Hundreds of generals flew to Virginia to hear President Trump and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth \u2014 though reactions weren\u2019t exactly glowing.<\/p>\n
Retired Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling is now speaking out, and he\u2019s not holding back.<\/p>\n
On September 30, hundreds of generals and admirals from U.S. military bases around the world were called in for an emergency meeting of unclear purpose, according to The Washington Post.<\/p>\n
The unusual directive forced senior leaders to travel from Europe, the Middle East, and Asia for a gathering that many feared could signal major cuts \u2014 or even firings.<\/p>\n
That Donald Trump would also speak did little to calm nerves.<\/p>\n
\u201dOverweight generals and admirals\u201d
\nWhen the meeting finally kicked off at the Marine Corps base in Quantico, Virginia, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth laid out his vision for the future of the forces.<\/p>\n
He grabbed attention for his calls to end so-called \u201cwoke\u201d practices in the military, targeting everything from female service members to beards.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t want my son serving alongside troops who are out of shape or in combat units with females who can\u2019t meet the same combat arms physical standards as men,\u201d Hegseth said.<\/p>\n
Alex Wong\/Getty Images
\nThe secretary also criticized what he called \u2018overweight generals and admirals\u2019 at the Pentagon and slammed Biden-era efforts to increase diversity in the military.<\/p>\n
Unsurprisingly, both the speech and the meeting drew heavy criticism.<\/p>\n
\u201cMore like a press conference than briefing the generals,\u201d said a defense official, speaking anonymously to Politico over fears of retribution.<\/p>\n
\u201cCould have been an email.\u201d<\/p>\n
Massive security risk
\nCritics also warned of the massive security risk in putting almost all of America\u2019s top officers in the same room, and many dismissed Hegseth\u2019s attempt to boost the military\u2019s aggressive image through stricter grooming standards and ending diversity programs.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2018s a waste of time for a lot of people who emphatically had better things they could and should be doing,\u201d a former senior defense official told Politico.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s also an inexcusable strategic risk to concentrate so many leaders in the operational chain of command in the same publicly known time and place, to convey an inane message of little merit.\u201d<\/p>\n
During the meeting, Donald Trump, true to form, covered a lot of ground in his public address \u2014 including his now-infamous line about \u201ctwo N words.\u201d (The second one, by the way, is nuclear.)<\/p>\n
Retired U.S. Army Lieutenant speaks out
\nMuch of the criticism came anonymously \u2014 but one voice stood out.<\/p>\n
Retired U.S. Army Lieutenant General Mark Hertling did not hold back.<\/p>\n
He blasted Hegseth\u2019s speech and even suggested that some leaders might have resisted the orders given, calling the address a violation of an unwritten code of military discipline.<\/p>\n
Hertling is no ordinary military figure. From March 2011 to November 2012, he served as the Commanding General of United States Army Europe and the Seventh Army.<\/p>\n
Speaking on MSNBC, Hertling said Trump was clearly \u201crattled\u201d by the reaction in the room. He also said Hegseth essentially asked the leaders to violate the oath of service they had taken.<\/p>\n
Wikipedia Commons \/ U.S Army
\n\u201cBut truthfully, those individuals will leave that room or left that room yesterday and they\u2019ll start discussing and analyzing how they can implement some of the lawful orders that they got,\u201d Hertling explained.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know, okay, great, we can buck up the standards. We can take a look at the kinds of things to get some soldiers, not all, certainly not even the majority, back in better shape. Take a look at what our ranks look like.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut there were also soldiers and, well, all ranks of services, in that audience that said, wait a minute.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen they were writing down the same kind of checklist that I was writing down, saying, wait a minute, we can\u2019t do that, or we shouldn\u2019t do that, or this is a true violation of what we are as professionals or, hey, I\u2019ve got women in my ranks who are performing admirably.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s the worst part of all this\u201d
\n\u201cWhy should I kind of lump them all together like the secretary did? Or I\u2019m certainly now going to debate with myself, what am I going to say if I\u2019m asked to go on the street and conduct illegal actions?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I guarantee you that the people in that audience will not execute illegal orders,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Hertling, who had a distinguished military career, went on to explain the deeper issue.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut at the same time, all of them, not only were they personally embarrassed, but they were embarrassed for their services that had, you know, sit in that audience and listen to this kind of stuff.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s the worst part of all this.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know, there\u2019s a saying in the military that\u2019s a great leadership dictum: \u2018You praise in public and you discipline in private.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cThis was a disciplinary approach in public with cameras, so the whole nation could see. And it was an attempt at separating the military institution from the people that they defend.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"