The military’s emphasis on social awareness is leading to a troubling recruitment challenge.

Pete Hegseth enlisted in the Army in 2001 to combat extremism. He served in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, earning two bronze stars. However, as the co-host of “Fox & Friends Weekend” reveals in his new book “The War on Warriors: Behind the Betrayal of the Men and Women Who Keep Us Free” (June 4, Broadside Books), he is now labeled an unwelcome extremist by the military he once served. The current leadership of our armed forces, focused on diversity and social justice, has changed standards and alienated the brave young patriots who once defended America and its allies with honor. “They believe power is bad, merit is unfair, ideology is more important than hard work, white people are a thing of the past, and safety is preferable to taking risks,” he writes. “Nevertheless, our enemies comprehend the importance of a soldier being strong, skilled, and courageous.” Here is an excerpt:

Throughout history, ordinary men have fought and triumphed in our wars. Prove me wrong.

Imagine this: an 18-year-old young man. Fit, strong, with dirty pants, wearing a tractor baseball cap and a cross tattoo on his arm. Democrats might immediately think of “white rural rage,” while Republicans might worry about the impact of illegal immigrants on his future earnings.

Both should really be thinking, “This is the person who has saved us in every war since our formation and will undoubtedly save us again.”

After years of ineffective recruitment strategies, the United States Army has finally started airing television commercials that primarily feature white men engaging in challenging activities and taking risks.

These are the type of masculine ads that truly appeal to the sense of honor and heroism that healthy young men aspire to. My phone was flooded with messages from veterans indicating, “It must be time for war again!”

Naturally, we cannot wait until a crisis arises to recruit our most vital and essential military demographic. However, that is exactly what Biden’s woke policies have done. Over the past three years, following the social justice foundation laid by Obama, the Pentagon has embraced messages of gender equality, racial diversity, climate activism, and LGBTQ+ representation in their recruitment efforts across all branches of the military.

There is just one issue – not enough lesbians from San Francisco are interested in joining the 82nd Airborne. These recruitment ads not only fail to attract lesbians, but they also turn away young, patriotic, Christian men who traditionally filled our military ranks.

A socially-conscious military is unable to recruit the masculine men who constitute our warrior class. This fact is self-evident. My high school, located in predominantly rural, working-class Minnesota, produced exceptional warriors – tough, football-playing studs who sought their next challenging endeavor.

One of my friends joined the Marines, while another became an Army Ranger, later wounded and recognized for valor in battle. These were high school boys who, at the time, were inspired by the patriotic, tough, masculine messaging in Marine Corps and Army advertisements and stated, “I want to do that.” The military transformed raw, potentially “toxic” masculine energy into trained, disciplined, honorable masculine men. Who knows what fate would have befallen these alpha males in an untrained, unrestrained environment, but the military molded them into exceptional warriors, and now exemplary citizens.

A socially-conscious military is also unable to recruit the less-than-masculine men who, after receiving proper training and discipline, become the masculine men our military requires. This group consists of numerous young men who do not come from military backgrounds but possess a deep love for their country.

In some ways, I fall into this category as well. I aspired to “be all that I can be” but had no understanding of military life. This brings to mind two other high school friends – neither athletic nor tough or “cool,” but from good, patriotic, Christian families. They enlisted in basic training after high school, driven by duty or the desire for a challenge.

One of these men recently retired after 20 years as one of the Air Force’s top jump-masters. The other remains a Lieutenant Colonel in the Air Force. They transitioned from weak and timid individuals to tough and disciplined ones. A military focused on social justice likely would not have recruited either of them.

The military cannot operate like a fraternity from Harvard, catering to increasingly obscure demographics. Our primary demographic is normal men seeking to be heroes, not victims. We are not a collection of offended tribes but a unified force. Our foundation is equality, our trademark is lethality. In our ranks, there is no distinction between black and white; we are all green. Our strength lies in our unity, our love for one another, our families, and above all, our nation – a truth I experienced firsthand in Iraq.

As my platoon followed my hand signals, there was no hesitation – it was a moment of exceptional unity. Looking at these men, strong and resilient, from small-town America, much like myself. My men, each unique in their own way. Different races, different dialects, but all normal men. They are individuals, but at that moment, in enemy territory, we are one. No excuses, no distractions, no women – just men. Men trained to fight, men as tough as nails, men focused on their mission. They had earned their place, their ranks, and their roles. We moved along the country road as we had practiced, with absolute commitment to one another. If the devil himself stood on the opposite side of the street, these thirty-seven men would have charged into the fire for each other.

It’s no surprise that there is a significant recruiting crisis in our military today, particularly among young white men. Why would young, God-fearing, traditional, patriotic individuals be excited about navigating accusations of racism and gender pronouns before embarking on patrols with individuals more concerned about transitioning gender than embracing their warrior spirit? It used to be about army green – all of us united.

Now it’s urban camouflage – that unappealing black, white, and gray pattern. Once again, we find ourselves categorized by skin color – black, white, or other. The gray area is where the Left pushes everything else, dividing soldiers based on race and gender when they should be standing shoulder to shoulder, armed and united. The military was not designed for radical social experiments, but when weaponized, it excels tragically in that arena. We cannot hope to win the wars our nation tasks us with fighting if the threats come from within our own ranks, directly at the forefront of our formations.

Troops have always distrusted their superiors, and rightfully so. However, they’ve never before been on the opposite side of a cultural divide from military leadership. The gap between the lowest and highest ranks has never been wider. In World War II and Vietnam, generals were relieved of duty when they failed. This is no longer the case today.

Despite lackluster performance, they are promoted, often securing lucrative defense contractor roles after retirement, especially if they conform to the trending social justice narratives. Soldiers on the frontlines grapple with half-baked social theories imposed at the unit level, knowing that somewhere a general is ascending the ranks for blindly following the orders of an ignorant or ideologically-driven politician. While a private would be demoted for misplacing a rifle, a general can lose a war or billions in military assets without repercussions.

In the past, we spoke of “mission creep,” the gradual shift from planned objectives leading to a quagmire. Today, we can talk about the loss of our fundamental purpose, our shared creed – our covenant – within our ranks.

This “mission creep” is within our own ranks as our initial purpose as warriors and defenders of the Constitution has evolved into a bureaucratic machine fixated on ideological conformity and societal transformation.

An ineffectual, woke, unaccountable military is an insult – at every level – to the men who are tasked with pulling the trigger. Their job becomes more arduous, less fulfilling, and far more chaotic. Lives are lost, all to appease generals and politicians who claim that their forces are more diverse than ever. The soldiers know where to place the blame – and it’s a defiant one.

You know who is recruiting “heroic men” effectively these days – groups like Antifa and Black Lives Matter among other militant leftist causes. I stood with a riot shield facing them outside Lafayette Square in 2020. They may lack understanding of faith and patriotism, but they possess courage. They are brave men who risk their lives, limbs, and reputations to combat – well, faith and country.

Fortunately, there are still more of “us” than “them.” While the activists of Antifa are vocal, they are also masked, slender, and marginalized. Across America, from one small town to the next, there are still hundreds of thousands of patriotic, robust, manly men ready and willing to serve their country.

The military simply needs to articulate to them and stand by them. They are prepared to sacrifice everything for this nation, but this nation – and our military – must demonstrate that they value these individuals first.

Adapted from the The War On Warriors: Behind the Betrayal of the Men Who Keep Us Free by Pete Hegseth. Copyright © 2024 FOX News Network LLC. Published by Fox News Books, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. Excerpted by permission.