]

So. But no, I, you know, just very appreciative of the department and the secretary for allowing us to have the space here and, you know, to be able to do the show, do these. This series of interviews, because I do think that that level of transparency is something that we haven't seen before, quite frankly. And I. So we really appreciate it.

[Patrick Weaver]

Absolutely. Well, we're excited to have fresh journalists here who care about reporting the truth and the good work we're doing here.

[Host/Interviewer (Jack Posobic or another Human Events host)]

Well, look, our job is to get the story out, whatever the story Is whatever the truth is, what going to get that out. And so if something comes up and we saw that the whole mainstream media was going off about this drone strike off of Venezuela. And I remember just with my own background as prior Navy intelligence, that's kind of sop, actually. And Admiral Bradley, having been a dev group Commander at Seal Team 6, he's following SOP. That's always been that way for the background of his entire time in the Navy. So it was really something where even with my own background knowledge, having been in the military, just I knew their story didn't make any sense. But look, you know, I thought that the answers that we received, we had a briefing yesterday on that. I thought it was fantastic to be able to just sit here and ask basic questions and then hear the direct answers.

[Jack Posobic]

What a concept.

[Patrick Weaver]

Exactly. And the left and the fake news have made it clear from day one that they do not support our mission with stopping the cartels and the drug flow to the United States. And when the President designated these as foreign terrorist organizations, he unleashed a whole new level of authorities for us to stop the drug flow into the United States. And that is what we're going to do.

[Host/Interviewer (Jack Posobic or another Human Events host)]

Well, and I think that's actually been something that a lot of the media in this town doesn't quite understand, is that these are the very same authorities that would be used in centcom occasionally, in Indo Paycom.

[Under Secretary Arteta]

It's just.

[Host/Interviewer (Jack Posobic or another Human Events host)]

And by the way, in the past, certainly have been used for a whole variety of hostile actors in the Western Hemisphere, in Northcom, paycom. It's just that hasn't been the focus recently.

[Patrick Weaver]

Absolutely. And as you know, and all of Trump's supporters know, when the President campaigned, he made promises to secure our homeland.

[Under Secretary Arteta]

That's right.

[Patrick Weaver]

And that's exactly what we're doing through the border and all our operations with NORTHCOM currently.

[Host/Interviewer (Jack Posobic or another Human Events host)]

So on the NORTHCOM front, obviously, you know, we were sitting here a couple of days ago, we saw the, you know, the horrific situation outside of the White House with the West Virginia National Guardsmen, the two of them being shot, one killed, one, as we talk at, currently in critical condition, of course, praying for him. But when we look at those operations throughout northcom, what is the Secretary's position on, I guess, obviously, force protection for those operations, but the continuance of these operations and the priority that really seems that the administration is making on it.

[Patrick Weaver]

If I can take it a step back, if you remember in la, when the President deployed the guard there in a federalized status, it was clear that the President and Secretary Hegseth wanted to use soldiers to protect federal law enforcement agents who were out there arresting illegal migrants and keeping law and order in this country. So our view has never changed. It will not change. This administration, we have the backs of the law enforcement officers who are out there keeping Americans safe. And then with DC Specifically, from day one, Secretary Hegseth authorized the soldiers to carry siren sidearms. And he continues to have that policy where our soldiers will have their weapons with them.

[Host/Interviewer (Jack Posobic or another Human Events host)]

And so the policy is authorized now. Each individual commander can make different decisions on that. I know this has come up and there's still more reporting, I think, to come out on exactly the status of this. But I do understand and believe yesterday Press Secretary Wilson had said that they're looking to do a specific, specifically in D.C. and probably others, more direct patrols with local law enforcement and the guardsmen together to help watch each other's backs, basically.

[Patrick Weaver]

Absolutely. And this is something we do on the border every day. Our soldiers patrol alongside U.S. border Patrol and other federal agents. So I think incorporating that in D.C. and other cities is a great move.

[Host/Interviewer (Jack Posobic or another Human Events host)]

No, I think that's right. And so the whole idea being that when they're deployed in a title, obviously date, DC is a little bit different, but when they're deployed in a title 10 capacity, that's always to support state law enforcement, or, excuse me, state law enforcement and federal law enforcement. Because you talk about la, for example, these ICE agents were facing threats, they were facing hostility, they were facing riots. I mean, that's the entire purpose of the National Guard, I thought.

[Patrick Weaver]

Absolutely. And we've seen this in Chicago, Portland, Louisiana, these protesters are throwing rocks, damaging vehicles and government property, but then also injuring federal law enforcement officers. And wherever we can, we will use our soldiers either in a National Guard status or a federalized status to protect law enforcement.

[Host/Interviewer (Jack Posobic or another Human Events host)]

And if I, if I could add just, just, just to the list, you know, I am from the Philadelphia area, so we can't, we can't leave Philly off. We can't leave Philly off the list.

[Patrick Weaver]

Absolutely. And I'm from Lancaster, so. Oh, you're from Lancaster. No.

[Host/Interviewer (Jack Posobic or another Human Events host)]

No way. Yeah, There you go.

[Patrick Weaver]

Yeah. Philadelphia has seen lots of crime and drug use there, and it's gone downhill.

[Host/Interviewer (Jack Posobic or another Human Events host)]

Well, unfortunately, even Lancaster City has some issues these days.

[Patrick Weaver]

Absolutely.

[Host/Interviewer (Jack Posobic or another Human Events host)]

You know, you look at the lawlessness and, you know, just to take a step back, I think the administration's only been in, you know, 10 months, 10 months into this. And it seems like an entire policy change from the previous administration to now how do you view the interagency and the way that they've sort of dealt with this big sea change? Because I seem to get a sense certainly from the media side there's a lot of whiplash. But how's it been actually inside the admin. Inside the government?

[Patrick Weaver]

Yeah. I will say as someone who was sworn in as a political. On January 20, we got to work that same day with the interagency specifically on border at the time. But to this day we talk daily about operations, whether it's law enforcement and our support to them, border operations or western hemisphere operations. So all that to say I've never seen government agencies work like this together. And when the President signed his executive order clarifying the military's role with the border, that brought the Department of War up to be an equal player on the border operations instead of supporting DHS in a support role.

[Eric Garrison]

Well.

[Host/Interviewer (Jack Posobic or another Human Events host)]

And as it turns out that the. The poorest border, the massive level of crossings that we saw over the previous four years, 20 million perhaps. It's a choice, isn't it? It actually is something that can be solved by policy.

[Patrick Weaver]

Absolutely. And leading up into the 24 election, you heard everyone say that it took an act of Congress to secure it.

[Host/Interviewer (Jack Posobic or another Human Events host)]

Right, right. That was the whole.

[Patrick Weaver]

That was the talking point.

[Host/Interviewer (Jack Posobic or another Human Events host)]

Yeah, the whole talking point. And they were trying to say Republicans were. I remember this, they were saying Republicans weren't for the bill, therefore it was the Republicans fault.

[Patrick Weaver]

Absolutely.

[Host/Interviewer (Jack Posobic or another Human Events host)]

It made no sense.

[Patrick Weaver]

Yeah. But what we found out on January 20th is it only took a president who cared. And when he declared the national emergency at the border, we had troops headed to the border on January 24, just four days after.

[Host/Interviewer (Jack Posobic or another Human Events host)]

Now, when you are looking at the border and we talk about this and my friend Bill Milligan over at Fox, he always says, you know, I had to stop covering the border because there's nothing to cover. Which I do think is funny. He's actually here in D.C. now. But at the same time, I have to imagine that there are still threats that you are tracking on the border or across the border. What are some of the things, Things if you can share with us, that you do still see down there?

[Patrick Weaver]

Absolutely. Well, the cartels have had a hard time making money because they can't smuggle humans or drugs across the border, which.

[Host/Interviewer (Jack Posobic or another Human Events host)]

Is why they're switching to the boats.

[Patrick Weaver]

Yeah. So they've switched to the boats. But they're increasingly dangerous because they're trying to find ways to make money because they're hurting for funds. So that's one example Drones. We've seen them weaponize drones and start testing them. So getting our counter UAS systems up on the border to protect our soldiers and the federal agents on the border, that's huge. And then just continuing to adapt to the illegal aliens who are in our homeland that the Biden administration allowed into our country.

[Host/Interviewer (Jack Posobic or another Human Events host)]

Specifically on those illegal aliens, are you tracking or do you ever see. Occasionally, because there's questions. Obviously this Afghan migrant guy was different capacity. But do you ever see opportunities or potential threats, indications and warnings of perhaps plots or operations that they're trying to use to go after Americans or to go after law enforcement or military?

[Patrick Weaver]

Yeah, I would say that's probably a better question for federal law enforcement partners and their authorities. But one thing that's unique that we created in this administration is that Homeland Security Task Force, which combines all the federal law enforcement agencies, the nctc, which is headed by Joe Kent and then the Department of War, to target those criminals and foreign terrorist organizations now in the homeland. So probably a better question for Joe Kent and federal law enforcement, but we're excited about this opportunity to find these illegals who are. Are here to harm our citizens.

[Host/Interviewer (Jack Posobic or another Human Events host)]

Well, that's great, because I remember, of course, I served at DIA for part of my time when I was in. And so they had dctc which would work with nctc, but boy, sometimes. Sometimes it was like. Like herding cats between the two of those two.

[Patrick Weaver]

Absolutely. Well, I think the NCTC has a new mission, and under this President, they will have better results.

[Host/Interviewer (Jack Posobic or another Human Events host)]

Well, I'm really glad to hear that. When. When you look out at the same status of these operations, particularly in northcom, looking at the cities, do you see. And I've got to ask, you know, are there any cities we're looking to expand to?

[Patrick Weaver]

Yeah, I would say when it comes to federal law enforcement, if the President asks us to protect his agents, we will do that. We have some ongoing litigation in Chicago and Portland, so we're kind of waiting to see how the Supreme Court rolls on that. But the President again, has made it clear that he's a President of law and order and we're ready to support however he needs.

[Host/Interviewer (Jack Posobic or another Human Events host)]

Okay, so it's almost like wait and see how the Supreme Court cases go, and then depending on the ruling, future operations will work to comply with that.

[Patrick Weaver]

Absolutely. And if protesters and rioters are attacking agents, the President hates to see that, rightfully so, and we're ready to support him. And some of the left attacks me for being one of the youngest advisors to the Secretary, and I'm excited to work on these issues because I know a lot of young people across America care about these issues too and protecting our homeland. So I'm excited to work on this.

[Under Secretary Arteta]

Ah, yeah.

[Host/Interviewer (Jack Posobic or another Human Events host)]

How can you not trust a guy from Lancaster?

[Patrick Weaver]

Exactly.

[Under Secretary Arteta]

Thank you.

[Jack Posobic]

Take it easy.

[Host/Interviewer (Jack Posobic or another Human Events host)]

Thank you very much.

[Commentator/Friend of Jack]

Today, you know, they talk about influencers. These are influencers and they're friends of mine.

[Eric Garrison]

Jack.

[Commentator/Friend of Jack]

Where's Jack? Jack's got a great job.

[Host/Interviewer (Jack Posobic or another Human Events host)]

I'm very excited to be on here and not the first time that I've interviewed him, but certainly in a different capacity. I know you as General Tata, but you are currently the Under Secretary of War for Personnel and Readiness. Thank you so much for joining us. Human Events Daily.

[Under Secretary Arteta]

Great to be with you, Chuck.

[Host/Interviewer (Jack Posobic or another Human Events host)]

And so, you know, you're, when it looks at it, the way I look at it is you're in charge of the home front. Does that make sense?

[Under Secretary Arteta]

That and many other things. But you know, we've, we, we've got 3 million men and women in uniform and non department civilians and their families. I've got 160 Dodea schools or Doweah now Department of War Education activity schools globally Europe, Asia, here in the United states have over 600 child development centers, have over 300 youth activity centers. We've got, we're in charge of recruiting, retention and transition into civilian life. After you, you've been a soldier, sailor, airman, marine, guardian, individual. And so the broad responsibilities here, I've got 955 military hospitals and clinics and 40,000 healthcare providers. That's all home front stuff, that's all operational stuff. And so the portfolio is vast and broad. I got 230 commissaries feeding the home front.

[Host/Interviewer (Jack Posobic or another Human Events host)]

Oh, believe me, if there's a problem with the commissary, the whole base is going, going to have. Right.

[Under Secretary Arteta]

And so a very lean team back here in the building and around Northern Virginia that's operating all of this. And so our focus has been on taking a look at the presidential priorities, Golden Dome Shipbuilding, Southwest border and reorienting personnel policy to support President Trump's priorities. And then taking a look at Secretary's priorities. Re establish deterrence, rebuild the military, restore the warrior ethos. How do we do that? We rip the DEI and CRT out of all the childcare stuff and the education things that we're talking about. I've got all the service academies looking hard at those curriculums, curricula. We pulled out the CRT and DEI out of that. And that's where no, you're saying there.

[Host/Interviewer (Jack Posobic or another Human Events host)]

Were CRT and DEI being taught? And when you say service academies, you're talking West Point, you're talking Annapolis, you're.

[Under Secretary Arteta]

About talking Air Force Academy, six military colleges, North Georgia, Citadel, VMI and so forth.

[Host/Interviewer (Jack Posobic or another Human Events host)]

And they were teaching that those are meant to be the leaders of the future military. And rather than being taught war fighting strategy, how to think of a commander, they were being taught this kind of stuff.

[Under Secretary Arteta]

They were being taught that plus some of the other things. We've ripped all that out and we've refocused in the secretary's message, message, President's message. Let's focus on those things that unify us instead of those things that divide us. Let's not identify all the differences that we have. Let's identify our common purpose. Unity of purpose, unity of command, lethality, mission focus. Everybody from tooth to tail are focused on the same thing that's being a physically fit, mentally fit war fighter to get out there. And how do you do that strategy with what you were talking about on the home front? You have good quality education for your children. You help with spouse employment and reducing that. We have a 20% spouse unemployment number. We have a goal to reduce that by 5% this year. And it comes to portability, we move people around so much. How do we get the licensure and certifications right? If you're moving from Virginia to California and you're a teacher or you're a doctor or a lawyer, how do you make sure that you're educated activity? If you're in Virginia, move to Camp Pendleton and the Marine Corps base, that if you're on page 67 of the history book, you're on page 68 the next day when you move to Camp Pendleton and that unity of purpose and, you know, taking care of the family. If I'm a trigger puller in Afghanistan, as I was, and I know my family's taken care of, I can focus on my mission.

[Host/Interviewer (Jack Posobic or another Human Events host)]

Well, you know, I had a, a CEO once in the Navy who. That's exactly what he said. He said you have to take care of home before you can take care of the mission. Because if you are worried about home, he said, you're going to be no good to me on mission. You're going to be no good to me.

[Under Secretary Arteta]

Right? You're going to be looking for that call, looking for that email, looking for that letter, making sure everything's okay if you got a sick child or if.

[Host/Interviewer (Jack Posobic or another Human Events host)]

There'S a pay issue, which certainly happens. All of that, as we all know.

[Under Secretary Arteta]

And I take a look, I Got such a professional team working for me. And I, you know, I was at the other end, all professionals here. But I think about, why is my team so good? You can't fail on recruiting. You got to make your numbers. You can't fail on pay. You got to pay the troops. You can't fail on benefits. You got to provide the benefit that they're due, that they're owed.

[Host/Interviewer (Jack Posobic or another Human Events host)]

But the media told me the troops weren't getting paid.

[Under Secretary Arteta]

Yeah, well, the troops are getting paid. And during the, during the shutdown, right, During a lapse in and government, you know, the shutdown, civilians weren't being paid because, you know, including me, senior levels, you know, but we made sure the troops got paid. We found the money legally to pay the troops during the government shutdown. And that was part of my job. The comptroller would go to the secretary, say, here's how we can do it. We checked with Earl Matthews, general counsel, and he made sure that troops got all their payments and as they should have. They should not be caught in the political crosswinds that are happening whenever there's a continuing resolution or a shutdown or, you know, whatever Congress needs to do its job. And I appreciate the fact that they were able to resolve that and allow us to move forward with, you know, full department pay and benefits.

[Host/Interviewer (Jack Posobic or another Human Events host)]

Well, that's absolutely clear. What would you say just on that point and final question, because I know we're pulling you out and we've got a lot to go on. What would you say your general message is as when you focus on these issues for the troops.

[Under Secretary Arteta]

So my message is for the troops is that you have a secretary and you have a president that are focused on your health and welfare so that you can be the most lethal fighting individual in force in the world. And that we are going to create this cohesive, focused force to deter our enemies so we never have to go to war. That's my message. You got a focused commander in chief, a focused secretary, single minded. Purpose of peace through strength.

[Host/Interviewer (Jack Posobic or another Human Events host)]

Under Secretary Arteta. Great to see you again.

[Under Secretary Arteta]

Great to see you, Jack.

[Military Official 2]

And Jack.

[Commentator/Friend of Jack]

Where's Jack? Where's Jack?

[Under Secretary Arteta]

Where is he?

[Commentator/Friend of Jack]

Jack, I want to see you. Great job, Jack.

[Patrick Weaver]

Thank you.

[Commentator/Friend of Jack]

What a job you do. You know, we have an incredible thing. We're always talking about the fake news and the bad, but we have guys, and these are the guys who've been getting policies.

[Host/Interviewer (Jack Posobic or another Human Events host)]

Are very excited here to be at Human Events Daily. We're sitting down with Eric Garrison.

[Jack Posobic]

He is the senior advisor for strategy.

[Host/Interviewer (Jack Posobic or another Human Events host)]

For, for the Secretary of War Eric.

[Jack Posobic]

Welcome to the show.

[Eric Garrison]

Thank you very much. Great to be here.

[Host/Interviewer (Jack Posobic or another Human Events host)]

I want to say thank you again for actually having us and hosting us here in the Pentagon. This is obviously new for us. We've done a couple of shows over at the White House and been with their press corps. But I gotta say, the studio digs here are a little bit nicer.

[Eric Garrison]

We got a lot of room in the Pentagon.

[Host/Interviewer (Jack Posobic or another Human Events host)]

There is a lot of room in the Pentagon. So you've known Pete for a long time. You served together, you deployed, deployed together. You're now working at this level of strategy. How would you say your experiences and his experiences having gone to war together have shaped what you do now in terms of the office?

[Eric Garrison]

Those experiences that we shared in combat, they shape you for the rest of your life. You learn different things in combat that allow you. We're a little different than some of the folks that haven't been yet. Some of the things is your priorities are forever changed. On focusing on what do you need to do to train your soldiers, prepare them for war, lead them for combat, and bring them back home. In combat, you see the thing, you make it, you narrow your focus. Like we're totally focused on battle drills, medical training, physical fitness, marksmanship. If your units can do that to the highest of standards, they're able to do everything our country asked them to do, which is to go fight and win our nation's wars. And so having that experience, especially serving together, really that's what we're focused on. And as you can see, a lot of the things the Secretary has completely driven the whole department to, we want higher standards. We want the soldiers to raise the level of their physical fitness. We want the soldiers, all the service members, to be experts in whatever their field is, their assigned weapon. Because we want them, when we assign them a mission, when the President gives us the priorities, this is what we need to do. We've created those options for the President. We, they're trained and ready as we can make them. And the whole goal is get them to get out there, complete the mission and bring them all home.

[Host/Interviewer (Jack Posobic or another Human Events host)]

Well, it really seems that certainly in the prior administration, even before then, to an extent, that the focus was elsewhere.

[Eric Garrison]

Shall we say over the past. It goes back quite. I served for 26 years in uniform. Then I was a Department of Defense commercial contractor. Then I was a Department of Defense civilian. We'd gotten to where the military was focused on a lot of non war fighting tasks. And as a unit, especially for a small unit leader, you don't Have a whole lot of time because you don't know, especially in some units like the 101st Airborne, 82nd Airborne, 75th Ranger, you don't know when it is you're going to be called out to conduct an operation for real. So you only have so much time to prepare your troops. And when the units are bogged down with all these non war fighting tasks, some of these things that should absolutely have nothing to do with the military, some of what looked like social experiments, we don't have time for it. We have a duty as leaders to make sure these soldiers, these service members are trained and ready. And when we pile on things that have nothing to do with that, we shouldn't be focused on that at all. What the secretary has done and because of President Trump and his leadership, is allowed to get the military to be focused on what the country needs the military to be. And that's trained and ready once again to fight our nation and win our nation's wars.

[Host/Interviewer (Jack Posobic or another Human Events host)]

Well, not only that, but it's the relaxing of standards that you, you can just see it, you can see it when you're in the area and you're around some of the various military installations that are all throughout D.C. and you can just see the standards have become relaxed. When you see I'm always looking at sailors as prior Navy, but I said, how is this person just walking around like that in uniform? If I was in this guy's unit, I'd say I would have pulled him aside and said, well, what are you doing? And you just see it all over and over and people think that's something small, but it's not. Actually. It's something very important, isn't it?

[Eric Garrison]

Oh, it's the most important. Like if these service members are not physically fit, they're not going to be able to do what we're asking them to do. And they shouldn't find this out when it's too late. When we put them somewhere in harm's way, you can go, like when we started going back and look at this, there's like a whole bunch of people and some senior folks retired in uniform are really gouging into the secretary about some of the decisions and some of the focus. I don't know how anybody can go back and say, hey, we don't want higher standards. We don't want our service members to be in better shape. We don't want them to be experts in their occupational field. I don't know how anybody could go back and say there's nothing political with that. There's nothing because the enemy doesn't look at us of, you're a Republican, you're a Democrat, you're this ethnicity. All the enemy wants to do is kill Americans. And it's our duty as leaders, especially for combat organizations, hence the Department of War, to make sure they have the best equipment, they're trained to the highest standards, that they're able to go accomplish the mission, get the job done, and come home safely. And that's what the secretary's whole focus is. And thank God we have President Trump that has paved the way to allow us to focus on this stuff.

[Host/Interviewer (Jack Posobic or another Human Events host)]

Well, and it's been something where, you know, I remember during, you know, even Pete's confirmation as secretary, and then when he became secretary, some of the speeches he's given and they try to twist his words to make it out as if he's saying something political, but he's not. Having standards in the military goes all the way back. We were just this, this past weekend. I'm from the Philadelphia area, and I took my kids out to Valley Forge and I was teaching them. I said, kids, this is where the first veterans came from. This was the first military in the United States. This was the first United States Army. It was a Continental Army. We didn't even have the United States yet. And that's what it was all about. It was the harshest possible conditions. You've lost every major US City at that point. You're out there, you're in cabins. Many times they didn't even have shoes. They're walking around makeshift tents and huts and different things. And it was just the elements. Right? So you have to be willing and able and capable of dealing with all of that to be able to come forward. And I, you know, I see some of the things that we have now, and I just think, you know, are we. Are we treating that legacy properly?

[Eric Garrison]

We're definitely, you know, changing the culture back to where it needs to be. It's a huge thing. But I can tell you I have the opportunity to go out, visit units from all the different services and what we're doing here. The decisions and policies that are being put in place by Secretary Heath are 100% reaching and affecting these units. And the troops are all on board. They want to be part of a winning team. There's no, there's no mistake on why the recruiting numbers are through.

[Host/Interviewer (Jack Posobic or another Human Events host)]

I was just. My next question here.

[Eric Garrison]

There's no mistake on why we looked at this year the highest number of folks going to Special Forces selection in years. Largest class this is all for a reason. Nobody wants to be part of a losing team. People want to. They want the people that join the military and enlist and then get commissioned and come in. They want to be part of a winning team, and they want to be the best. They don't want us to lower standards. They want a challenge. These are the folks we need to be focused on. These are the folks that we want, and those are the ones that are raising their right hand to serve the country and do the things that they're doing for us.

[Host/Interviewer (Jack Posobic or another Human Events host)]

Well, and particularly. And you only have a couple of minutes left. But one of the biggest issues, and I know with your breadth of experience, you'll know what I mean when I say this. One of the biggest red flags that I saw over the past couple of years prior to your administration coming in was the fact that military families were starting to say that they didn't want their sons and daughters to join. Talk to me about the importance of making sure that military families still continue that tradition of service.

[Eric Garrison]

We say all the time, this is a family business. I mean, I. I remember the first time I went to West Point, and I got to go out there and spoke and spent a few days with the firsties, which is the graduating class. And first time I'd been there, never didn't care about the officer training. I was an nco, so it was the first time I got to go.

[Host/Interviewer (Jack Posobic or another Human Events host)]

You worked for a living?

[Eric Garrison]

Yep. But I was surprised on. And it really hit home on how many of these kids, these officers getting ready to be commissioned were all sons of people that I had served with. And you don't just see that on the officer side, it's also on the NCO side. So when you. When we got to the point where these parents are saying, I don't want my sons and daughters to do this, we were at a breaking point. We were at a. And I'm telling you, I don't. I think if we would have went a few more years, we would have been past the point of no return. I think in some of the units, some of the things we teach you.

[Host/Interviewer (Jack Posobic or another Human Events host)]

That'S your core recruitment pool right there, 100%. And the ones who grew up around the military, they're the most familiar with it. They know the routines, grew up on the bases, know the routines, grew up on the bases, can always go to mom or dad for information. I mean, you lose that, you're broken. Totally broken.

[Eric Garrison]

Yeah, we were on the way. But once again, perhaps President Trump and Secretary Hegseth, you know, their Priorities, the agenda, we're able to turn that around pretty quick. And you can see it. Every unit on every service member we meet with, you can see we're going in the right direction.

[Host/Interviewer (Jack Posobic or another Human Events host)]

The right direction. Eric Garrison, thank you so much for joining us.

[Eric Garrison]

Thank you so much.

[Host/Interviewer (Jack Posobic or another Human Events host)]

Daily.

[Eric Garrison]

It was great to meet you.

[Commentator/Friend of Jack]

Jack is a great guy. He's written a fantastic book. Everybody, everybody's talking about it. Go get it. And he's been my friend right from the beginning of this whole beautiful event. And we're going to turn it around and make our country great again.

[Host/Interviewer (Jack Posobic or another Human Events host)]

Amen.

[Jack Posobic]

All right, ladies and gentlemen, we're back. Jack Posobic, Human Events Daily. Patriots, listen up. For a limited time, Patriot Mobile is running the red, white and blue Friday promotion. Your once a year chance to get a free smartphone just for switching to America's only Christian conservative wireless provider. A brand new phone absolutely free while supplies last. For over 12 years, Patriot Mobile has defended faith, family and freedom while giving you the same or better premium coverage on all three major US networks. Unlimited data, mobile hotspots, international roaming, they do it all. When you switch, you never sacrifice quality or service. Hundreds of thousands have joined the movement because every bill supports the first Amendment, the second amendment, the sanctity of life and our veterans and first responders. Switching is easy. Keep your number, keep your phone or upgrade to that free smartphone today. They're 100% US based service team can activate you in minutes. So go to patriot mobile.com poso or call 972 Patriot and use promo code POSO. Don't wait. This limited time offer won't last. That's patriot mobile.com poso or call 972 Patriot with promo code POSO. Join me and make the switch today, especially this Christmas time. So there was a new poll by the way that I didn't really get a chance to talk about on the the situation regarding, listen to this. The drone strikes. Yes, the drone strikes. In a poll that was done from the Harvard Harris team over again Harvard University regarding the drone strikes in the Caribbean. And this is really interesting because I want people to dig into this. I certainly am going to dig into this and have dug into this. But people don't realize that there is massive support for these drone strikes. Harvard Harris found you got to love this. Harvard Harris found that most support the drone strikes. And of course this is the way you have to be very careful, you have to be very careful with the way that you, you know, you word this because they'll think oh well, the Second one is worse. The second one's like this. The second one. No, no, no, no. I'm talking about the current drone strikes on the drug boats in the Caribbean. The drug boats, strikes. And guess what, Think about this. And I'm pulling it up right now. There's almost 60% of Americans who support this out of the Harvard Harris poll. 60%.

[Eric Garrison]

It is a.

[Jack Posobic]

Literally a 60, 40 issue. Should be an 80, 20 issue. Honestly. Guess what Americans don't care about, about drug boats getting mercked. It's really as simple as that. Americans want their military actually defending America. And look, you know, we're going to be doing this, this series on regime change coming up around Christmas time, and I want people to dig into that, but because for so long we've been using the US Military overseas, and they paint it with these romantic images and use this romantic, flowery language of, oh, we're fighting them over there, so we have to fight them over here. Oh, we're fighting the ayatollah, we're fighting the tsar, we're fighting the mullahs, whoever, who, you know, whoever we're fighting, et cetera, et cetera, to the terrorists. But at the end of the day, we don't actually use the US Military, or we hadn't up until this point for direct threats against the homeland, just actual direct threats. And people say, well, you know, most fentanyl isn't coming in from Venezuela. There's more coming in from Mexico. There's more coming in. You know, there's more cocaine from Venezuela. Guess what, guess what, guess what. I totally support killing the Mexican cartel members, too. What a concept. I remember saying this. I was debating the libertarian when I debated the Libertarian candidate for president last year, Chase Oliver and Ryan Grimm was the host. I said, specifically, I said, well, I do actually disagree with, with the idea of legalizing drugs in the United States. And they said, well, the war on drugs has been a failure. And I said, I disagree. It has not been a failure. I said, what do you mean? Of course. Been a fair. I said, no, I disagree, because you haven't allowed us to actually fight drugs like a war. And in a war, you don't sit around and fight it like a policing operation. You kill people. That's the difference. In a war, you kill the enemy. You fight them with violence, and you kill them. So I now, I said this to libertarians. Libertarians lost their minds because libertarians don't actually believe in such things. But it does get to a point. It does absolutely get to a point where Someone is a terrorist or someone is a cartel member, and you want to kill them. And that's what's actually best for your country. That's actually what's best for the defense of your homelands, the defense of your people. Think about how many American kids get killed by fentanyl. How many American families get destroyed because of a fentanyl murder. You're saving lives because these people are animals. They're disgusting. What they do to our country is disgusting and divisive. And that is why it is okay to use the military in these types of operations. And that is why 60% of Americans support it. It's really simple. And by the way, let me explain to you how these. How these double taps work, okay? Because I may have been involved in a couple, three drone strikes in my previous profession. The mission is not concluded until the objective has been neutralized. What does that mean? If your job is to take out the drug boat, you take out the drug boat until it's at the bottom of the ocean. And if people are in the drug boat, that's what we call in the military, collateral damage. Now, you may not like that, but that's the truth, the fact. And the military exists in the real world, and you have to deal with big boy issues, and big boy issues come with big boy answers, and big boy answers means having to suck it up, Buttercup. So you say, wait a minute. Why you just leave the guys? This is like. This is like the same type of rhetoric you hear when. When they say, why couldn't the cops just have shot him in the arm? Why couldn't the cops just shot him in the arm? Why they have to kill him? Why they have to do that? It's so sad. It's awful. You know, Kyle Rittenhouse actually did shoot an arm off of somebody. And look at how the liberals all treated him. He actually did the thing that you guys have said for years that you wanted him to do, that you wanted someone to do. Kyle Rittenhouse does it. And look how they treated Kyle Rittenhouse. Gage grows in crutz, right? Communist antifa. Gabe. Right? I'll never forget that guy even had to change his name. It got that bad. So when you look at the situation, it's very simple. If these guys were left in the.

[Military Official 2]

Water.

[Jack Posobic]

They would be picked up by their gun running buddies or their cartel buddies, and they would then be shot by the cartel buddies for abandoning their cargo. Do you understand how cartels operate? Do you have any inkling of how that world operates? You have any Clue. Have you even given a second of thought to it? They are not like us. They do not operate like us. This is not like your kids, little league team or something. My gosh, these are hardened narco terrorists running narco states in many cases, like Venezuela, like Mexico. And so, yes, you do have to use violence. Is it unfortunate? Of course. Of course it's unfortunate. But let me tell you something right now. Let me tell you something right now. When it comes to defending my family, and this is the way you have to think about this. When it Is there an amount of violence, Is there an amount of violence that you would not cross? Is there a line that you would not cross when it comes to defending your family?

[Under Secretary Arteta]

No.

[Jack Posobic]

Because for me, there is an unlimited amount of violence that I would be willing to employ in the defense of my wife and in the defense of my children. And it's as simple as that. It's really as simple as that. So call it what you want, but it's the truth, and it's got to be the truth. And that's the way the world works. And I said it to Megan Kelly. Now, I wasn't talking about cartels. I was talking about leftist violence at the time and these leftist killer networks, the Marxist killers, like the ones who killed Charlie. And I said, megan, no offense, but it's time to let the man handle things. It's time to let the men handle things. And when it comes to the military, that's what I mean, people are going to say, oh, no, you're going to. What about women in the military? Guys, guys know what I'm talking about. When I say men in this sense, I mean real men making real decisions to provide real defense for our families, our cities and our homeland. And thank you to Secretary Hegseth, to President Trump for working to do that. Because I've been down there and I've seen the type of operations, the type of work they're putting in, and that is their only concern at all. They are mission focused and they're focused on protecting the United States of America and the people who are dwell within it. Ladies and gentlemen, as always, you have my permission to lay ashore.