Hundreds of veterans will gather in Washington to march in support of Pete Hegseth’s confirmation

FIRST ON FOX: Two former Navy SEALs plan to bring hundreds of veterans to Washington, DC, next week to march in support of Pete Hegseth’s confirmation for Minister of Defense.

Hegseth, a former National Guard member, will take the hot seat before the Armed Services Committee at a hearing Tuesday before the confirmation vote.

The group, organized by Bill Brown and Rob Sweetman, plans to pack “as many veterans as possible into the hearing room.” They plan to meet veterans outside the Dirksen Senate Office Building at 4 a.m., before the building opens at 7 a.m. and the hearing begins at 9:30 a.m.

The couple met Hegseth through his participation in the annual New York SEAL Swim in the Hudson River, organized by Brown.

AND a group of veterans will also meet at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial at 9 a.m. to march in support of Hegseth. Brown invites all veterans to bring American flags and join their group.

PETE HEGSETH SAYS HE HAS NOT HEARD FROM WEST POINT SINCE EMPLOYEE ‘ERROR’ DENIED HIS ACCEPTANCE

“There’s something really powerful about the physical presence of support, other than social media,” Sweetman said. His organization, 62Romeo, helps veterans getting out of the military get back to sleep and helps sponsor events.

Sweetman expects at least 100 SEALs and hundreds of other veterans to join.

Brown said he and others began organizing the march because of “the utter dismay that many of us in the military, many of us who have served our country and war and overseas, have with the current leadership in Pentagon.”

Jurandir “J” Araujo, Hegseth’s first commanding officer when he was stationed at Guantanamo Bay prison in 2004, who plans to help rally support, told Fox News Digital that he told his colleagues at the time that Hegseth would one day be president.

“I immediately noticed his dedication and commitment to the mission, and not just to the mission but to his people.”

“As a young second lieutenant and platoon leader, Pete cared not only about training and teaching his men, but also about being a part of their daily lives,” Araujo said. “He was always very concerned about his soldiers and their satisfaction with what they were doing there.

“I always saw something special in him,” Araujo continued. “I gave him the call sign double-A lieutenant, which stands for All-American.”

“I was going to tell the first sergeant, I said, you know, I said, “Lt. Hegseth, get ready because this guy is going to be president one day.”

Hegseth’s nomination was rocked by allegations that the former National Guard soldier and Fox News anchor drank too much and behaved inappropriately with women.

A recently declassified police report from 2017 revealed allegations of sexual assault against him that Hegseth vehemently denies. Others have railed against his past comments claiming that women should not serve in combat roles.

Some still said they did I don’t believe he has experience for the job, retiring as a major.

Veterans who come to DC to support him are undeterred by the accusations.

“The Lt. Hegseth I knew and the Pete Hegseth I know today is a man of integrity,” Araujo said. “That’s what I measure myself by, in terms of leadership and the ability to lead people and this country.

“His view of women in combat is the same as mine,” Brown said. “The focus should be on what will make us the most lethal and combat effective force we can be.”

“We’re not little guys, we’re big muscle dudes. Most women are going to have trouble, with my plates, with my equipment, getting me out of harm’s way. It’s just the truth…Pete was speaking out of love.”

Both Brown and Sweetman said they were outraged by the withdrawal from Afghanistan and spurred to action when the Pentagon failed its seventh consecutive audit. They hope Hegseth will hold those responsible for the withdrawal accountable and prevent waste at the Pentagon.

“There is massive corruption, fraud, waste, abuse in the Pentagon,” Brown said. “No one was held accountable for the travesty in Afghanistan.”

“We’re pouring money with some of the defense contractor initiatives,” Sweetman said. “There are no checks and balances on some of these big contracts, with some of the bigger companies that are embedded in the government, and so we’re looking at a huge budget that doesn’t account for a lot, especially when we’re talking about audits. How come you don’t know where the money is going ?”

Angelo Martinez served with Hegseth in Cubawhen he was a young soldier and Hegseth was his platoon commander. Martinez is now a staff sergeant and has been in the army for 21 years.

“I have had the pleasure, or perhaps not, of meeting many personalities or officers,” he said.

‘THE GREATEST WARRIORS’: HEGSETH IS AGAINST THE ‘MISINTERPRETED’ STORY THAT HE IS AGAINST WOMEN IN THE ARMY

“The difference between him and the other officers, and there are few of them who treat other people, that is, soldiers, I don’t say as an equal, but they will look at you as an equal.”

“A lot of officers look above us as American soldiers, and he’s one of the few people who took the time to get to know a soldier, understand you, listen to you, listen to your point of view and things like that. He was one of the few who cared.”

“I’m actually on my way out of the military and I’m joking that I hope one of the last things I do here is take down another defense minister and hang him [Hegseth] up on my wall,” Martinez said.

The noncommissioned officer said he believes the fact that Hegseth didn’t retire as a colonel or general is a plus, recalling the time in Cuba when he and his platoon were on duty while the officers were on a diving break. “He didn’t join them, he felt he should be there with us.”

“He’s not the type of officer to sit back and say, ‘You know what? I’m just going to sit and supervise and not have to do the hard work.’ He doesn’t have a colonel’s rank or a star, that keeps him as if he is calm among us, and not distant, as if someone above us is looking down.”

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Martinez continued, “I had people talk to me, ask me who he was, and how people had mixed feelings about him, what he did. And you know, a lot of people sometimes misunderstand who he is, but when you get to know him , you will realize that he is the person for the job, once you get to know him, you will probably be more comfortable in the job.”