Hegseth Orders 33 Directives to Reshape Military Education

Pete Hegseth announced 33 directives on November 9 to change how the U.S. military educates midcareer and senior officers, making combat readiness and warfighting central priorities. A memorandum released with the announcement directs the reforms to take effect immediately across senior service colleges and intermediate-level military education institutions.

The changes replace the traditional written thesis as the primary senior-college capstone with artificial intelligence-assisted wargames and high-pressure decision exercises. Schools must also introduce mandatory end-of-course wargames or comprehensive examinations, while revised grading policies are to emphasize individually assessed exercises, formal writing and exams over seminar participation.

Hegseth’s directives establish a permanent wargaming network among the senior colleges, with exercises intended to test officers in joint operations. They also call for expanded access to classified information and investment in sensitive compartmented information facilities at war-college campuses, where students can study classified intelligence and conduct exercises using information about real-world threats.