Why Pete Hegseth incompetence is costing the sanity and possible lives of American sailors

The legendary Chinese General Sun Tzu sometimes gets ridiculed for some of the more benign suggestions in The Art of War.

Like remembering to feed your soldiers, otherwise your army is doomed and its forces will start to lose loyalty or even perish.

It does not seem like Pete Hegseth has gotten that message or even understands how to properly treat American soldiers and service members.

Sailors lost at sea

As reported earlier, around 5,000 sailors and Marines on the USS Abraham Lincoln sailing on the Arabian Sea because of the prolonged military operation in Iran are in the eighth month of deployment right in the middle of nowhere. And if that is not bad enough, essential supplies are starting to run out.

Now some of these sailors and service members are trying to go overboard because of these inhumane conditions. Reports back in April tracked food shortages and supply delays of vital things like toilet paper.

There is also the mental health aspect of being deployed in the middle of the sea for longer than expected. Shelby Sanders, who has a mother on the ship, told the Navy Times that she is struggling because of the intense mission.

“When she can email me, she’s definitely down,” Sanders said. “I think they’ve had five weeks of non-stop combat operations or something like that, so that makes it really tough to communicate consistently or even know if we’ll be able to. It sucks.”

Pete Hegseth in the middle of it all

Before he left his Fox News hosting gig to be the Secretary of Defense, he served in the United States Army. So on the surface, he should know a thing or two about how to treat his military personnel.

Nonetheless, it did not take long before Hegseth changed his official title from Secretary of Defense to Secretary of War. This was done as part of an effort to refocus the US military into a more savage “warrior ethos.”

And that focus takes precedence over basic military needs.

Claiming the families are lying

Politicians are now also joining the families in demanding answers.

One of them is the Democratic congressional member from California, Mark Levin, who is trying to voice his support for the families affected.

On social media, he describes the conditions on board the USS Abraham Lincoln as untenable. He describes from firsthand accounts what they are going through.

“Moldy showers, broken toilets, laundry down for weeks, long stretches with no hot water, a meal that came down to half a cup of rice and two tortillas. No soap, deodorant, or toothpaste.”

Pete Hegseth rejects the claims and reports from the families and calls them “More FAKE NEWS.”

Hegseth is losing the plot

Levin fired back at Hegseth. “These men and women signed up to serve their country. The least their country owes them is hot water, a working toilet and a real meal. Hegseth cannot even manage that, and he has the nerve to look their families in the eye and call them liars.”

Pete Hegseth has been a highly controversial public figure since President Trump appointed him back in January 2025.

There have been reports that he cares more about the optics of his persona and public messaging. He had a makeup studio installed at the Pentagon, so he could record his videos more quickly.

He was also caught quoting a fake Bible verse from the movie Pulp Fiction at a prayer service because he wanted to underline a message of vengeance.

And on Monday, he seemed out of it as he was acting erratically and sweating profusely during a ceremony in South Carolina. He does not seem focused on the task at hand.

Will there be consequences?

The suicide attempts aboard the military ship were luckily avoided, but it seems that tragedy will strike at some point if conditions do not improve or the 5,000 people aboard the ship do not get to go home soon.

Families called an emergency virtual meeting with Navy leadership last week, voicing the same concerns, and now lawmakers are trying to get meaningful answers from Hegseth’s department.

However, it remains to be seen whether there will be any consequences for Pete Hegseth. While he has clashed with President Trump in the past, Trump has also defended and praised him numerous times, calling him a “smart guy” and good-looking.

These dire conditions come across as a larger point Pete Hegseth wants to make about all of the US military being more “manly” and “battle-tested.”

Yet sometimes the best steps to take are the simple ones, as Sun Tzu laid out centuries ago.

This article is made and published by Daniel Wolfram, who may have used AI in the preparation