“Rough Rider” And “Midnight Hammer” – Pete Hegseth’s Military Operations Have Thirsty Homoerotic Titles
Washington D.C. has been chaotic lately, but nothing could have prepared us for the latest update from the Department Of War. Pete Hegseth, the man heading up the recently rebranded department, took to social media platform X to announce three new military operations, and the names he chose have the internet in hysterics. These operations now sound less like strategic military manoeuvres and more like, well, the titles of gay porn movies!
These names sound incredibly familiar.
“Operation Rough Rider,” is a mission for the Freedom of Navigation for United States ships. “Operation Midnight Hammer,” was aimed at the obliteration of Iranian nuclear sites. And “Operation Southern Spear,” is a campaign to destroy so-called narco-terrorists.
While the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) might argue that these names project a message of lethality, the online community saw something else entirely. The unintended double entendres are impossible to ignore.
The hyper-masculine phrasing loops into unintentional camp, giving the impression of horniness rather than tactical precision. At DNA, we wonder if the Department Of War has infringed the copyright of a major porn studio! In fact, Sarava Productions created the film, Rough Riders, in 2020 starring Massimo Arad and Peter Coxx! And Hole Hammer Parts 1 and 2 is now streaming on Mansurfer!
LEFT: Mark Kelly, shirt covered with medals.
— Middle Age Riot (@middleageriot) November 24, 2025
RIGHT: Pete Hegseth, shirt covered with booze. pic.twitter.com/V3DHXmuJRD
The irony is lost on him.
Sadly, Hegseth has spent his time in the Department of War spearheading efforts to remove LGBTQIA+ troops from service. He has famously vowed that there would be “No more dudes in dresses, we’re done with that s**t,” claiming that queer service members reflect a “Marxist agenda”.
It’s rather delicious that a man so obsessed with enforcing a rigid, traditional masculinity has accidentally branded his military legacy with titles that sound like they can be streamed from your favourite adult entertainment platform! Social media users were quick to jump on the trend, offering their own suggestions such as “Operation Husky Farmboy,” “Operation Throbbing Member,” and “Operation Downlow.”
Beyond the accidental comedy, Hegseth’s tenure has been marked by chaos. Between accidentally sharing war plans in a group chat that included a reporter and spending a projected $1 billion on new “Department of War” signage, his record is raising eyebrows.
Erasing a gay icon from a Navy ship.
In June, Hegseth announced he was stripping the name of pioneering gay rights activist Harvey Milk from a U.S. naval vessel. The USNS Harvey Milk has been renamed the USNS Oscar V. Peterson, after a World War II Navy chief petty officer.
Milk, a Navy veteran who served as a diving officer during the Korean War, left the service in 1955 with a “less than honourable” discharge after being officially questioned about his sexual orientation.
He later became one of the first openly gay politicians elected to public office in the United States. “People want to be proud of the ship they’re sailing in,” Hegseth said in his announcement video.
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called the decision “a shameful, vindictive erasure of those who fought to break down barriers.”
The decision to scrub Milk’s name while simultaneously approving titles that sound like adult film classifications is a level of cognitive dissonance that is hard to wrap your head around.
For now, however, we can only laugh at the accidental homoeroticism of it all. We are in for a very interesting four years.
