Last month saw Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth pledge to "restore the warrior ethos" among members of America's military.

An example of that came this past week when Hegseth announced the reversal of a Pentagon training policy.

Army to bring back "shark attacks"

According to Fox News, the secretary of Defense said during a Thursday appearance on "The Will Cain Show" that the Army is bringing back "shark attacks."

The term refers to a boot camp technique in which drill instructors swarm around trainees and yell at the trainees aggressively.

Fox News noted how the Army began phasing out shark attacks in 2020 and have since replaced them with something called the "First 100 Yards," which is a structured training exercise.

The U.S. Army Center for Initial Military Training's Facebook page explains that it "is a U.S. Army trainee's first exposure to their Basic Training (BCT), Drill Sergeants, and their first opportunity to begin their transformation as members of the world’s most potent and lethal fighting force."

"'The First 100 Yards,' a homage to their lineage of closing the last 100 yards of the fight, incorporates teamwork into a competition that features mental and physical challenges on the day they arrive to their basic training company," the page adds.

Hegseth: Army is "going back to basics"

However, Hegseth made clear on Thursday that the Army will be "going back to basics" by bringing back shark attacks.

"Drill sergeants will be drill sergeants with knife hands who ensure, who maintain good order and discipline and train up great recruits who will make great formations," he declared.

.@SecDef: "If you start soft, you end soft. If you aren't strong from the beginning, you won't finish the fight properly. It starts at basic training...Drill Sergeants will be Drill Sergeants with knife hands, who maintain good order and discipline...We're going back to basics." pic.twitter.com/Mwq7E8upnx

— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) August 7, 2025

"Just like we need military officers with that same rigorous discipline and background. So, we're going back to the basics, and it's bearing fruit," Hegseth stressed.

Basic training meant to be "a crucible"

"It's the basic stuff that anyone who went through any form of basic training for decades understood as a recruit, you were going into a crucible," he continued.

"You were going to be forged. You were gonna be challenged. You were to be scared, nervous and anxious," the secretary of Defense went on to add.

Fox News observed that Defense Department press secretary Kingsley Wilson echoed Hegseth's stance, remarking, "We want our warfighters to be strong, and that starts in basic training, and we want to make sure we really, again, go back to basics."