Published on, Sept. 3 -- September 3, 2025 2:15 AM

For whatever his strengths and weaknesses, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth may not be able to change the name of the Department of Defense to a more suitable anti-DEI title such as the Department of When Did We Win the Last War or the Department of Still Trying. But he may be more successful in reminding the department's senior officers of the fate of one Rear Admiral John Byng, late of the Royal Navy. Byng was executed by firing squad in March 1757 on the technical grounds of "failing to form a conterminous line" that in simple English meant "he failed to do his utmost" and lost an otherwise unwinnable Battle of Minorca.

The Trump administration may not be literally shooting flag off...