Hegseth’s new ‘field manual’ for troops is filled with his speeches and Trump promising not to fight ‘dumb wars’

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has issued service members a 144-page "field manual" that consists largely of his own speeches, with a foreword from President Donald Trump promising that troops will not be sent into "dumb Wars." ABC News journalist Steven Beynon reported that about 600 troops received copies at Hegseth's "State of the Force" event in Quantico, Virginia, on Wednesday, according to The Independent.

Trump's foreword frames the military's purpose as peace, which he says is the reason forces train for future conflicts. Writing as commander in chief, he tells troops he will let them be "violent, lethal and unstoppable" and will always support them. He closes by thanking readers for their attention to the matter.

The remainder of the volume reproduces addresses by Hegseth. One is his September 2025 talk on reviving a "warrior ethos," in which he greeted listeners at the "War Department" and declared that the era of the Department of Defense had ended. Another is his January 2026 speech on technological dominance. In it, he praised Elon Musk and SpaceX, calling them "a testament to the strength of American ingenuity."

The book pairs the administration's pledge of restraint abroad with a message of readiness and lethality, and it puts the defense secretary's own rhetoric at the center of what rank-and-file troops were given to read.

Summarized by PolitiKool from The Independent’s reporting. Read the full story at The Independent →