The Unserious ‘Story’ of How Pete Hegseth Gendered American Bombing Crews

T he U.S. bombed nuclear facilities in Iran.

But enough about that. What really matters is Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s problematic language — specifically, his casual gendering of the American B-2 bombing crews.

Or so one might think based on the attention reporters gave the issue last week.

“Why not acknowledge the female pilots that also participated in this mission?” Associated Press Pentagon correspondent Tara Copp asked Hegseth during a June 26 briefing. “The early messages you sent out only congratulated the ‘boys.’”

It’s true. Hegseth gendered the pilots. The U.S. secretary of defense told reporters on June 22 that “Tehran is certainly calculating the reality that planes flew from the middle of America and Missouri overnight, completely undetected over three of their most highly sensitive sites, and we were able to destroy nuclear capabilities.” He continued, “And our boys in those bombers are on their way home right now” (emphasis added).

At the New York Times, Pentagon reporter John Ismay smelled a problematic statement.

“In the briefing,” Ismay wrote on the Times’ live blog, “Hegseth referred to B-2 pilots as ‘our boys on those bombers,’ yet both men and women have been trained to fly them.”

I’ll do you one better: Fox News’ Jennifer Griffin confirmed on June 22 that at least one member of the bomber crew is indeed a woman.

Yet, rather than merely note this detail as additional context to a much larger story, news organizations, including PBS and MSNBC, have presented it almost as a “fact-check” of Hegseth’s press conference.

“Hegseth said Sunday that ‘our boys in those bombers are on their way home right now,’” reported PBS. “But a U.S. official said one woman was among those piloting the B-2 bombers.” CNN Pentagon reporter Haley Britzky likewise highlighted a report that noted the female pilot, drawing a direct contrast with Hegseth’s use of “our boys.” And so on.

The bombing mission was covert and complex, involving American B-2 bombers taking off from Missouri, flying roughly 6,500 miles nonstop to Iran, dropping their payloads, and then returning to the U.S. It’s an impressive yet challenging story in military planning, logistics, and organization — a real test for even veteran journalists. And in terms of foreign policy and the ongoing conflict between Israel and Iran, there’s also plenty to cover, as recent U.S. involvement could lead to drastic outcomes, whether full-scale war or an uncharacteristic outbreak of (temporary) peace in the region. In short, there’s plenty of meat on this bone for the hungry journalist. Yet, for whatever reason, Hegseth’s casual use of “our boys” became its own mini-story. (In response to questions about his language, the defense secretary laughed, saying journalists have a remarkable ability to miss the point.)

After the June 26 briefing, where an AP reporter pressed Hegseth on his speech, the usual outlets rushed to their corners to declare victory, including the Daily Beast, which ran this humdinger of a headline: “Female Reporters Call Out Hegseth’s Sexism and Smears to His Face” (half of that headline referred to a separate clash between Hegseth and Griffin).

This is embarrassing.

First, it’s not unreasonable for the Department of Defense to opt against sharing detailed information about the crews involved in bombing the world’s leading sponsor of terrorism.

Second, and perhaps more importantly — who cares?

In a story with such weight, where stakes are high and there’s plenty of material for journalists to cover, why is anyone wasting time on whether Hegseth used “boys” or “girls”?

How does this serve the public interest?

It would be one thing if a couple of reporters casually discussed the matter on social media, on their own time. But the fact that this trivial talking point gained enough traction to be included in an official briefing suggests that, just maybe, Hegseth and the Trump administration are onto something when they talk about the all-pervasive influences of DEI and wokeism.