ROBERT MAGINNIS: God, duty and the return of moral clarity at West Point

On Saturday morning, I sat watching the rainfall autumn implicit the United States Military Academy arsenic different procreation of cadets marched crossed Michie Stadium and into the Long Gray Line. The country stirred memories I had not revisited successful years. I graduated from West Point successful 1973, and I tuned successful partially to refresh my representation earlier a tv interrogation aboriginal that afternoon. By the extremity of the ceremony, thing much important had happened: for the archetypal clip successful galore years, I heard a commencement code astatine West Point that spoke honestly astir God, duty, sacrifice, and war.

The talker was Secretary of War Pete Hegseth. Years ago, aft retiring from the Pentagon, I joined the Family Research Council and yet became its vice president for policy. During the summertime of 2000, we had respective interns, including a young Princeton pupil and hoops subordinate named Pete Hegseth. He was intelligent, personable, disciplined, and openly grounded successful his Christian religion adjacent then. My children liked him immediately.

U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth salutes graduating cadets during the United States Military Academy commencement ceremonial successful Michie Stadium astatine the U.S. Military Academy connected May 23, 2026 successful West Point, New York. U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth was announced arsenic the 2026 commencement talker conscionable 2 days earlier the event. (Adam Gray/Getty Images)

Years later, I watched Pete look arsenic a salient tv property connected Fox News, wherever I person besides spent galore years arsenic a subject analyst. But beyond television, Pete served his state successful uniform, deploying to Iraq and Afghanistan with the Army National Guard and aboriginal advocating tirelessly for veterans. That inheritance gave him credibility earlier the 994 graduates seated earlier him Saturday morning.

Unlike galore caller commencement speakers, helium did not springiness a cautiously sanitized code meant to offend nary one. Instead, helium offered these aboriginal officers thing they seldom perceive from Washington: a candid relationship of the calling they had chosen.

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The centerpiece of Hegseth’s code came from Isaiah 6:8: "Whom shall I send, and who volition spell for us? … Here americium I! Send me." That verse could hardly beryllium much fitting. These young men and women are not simply collecting diplomas similar graduates astatine astir universities — they are becoming commissioned officers successful the United States Army. Many volition yet pb soldiers successful combat. Some volition deploy to unsafe places wrong months. Some whitethorn ne'er travel home.

West Point has ever understood that weight. Founded successful 1802 by President Thomas Jefferson, the academy exists for 1 purpose: to nutrient leaders of quality susceptible of defending the nation. Its graduates person fought successful each large struggle from the Civil War done Iraq and Afghanistan. The motto — "Duty, Honor, Country" — was not crafted for comfortableness oregon firm success. It was forged successful sacrifice.

President Donald Trump and US Military Academy Superintendent Lt. Gen. Steven Gilland perceive to the nationalist anthem earlier Trump delivers the commencement code astatine the 2025 graduation ceremonial astatine the US Military Academy West Point connected May 24, 2025, successful West Point, New York.  (CHARLY TRIBALLEAU / AF)

My ain graduation successful 1973 came during different troubled era. The Vietnam War was winding down, though Americans were inactive dying overseas, the Middle East was unstable, and Cold War contention with the Soviet Union dominated strategical thinking. Our commencement talker was Admiral Thomas H. Moorer. My classmates entered an Army struggling done 1 of the astir hard transitions successful its history.

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Today’s cadets inherit a satellite arsenic unsafe and considerably much complex. Russia’s warfare successful Ukraine continues. China openly pressures Taiwan. Iran fuels proxy unit crossed the Middle East. Artificial intelligence, cyber warfare, autonomous drones, and accusation operations are reshaping the battlefield faster than subject institutions tin accommodate — and dissimilar the Cold War, this contention offers nary agelong plateau of managed stability. Into that world, Hegseth delivered a connection that subject civilization has agelong needed to perceive again openly.

For years, excessively galore subject leaders and nationalist officials behaved arsenic though references to God oregon Scripture were someway retired of spot successful authoritative ceremonies. Yet combat, of each quality experiences, is wherever specified questions property hardest. Under fire, questions astir courage, morality, sacrifice, and eternity are not philosophical abstractions — they are contiguous and consequential. Hegseth recognized that information and chose not to sidestep it.

He besides went straight aft an organization nonaccomplishment that has occupied the Pentagon successful caller years: the military’s absorption with diversity, equity, and inclusion programs that displaced readiness and standards. Hegseth praised the academy’s instrumentality to merit portion reemphasizing "Duty, Honor, Country" arsenic the model for what commissioned officers beryllium their nation. He reminded the graduates that the subject exists to combat and triumph the nation’s wars — a constituent that should ne'er person required restating, but successful the existent climate, intelligibly did.

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Combat yet settles each question an ideology sidesteps. No model survives interaction with an force determined to kill, and the officer’s irreducible work nether occurrence is motivation clarity — the judgement to enactment erstwhile accusation is incomplete, the courageousness to carnivore work for decisions made successful conditions nary grooming workout afloat replicates, the religion to pb men and women done circumstances that volition interruption anyone not anchored successful thing beyond themselves.

One portion of Hegseth’s code stayed with maine particularly. He spoke astir his 7 children astatine the ceremonial and said helium would beryllium arrogant if 1 time his ain lad answered the nation’s telephone by saying, "Send me." As I listened, I thought astir the continuity represented astatine West Point — each graduating people joining a concatenation stretching backmost much than 2 centuries. Every epoch brings antithetic technology, antithetic threats, a antithetic strategical context, but the republic’s dependence connected men and women consenting to spot work supra aforesaid does not change.

War Secretary Pete Hegseth and instrumentalist Kid Rock airs for photograph with troops successful beforehand of helicopter. (@SecWar connected X)

That world settled implicit maine again arsenic the Corps of Cadets sang the poetic hymn "The Corps" pursuing the ceremony. Those words, archetypal sung connected the steps of the Cadet Chapel connected June 12, 1910, and portion of each West Point graduation since 1911, inactive echo faintly from fifty-three years ago. The Long Gray Line endures.

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That continuity is precisely what is astatine involvement arsenic today’s graduates participate an Army progressively shaped by machine-assisted decision-making, autonomous systems, and cyber capabilities that their predecessors could not person imagined. As I research astatine magnitude successful The New AI Cold War and AI for Mankind’s Future, this exertion is reshaping the quality of modern warfare successful ways that rise profound motivation questions — but it cannot proviso the motivation judgement that distinguishes a person from an instrument. That judgement is formed successful character, and quality is shaped by precisely the benignant of honorable reckoning Hegseth offered Saturday morning.

America does not simply request technically proficient officers. It needs leaders who recognize some the horrors of warfare and the motivation work that accompanies bid — young men and women inactive consenting to reply the past telephone that has summoned each procreation of soldiers earlier them: Here americium I, Lord. Send me.

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