Pete Hegseth^[1] was sworn in Saturday as the nation's 29th secretary of defense, quickly joining President Trump's Cabinet^[2] after a dramatic late-night vote in the Senate installed him as the Pentagon's leader.

Hegseth took the oath from Vice President JD Vance in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building with Hegseth's wife, Jennifer Rauchet, at his side and Republican senators looking on. The ceremony came less than 12 hours after Vance broke a 50-50 tie in the Senate to narrowly seal Hegseth's confirmation.

In brief remarks, Hegseth outlined what he said were his guiding principles: “Restore the warrior ethos in everything that we do, rebuild our military and reestablish deterrence.”

“We don’t want to fight wars,” he added. "We want to deter them … and we want to end them responsibly. But if we need to fight them, we’re going to bring overwhelming and decisive force to close with and destroy the enemy and bring our boys home.”

He thanked Vance for his tiebreaking vote and joked that his children were happy their father “won in overtime.”

“It is the honor of a lifetime, sir, to serve under you," Hegseth said, in thanking Trump, who was in Las Vegas on Saturday.

Later, in an emailed message to the American military, he said “we will remain the strongest and most lethal force in the world" and he singled out the needs “to deter aggression in the Indo-Pacific by Communist China ... and reorient to key threats. We will stand by our allies — and our enemies are on notice."

The unusually narrow confirmation for a defense secretary came after questions from members in both parties over Hegseth's qualifications to lead the military, especially amid allegations of heavy alcohol use and aggressive behavior toward women.

For Hegseth, the challenges ahead are steep, as he takes charge of a sprawling bureaucracy at a time of severe challenges around the globe.

He enters office with far less experience than modern defense secretaries before him, acknowledging during his confirmation hearing that he’ll need to build an experienced team as he settles into the job. “I want smarter and more capable people around me than me, and you will get that at the department,” he said in his testimony.

Hegseth also lacks the broad bipartisan support that most have brought to the role. Every Senate Democrat voted against Hegseth’s confirmation, as did three Republicans deeply skeptical of his qualifications for the job.

Adding to the acrimony, Hegseth refused to meet with any Democrats before confirmation, breaking from tradition.

Rarely has a Cabinet nominee faced such wide-ranging concerns about his experience — having been a combat veteran, veterans advocate and Fox News host — as well as behavior as Hegseth, particularly for such a high-profile role atop the U.S. military.

But the Republican-led Senate was determined to confirm Hegseth and round out Trump’s^[3] top national security team.

Democrats, the minority in the Senate, had helped confirm Secretary of State Marco Rubio and CIA Director John Ratcliffe in bipartisan votes. But they fiercely opposed Hegseth, with even the top Democrat on the Armed Services Committee refusing to support him.

Reacting to the vote, Senate Democratic leader Charles Schumer of New York said Republicans have “entrusted the most powerful military in the world to someone with no experience, terrible judgment and serious flaws of character.”

“I hope for the sake of our troops and the good of our country that he can eventually grow into the job,” Schumer said on the Senate floor.

Three Republicans — Sens. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska — also voted against Hegseth, questioning his qualifications for the job.

Hegseth faced allegations that he sexually assaulted a woman^[4] at a Republican conference in California, though he has denied the claims and said the encounter was consensual. He later paid $50,000 to the woman^[5].

Hegseth also had promised during his confirmation hearings that he would not drink while on the job, were he to be confirmed.

Meanwhile, his opposition to women in combat became an issue after Trump announced his choice in November. But, in the face of questions from Congress, Hegseth appeared to shifted.

Asked about the issue on the “Megyn Kelly Show” in early December, Hegseth said he cares only that military standards are maintained. Women serve in combat, he said, and, “if we have the right standard and women meet that standard, roger. Let’s go.”

Hegseth told senators that he supports women in the military but wants to review standards to make sure they are not lowered to accommodate women.

At the swearing-in ceremony, a question directed to Hegseth about why women in the armed services should trust him was answered by Vance.

“All people in our armed services should trust him because he looks out for them and he is going to fight for them," Vance said.

___

Beaumont reported from Des Moines, Iowa.

"Content not found." That was the message Friday on the webpage for the Marine Corps^[1]' Culture and Inclusion Branch located in Quantico^[2], Virginia.

The branch's page previously featured messages such as "treating each Marine, despite diverse backgrounds, with care and respect are fundamental to cohesion." But it was apparently pulled down this week as part of the military's frantic rush to scrub programs and policies that advocate for women, people from racial minority groups and LGBTQ+ troops.

The Army^[3], Navy^[4], Marine Corps, Air Force^[5] and Space Force^[6] -- as well as the Department of Veterans Affairs^[7] -- were all working this week to comply with President Donald Trump's order Monday to end all federal equality and diversity efforts. But the hurry to eliminate the various programs and policies across the military led to a confusing landscape where seemingly unrelated policies were canceled and it was unclear what programs were still in effect.

Read Next: Inside the Military's Scramble to Move Troops to the Mexico Border^[8]

No service had come forward by Friday with a comprehensive list of what programs and policies have been affected by the order.

The military has worked for years to improve the service experience for women and people with minority backgrounds -- and most recently, gay and transgender troops -- as the national recruiting^[9] pool and general population have become more diverse. But those efforts became a political lightning rod amid attacks by Republicans claiming such "woke" policies have weakened the military. After being sworn in Monday, Trump carried out a promise to gut the programs across the federal government, including the military.

The service branches' communications to the rank and file and public about Trump's order were mixed. The Army^[10] and Marine Corps^[11] transmitted public messages that served as official guidance to their troops, while the Navy did not. The Air Force and Space Force also do not appear to have offered official guidance, issuing two memos primarily on their service websites.

Those messages echoed memos sent across all federal agencies: All diversity efforts would be shuttered and recipients should report efforts to disguise or obscure such programs. They warned of potential punishment if the attempts were not reported within 10 days.

They also ordered the removal of websites and documents from public view, as well as the elimination of groups and teams that were working on efforts like improving quality of life for women and minorities.

On Wednesday, the Army's acting civilian leader issued a memo that called for the service^[12] to take down all "outward-facing media" that dealt with diversity and inclusion and cancel all related training immediately.

The next day, the Army removed its sexual harassment and assault prevention policy^[13] from the website that houses service rules, meaning the policy was unavailable to be referenced by soldiers and commanders. The regulation governs how to properly document incidents and best practices for victim protection. The service's regulation on command policy^[14], which outlines the expectations of commanders, was also taken down.

When Military.com inquired about the removal, several Army officials said that the policies were taken down as part of the Army's scrub of anything that might be "DEI related."

They were restored several hours after the inquiry was made.

Meanwhile, on Thursday, a Navy official told Military.com that, while the sea service was complying with the order, it didn't have much in the way of public-facing materials to remove owing to the last several congressional policy bills that clamped down on diversity programs^[15] across the military.

Yet on Friday, a Navy memo was posted to social media^[16] from Vice Adm. Nancy Lacore -- the head of the Navy Reserve -- announcing she was canceling six reserve force policies, including those on anti-harassment, fraternization, and safety and occupational health.

The other three included a diversity policy, an equal employment opportunity policy, and a military equal opportunity policy.

When asked about the document, which went out Thursday, the same Navy official confirmed that the memo was real but stressed that the referenced policies were being "updated to ensure compliance with all directives outlined in executive orders issued by the president."

The Navy official said the service was not ready to formally say whether any civilian employees were placed on leave as a result of Trump's orders. The Army did not comment in time for publication.

The effect of Trump's order on the Marine Corps also appears to be a series of downed websites that leave questions as to whether those programs are still in effect.

The moves by the service, including the removal of the Culture and Inclusion Branch webpage, seem to contradict assurances from the Marine Corps' top officer that the branch had no programs that would be scaled back by the new administration.

Military.com asked about the status of those who worked in that branch office on Friday. But the service directed the publication to a statement from the Office of the Secretary of Defense, which reiterated the effort to comply with the president's executive orders.

Web links to other Marine Corps initiatives, such as the Diversity AIMED program, which sought to recruit "historically underrepresented populations" into the reserves, also seemed to have disappeared on Thursday. The service did not say when asked whether that program had been canceled.

Between 2010 and 2020, diversity for enlisted Marines and officers surged, according to a Marine Corps Times article from 2022^[17], which also cited service officials touting the Diversity AIMED program launched that year. As recently as October, the Marine Corps' recruiting command said that "diversity officer accessions accounted for 35% of all officer accessions" in 2024, though the command described that population as men and women who bring a "diversity of background, culture and skill," a spokesperson said at the time.

Gen. Eric Smith, the service's top military official, rebuffed the idea that the Marine Corps had any diversity, equity and inclusion programs, or DEI -- the term used by the Trump administration -- when asked by reporters at an event last week.

"As far as DEI, the Marine Corps has not had DEI programs," Smith said, citing examples of women who have taken jobs as artillery officers, pilots and astronauts and met the physical and academic standards set out by the service to do so.

"We don't do DEI in the Marine Corps; we never have. We're a meritocracy-based organization. We always have been," he said. "If you want to apply for a [military occupational specialty], strap on your pack, grab your rifle, and make a run at it."

When asked whether the commandant had anything to add to his previous statement or in relation to programs now being shut down by the Marine Corps, a spokesperson told Military.com he did not have any further comments.

The president's order had a more clear and immediate effect on the Air Force and Space Force.

Military.com reported Wednesday that Acting Air Force Secretary Gary Ashworth had issued a memo saying all of the Air Force and Space Force's Barrier Analysis Working Groups -- which fought for more progressive policies for women, LGBTQ+ and minority airmen and Guardians -- were being discontinued immediately^[18].

Many of the social media pages for those groups began to disappear or be renamed shortly after that order was made. Some of the website pages for the Department of the Air Force's diversity efforts were no longer loading on Friday or could not be located online, including details about the Air Force Academy^[19]'s Diversity and Inclusion minor or Air Combat Command's Organizational Culture Office.

Two memos were posted publicly to the Air Force and Space Force websites: the memo ending the diverse working groups^[20] and another asking personnel to "remove all outward-facing media (websites, social media accounts, etc.) of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) offices" as well as "withdraw any final or pending documents, directives, orders, materials and equity plans" related to Trump's order.

That memo^[21] also ordered the services to cancel any "DEIA-related training and terminate any DEIA-related contract." The scope of training and policies that may be caught in those orders was still unclear.

As the military worked to adhere with mixed results, the Department of Veterans Affairs was one of the more aggressive agencies in not only carrying out Trump's order but also being more transparent than most in communicating its effects.

Acting VA Secretary Todd Hunter issued a memo announcing the department would close all diversity offices and cancel diversity-related contracts.

"These programs divided Americans by race, wasted taxpayer dollars, and resulted in shameful discrimination," Hunter wrote in the memo.

In addition to deleting websites, the agency also shuttered all offices focused on diversity initiatives and placed 60 employees whose jobs were solely created to support diversity activities on paid administrative leave, according to VA spokeswoman Morgan Ackley.

Related: Air Force Groups that Advocated for Beard Policies, Better Body Armor Are Gutted by Trump Directive^[22]

Military units from across the country are scrambling to get in place along the southern border following President Donald Trump's order earlier this week^[1], and U.S. aircraft have already begun flying deported immigrants out of the country as the mission rapidly moves along.

After the Department of Defense announced Wednesday that 1,500 troops would be initially assigned to the border mission, what bases and units they were coming from and what other forces could be included remained questions.

By Friday, U.S. Northern Command -- which was tasked with overseeing the mission -- began to provide some details but noted in a statement that "the exact number of personnel will fluctuate as units rotate personnel and as additional forces are tasked to deploy once planning efforts are finalized."

Read Next: Problems with Tricare Contract Transition 'Actively Harming' Military, Lawmaker Tells Pentagon^[2]

Since Trump issued his executive order to use even more active-duty troops to secure the border late Monday, the Pentagon -- largely led by placeholder officials -- has moved fast to comply with the presidential mandate, which set aggressive deadlines for military planners.

During that effort, officials have struggled to articulate many of the details that are normally a fundamental part of any military deployment^[3], even as this one reportedly could ultimately swell to as many as 10,000 troops ^[4]and as service members were already beginning to head to the border.

"If you see in the executive order, the 30-day timeline for a Level 3 plan, that's an incredibly aggressive timeline," an official from U.S. Northern Command, or NORTHCOM, told Military.com on Friday. "Level 3" refers to plans that are one step below a fully formed operational document^[5].

They noted that plans like that "usually take way longer to come together, so it's all hands on deck."

Multiple service and command officials spoke to Military.com on condition of anonymity to explain details of a rapidly evolving military situation.

On Wednesday afternoon, the Pentagon held its first briefing to offer details about the initial wave of 1,500 troops being mobilized to the southern border.

While reporters were told that the breakdown would be 1,000 soldiers from the Army^[6] and 500 Marines, the senior defense official who spoke to reporters stressed that it was just "36 hours after the [executive order], so that's something to keep in mind." No details about what units would be tapped were offered.

That evening, a Marine Corps^[7] official told Military.com that 500 Marines from 1st Marine Division out of Camp Pendleton^[8], California, were prepared to respond to the border, with preparations in place to surge that number to up to 2,500 personnel if called upon to do so.

It would take until Friday for NORTHCOM to offer the same level of detail for the Army when, in a statement, the combatant command named 13 Army units from Texas, Kentucky, New York, Georgia, Kansas, Colorado and Washington state making up the 1,000 soldiers, as well as the battalions and units that comprise the 500 Marines being deployed.

Pentagon officials also told reporters Wednesday that all 500 Marines were being pulled from the Federal Emergency Management Agency mission to support California's wildfire response. But on Friday, the Marine Corps clarified to Military.com that, while a "majority" of the Marines being sent to the border had previously been tapped to respond to wildfires in California, "there are a few exceptions to that," including shifting certain capabilities and replacing Marines coming up on the end of their service contracts.

Amid this fluid situation was also an order from Acting Defense Secretary Robert Salesses to the services to pause all social media use though, in a statement Thursday, he did say that the "pause does not apply for content and imagery relative to the DoD's current border security operations."

Marines Move Out

While officials were hesitant to offer early details on which specific units were actually heading the border, images of the response effort were already being made available online.

Marines were photographed laying concertina wire^[9] at the border as early as Thursday and, on Friday, the White House posted a video on social media^[10] of Marine Corps MV-2B Ospreys^[11] landing and offloading Marines at what appeared to be the border with Mexico as agents from the U.S. Border Patrol looked on.

Another Marine Corps official told Military.com that an initial element of about 50 Marines arrived early Thursday morning in San Diego, which is about 30 minutes north of California's southern border. They said that roughly 450 other Marines from the unit, specifically detachments from 1st Combat Engineer and 7th Combat Engineer battalions, were staged and ready to move from Camp Pendleton -- further north in the state -- once staging areas were set.

As of Friday afternoon, all 500 Marines who staged at Camp Pendleton were at the border, a Marine Corps official told Military.com.

Two Ospreys from the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing out of Marine Corps Air Station Miramar^[12], near San Diego, reconnoitered landing zones at California's southern border Thursday afternoon, another Marine Corps official told Military.com on Friday.

Marines with VMM-161 and MWSS-373, Osprey and aviation ground support squadrons, all belonging to 3rd MAW, met with Border Patrol agents on the ground before returning to MCAS Miramar as part of an effort to scout potential landing areas for delivering supplies and personnel if necessary for future operations, according to two Marine officials.

Army's Rapid Response Force

Multiple military officials also told Military.com that the 82nd Airborne's 3rd Brigade Combat Team -- one of the nation's most visible units and the military's rapid response force -- is also preparing to deploy to the southern border.

The use of the 82nd Airborne is significant since the unit is typically used to respond to major military crises that threaten U.S. troops, citizens or allies abroad. In recent years, it has been tapped to respond to escalating tensions with Iran^[13], put on alert and deployed to Europe ahead of the Russian invasion of Ukraine^[14], and took part in the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Officials also said that part of the 10th Mountain Division out of Fort Drum^[15] in New York may serve as a headquarters element for the response at the border.

However, officials at the Pentagon were not ready to make the announcement Friday.

"At this time, there are no units from the 82nd Airborne Division or the 10th Mountain Division mobilizing to support the mission at the southern border," a defense official told Military.com, but they added that the Pentagon was "actively planning and assessing the situation."

The Washington Post reported Friday^[16] that one plan under consideration was a dramatic and public road march of Stryker^[17] armored combat vehicles to the border.

Air Force Repatriation Flights

Meanwhile, Air Force^[18] C-17 Globemaster IIIs^[19], one from the 60th Air Mobility Wing out of Fort Bliss^[20], Texas, and another out of Tuscon, Arizona, according to photo captions, were flying immigrants out of the country as recently as Wednesday evening. The Department of Homeland Security provided officers for the flight.

U.S. Transportation Command is leading the Air Force's airlift efforts for the border mission.

"We can confirm that overnight two Air Force C-17s conducted repatriation flights from the U.S. to Guatemala," a defense official confirmed to Military.com.

Images of the deportation flights were posted by the Department of Defense on Wednesday. Additionally, images of UH-72 Lakota^[21] helicopters preparing for and operating surveillance flights out of New Mexico were also broadcast.

"This is just the beginning of something more and something new," the NORTHCOM official told Military.com on Friday, adding that the combatant command was "in the middle of an aggressive 30-day planning effort that will be looking across domains and across components to provide the solution of securing the border."

"This is the sole focus of the NORTHCOM planners, and they're not only looking at the comfortable domain of land, we are looking at land, maritime, air, cyber -- everything."

-- Steve Beynon contributed to this report.

Related: Trump Orders 1,500 Active-Duty Troops to Border Ahead of Pentagon Security Plan Deadline^[22]