War Department. Oh, Hell No!

Pete Hegseth has done and said some good things, but today I learned that he wants to rename the Department of Defense to the War Department.

Hell no.

First, I tire of renaming things. It's a name. It's fine, stop renaming things.

Second, and as importantly, the War Department was for the army. The Navy and Marine Corps were in the Navy Department. The name Department of Defense was not a renaming of the War Department, as so many seem to claim. It was a compromise name to combine the Navy and Army into one agency. We haven't won a war since.

We have an army and it is fine. No complaints. But it is a mistake to conclude that our most important military branch is the Army. We are by nature a maritime nation. We have become the dominant and most powerful nation in the history of the world because we are strong on the seas, and have maintained the Pax Americana by keeping the sea lanes free and open. Any military venture (where military means army) we have attempted has been successful only because of our navy.

There is no reason to put the Navy and Marine Corps into the Army. Flat out no. That is a non-starter, Mr. Hesgeth.