STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Today, President-elect Trump's choice to lead the U.S. military gets a public hearing. Pete Hegseth has already been the subject of public debate. The veteran and TV personality faced news stories about alcohol and even the revelation of a critical email from his mom. His mother has since publicly supported him, as has the president-elect and some senators who were initially skeptical. NPR Pentagon correspondent Tom Bowman is covering the story. Tom, good morning.
TOM BOWMAN, BYLINE: Good morning, Steve.
INSKEEP: What are the questions about Hegseth?
BOWMAN: Well, first of all, there are questions about his personal behavior. A woman alleged that Hegseth assaulted her during a Republican conference in California back in 2017. Hegseth strongly denied the charge. Though he signed a non-disclosure agreement with the woman, he said that agreement was only to save his job at Fox News.
And also, Hegseth has denied allegations of public drunkenness, saying he never had a drinking problem. And finally, Steve, there were issues of poor management when he ran this group, Concerned Veterans of America a decade or more ago. He eventually left that group, and he said both he and the group just decided to part ways.
INSKEEP: Isn't that part about management the essence of the job here? - because this is an assignment running one of the largest and most complex organizations in the history of the world.
BOWMAN: Absolutely. Besides the personal issues, the lack of experience is a huge issue. You look at people like Senator Tammy Duckworth, an Illinois Democrat and Army combat veteran. She says that Hegseth is unqualified for the position since he never reached a senior military position or ran a large company. Here's Duckworth speaking on CNN.
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TAMMY DUCKWORTH: We're talking about an organization that is 3 million servicemen and women and civilians and a budget of over $900 billion. He does not have the experience to run an organization of that size.
BOWMAN: And Steve, all those who have served as defense secretary since the position was created in 1947 came from top posts in government, the military or industry,. That's not the case with Pete Hegseth.
INSKEEP: What he does seem to have, though, is opinions that match those of the president-elect on diversity, equity and inclusion.
BOWMAN: Correct, yeah. And he opposes women serving in ground combat units. Here's Hegseth speaking last year on the "Shawn Ryan Show."
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PETE HEGSETH: I'm straight-up just saying we should not have women in combat roles. It hasn't made us more effective, hasn't made us more lethal, has made fighting more complicated.
BOWMAN: Now, Steve, women have been eligible for ground combat jobs since 2016. There are now some 3,800 women serving in Army infantry, armor, artillery. Another 700 women are in Marine ground combat units. Hegseth's lawyer, Tim Parlatore - he's a Navy veteran - has charged that the standards for the arduous Army Ranger School have been lowered to pursue quotas for women. Army officials deny that to NPR, saying the standards for Ranger School are the same for both men and women. Some 150 women have now passed Ranger School.
INSKEEP: Listening to those numbers, Tom, tells me something. People will point out that, on average, men are bigger and stronger than women. But some women are big and strong, and you're telling me there is a limited number of women, not 50/50, but a limited number of women who meet the standards.
BOWMAN: No, absolutely, Steve. These are really hard things to get through. I've been out in the field with male and female Marines going through training. Some women were rock stars. They could really do the training. And others said, listen, I can't carry a hundred-pound pack. It's not for me. But you're right. Small numbers of women, relatively small numbers of women, can achieve the standard and get into these ground combat roles.
INSKEEP: NPR's Tom Bowman, we'll be listening to your coverage of the hearing. Thanks so much.
BOWMAN: Thanks. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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