JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
Newly installed defense secretary Pete Hegseth held a town hall with troops at the Pentagon today. There, he repeated something he has said a lot, that one of his main goals is to, quote, "rebuild our military." This comes as the Pentagon is drawing up plans to possibly withdraw troops from Syria and, after the president's talk of the U.S. taking over Gaza, prompted questions about whether the U.S. military will be involved. We've got Pentagon correspondent Tom Bowman here in studio to sort through everything that happened this week. Hi there.
TOM BOWMAN, BYLINE: Hey, Juana.
SUMMERS: So, Tom, secretary of defense Pete Hegseth held this town hall today with troops. What stuck out to you?
BOWMAN: Well, one thing was he indicated the increase in recruiting numbers for the army was directly due to President Trump coming back to the White House. Let's listen.
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PETE HEGSETH: Restoring the warrior ethos is critical, and I think we've seen that already in the recruiting numbers. I think we've seen an enthusiasm and excitement from young men and women who want to join the military actively because they are interested in being a part of the finest fighting force the world has to offer and not doing a lot of other things that serve, oftentimes too often, to divide or distract.
BOWMAN: Well, there's no evidence that's true. Army officials tell me the better recruiting numbers over the past year have had to do more with changes the army recruiting command made, like, you know, a new marketing campaign, more training for recruiters. The army also saw - get this - a 17% increase in female recruits from the previous year. One possible reason - female soldiers now have more opportunities, such as ground combat jobs, although Hegseth has questioned whether standards have been lowered to allow women in those jobs. The army denies any lowering of standards. Hegseth has said he has promised a review.
SUMMERS: Right. OK, let me ask you about this, Tom. What about this administration-wide anti diversity, equity and inclusion drive, where they've sort of tagged diversity efforts as counterproductive and other things? What did Hegseth say there?
BOWMAN: Well, Hegseth once again took on diversity at the town hall, and he said, those who say diversity is our strength is what he called, quote, "the single dumbest phrase in military history." And he has taken aim at DEI programs within the Pentagon and also the service academies. West Point disbanded its cadet clubs, including the Korean American Relations Seminar, the National Society of Black Engineers, the Vietnamese American Cadet Association, among others. I'm told the Naval Academy will soon do the same. I know professors are also combing their writings to see if they've written anything along the lines of DEI that could get them in trouble.
SUMMERS: Let's turn now to Syria, if we can. How many U.S. troops are there, and why is this topic coming up now?
BOWMAN: Well, the Pentagon has asked for a review and also options for the 2,000 U.S. troops in northeast Syria. They work with the Kurdish forces to go after the remnants of ISIS. The options could include, Juana, removing them all or keeping a smaller number there. Now, Trump tried to remove all troops in 2018 and was talked out of it by his advisers. The worry is that if the U.S. leaves, ISIS could once again gain strength in both Syria and Iraq.
SUMMERS: Last thing, Tom, President Trump surprised a lot of people when he talked about the U.S. potentially taking over Gaza. What do we know?
BOWMAN: Well, no one was more surprised than military officials I talked with. President Trump at first said the U.S. military might get involved, then he backed off. But several retired senior officers say, listen, if the U.S. takes over Gaza just like it did Iraq and Afghanistan, you'll likely see troops on the ground.
SUMMERS: NPR's Tom Bowman, thank you.
BOWMAN: You're welcome.
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