'Pathetic': Military experts rip Pentagon head after reason for generals' meeting revealed
Defense secretary nominee Pete Hegseth speaks with the media as he departs a meeting on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., November 21, 2024. REUTERS/Nathan Howard
The Defense Secretary’s “directive comes in the wake of Hegseth’s firing of numerous senior military officers without cause this year, upending military norms and creating a culture of fear in the Pentagon, the people familiar with the matter said,” the Post also reported on Friday. “The recent firings of top military officers and the unusual nature of the order has stirred widespread concern among military officials that Hegseth may also have [an] additional surprise in store.”
Hegseth appeared to respond to — or at least acknowledge — concerns the meeting might include a loyalty pledge on Friday, when retired United States Army officer Ben Hodges, who served as commanding general, United States Army Europe, posted to social media remarks that echoed concerns of others:
“July 1935 German generals were called to a surprise assembly in Berlin and informed that their previous oath to the Weimar constitution was void and that they would be required to swear a personal oath to the Führer. Most generals took the new oath to keep their positions,” he wrote.
Secretary Hegseth mocked General Hodges’ remarks:
“Cool story, General,” he wrote.
Hegseth was quickly chastised.
“You are pathetic,” declared Fred Wellman, a graduate of West Point and the Harvard Kennedy School, and a 22-year combat veteran who is now the host of the podcast “On Democracy.”
“Supposed to be leading the largest department of our government with millions of troops and civilians and you are trolling retired generals who served honorably longer and more heroically than you could,” Wellman added. “You’re not even a good squad leader.”
Fred Guttenberg, the well-known anti-gun-violence activist, noted that Hegseth’s remarks were “not a denial.”
Other critics responded to the Post’s reporting.
“Yes, totally worth the cost and time and effort to pull hundreds of people away from their commands to listen to Hegseth and his deep thoughts about being a warrior,” snarked The Atlantic’s Tom Nichols, a retired U.S. Naval War College professor.
“So it’s a juvenile Rah Rah high school football speech, that cost[s] a ton of money, takes leaders out of positions in where they [are] managing crises, and puts a massive target on Quantico,” remarked Marc Polymeropoulos, a retired senior U.S. Intelligence Service officer. “Plus they all gonna get stuck when govt shuts down. Genius all around.”
Defense secretary nominee Pete Hegseth speaks with the media as he departs a meeting on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., November 21, 2024. REUTERS/Nathan Howard
THE NEW CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT
September 26, 2025
ALTERNET
Speculation has been swirling after U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth abruptly ordered roughly 800 top officers from around the globe to return to the U.S. next week for a meeting — with no explanation or agenda provided.
“Hegseth’s orders,” The Washington Post reported on Friday in an exclusive, “require anyone in a command position with the rank of one-star general or rear admiral and above, as well as their senior enlisted leaders, to be at Marine Corps University in Quantico, Virginia, on Tuesday.”
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Experts have expressed that the national security concerns alone are disturbing — every top officer in all branches of the U.S. Armed Forces — and their support staff — away from their posts and together in one room.
Others expressed concerns that the nation’s top military brass might be asked to take a loyalty pledge — not to the Constitution but to the President or to his ideology. Some suggested it might be to refocus the officers on domestic U.S. issues rather than external threats or enemies.
Instead, the meeting, according to the Washington Post’s report, will be for all 800 or so generals and admirals to listen to Secretary Hegseth speak about his own beliefs regarding what the U.S. military should be — his “warrior ethos” ideology.
The speech is expected to last less than one hour.
As The Washington Post reported on Thursday, the Defense Department “possesses highly secure videoconferencing technology that enables military officials, regardless of their location, to discuss sensitive matters with the White House, the Pentagon or both.”
ALTERNET
Speculation has been swirling after U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth abruptly ordered roughly 800 top officers from around the globe to return to the U.S. next week for a meeting — with no explanation or agenda provided.
“Hegseth’s orders,” The Washington Post reported on Friday in an exclusive, “require anyone in a command position with the rank of one-star general or rear admiral and above, as well as their senior enlisted leaders, to be at Marine Corps University in Quantico, Virginia, on Tuesday.”
Discover more
Pentagon tours
Officer training programs
Defense technology investments
Political analysis tools
Buy political science textbooks
Buy military history books
Subscribe to military news
Military defense contractors
Purchase national security analysis
Political commentary subscriptions
Experts have expressed that the national security concerns alone are disturbing — every top officer in all branches of the U.S. Armed Forces — and their support staff — away from their posts and together in one room.
Others expressed concerns that the nation’s top military brass might be asked to take a loyalty pledge — not to the Constitution but to the President or to his ideology. Some suggested it might be to refocus the officers on domestic U.S. issues rather than external threats or enemies.
Instead, the meeting, according to the Washington Post’s report, will be for all 800 or so generals and admirals to listen to Secretary Hegseth speak about his own beliefs regarding what the U.S. military should be — his “warrior ethos” ideology.
The speech is expected to last less than one hour.
As The Washington Post reported on Thursday, the Defense Department “possesses highly secure videoconferencing technology that enables military officials, regardless of their location, to discuss sensitive matters with the White House, the Pentagon or both.”
The Defense Secretary’s “directive comes in the wake of Hegseth’s firing of numerous senior military officers without cause this year, upending military norms and creating a culture of fear in the Pentagon, the people familiar with the matter said,” the Post also reported on Friday. “The recent firings of top military officers and the unusual nature of the order has stirred widespread concern among military officials that Hegseth may also have [an] additional surprise in store.”
Hegseth appeared to respond to — or at least acknowledge — concerns the meeting might include a loyalty pledge on Friday, when retired United States Army officer Ben Hodges, who served as commanding general, United States Army Europe, posted to social media remarks that echoed concerns of others:
“July 1935 German generals were called to a surprise assembly in Berlin and informed that their previous oath to the Weimar constitution was void and that they would be required to swear a personal oath to the Führer. Most generals took the new oath to keep their positions,” he wrote.
Secretary Hegseth mocked General Hodges’ remarks:
“Cool story, General,” he wrote.
Hegseth was quickly chastised.
“You are pathetic,” declared Fred Wellman, a graduate of West Point and the Harvard Kennedy School, and a 22-year combat veteran who is now the host of the podcast “On Democracy.”
“Supposed to be leading the largest department of our government with millions of troops and civilians and you are trolling retired generals who served honorably longer and more heroically than you could,” Wellman added. “You’re not even a good squad leader.”
Fred Guttenberg, the well-known anti-gun-violence activist, noted that Hegseth’s remarks were “not a denial.”
Other critics responded to the Post’s reporting.
“Yes, totally worth the cost and time and effort to pull hundreds of people away from their commands to listen to Hegseth and his deep thoughts about being a warrior,” snarked The Atlantic’s Tom Nichols, a retired U.S. Naval War College professor.
“So it’s a juvenile Rah Rah high school football speech, that cost[s] a ton of money, takes leaders out of positions in where they [are] managing crises, and puts a massive target on Quantico,” remarked Marc Polymeropoulos, a retired senior U.S. Intelligence Service officer. “Plus they all gonna get stuck when govt shuts down. Genius all around.”
'Can you imagine the disdain?' Ex-GOP insider says Pete Hegseth setting stage for a 'coup'
David McAfee
September 27, 2025
RAW STORY
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth closes his eyes as he stands by U.S. President Donald Trump (not pictures), in the Oval Office at the White House, in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 21, 2025. REUTERS/Carlos Barria
As U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth orders military brass from all around the world to meet with him for unstated reasons, he may be facing a form of military uprising, according to an independent political strategist who worked on former President George W. Bush's campaign.
Political strategist Steve Schmidt on Saturday published an article called Questions for the generals, in which he argues that Hegseth is setting the stage for a potential "coup."
"Of course, the mind cannot help but drift towards the nefarious when the stupidity overwhelms every conceivable explanation for why the entire senior leadership of the US military would be ordered to depart their commands, and assemble at a precise geographic point at a precise time," he wrote. "Were the scenario the basis for a movie depicting the beginning of a coup it would be dismissed as too far-fetched because nothing so absurd could ever be allowed to happen in real life — not to mention the cost, waste of taxpayer money and massive logistics involved. Yet, here we are."
Pointing to potential grudges among service members, Schmidt goes on to ask, "Can you imagine the disrespect that the generals feel for the drunken National Guard major whose press department recently lied about his receiving the 'Bronze Star Medal for valor?'"
He added, "Can you imagine the disdain that senior professional soldiers feel for a man accused of rape, who entered into a confidential settlement agreement with his alleged victim?"
Schmidt continued: "Can you imagine the embarrassment for someone who is festooned with Christian nationalist tattoos, who has desecrated the Armed Forces with this insanity?"
Schmidt goes even further, bringing up "ambitious generals."
"Can you imagine the shame of men and women who talk about honor, duty and integrity as they rise to attention for the entrance of Secretary Pete and General Caine, first chairman of the Trump Force?" he asked. "How many ambitious generals are in the room?"
Bringing up MAGA and its connection to the military, he said, "Every single value that the military purports to hold dear is something MAGA hates and mocks."
"The generals know that they are led by liars and fools," the analyst wrote Saturday. "The generals know that war is coming, despite Donald promising peace."
Read it here.
'They don't know': Retired general piles on Pete Hegseth's 'stupidly dangerous' new move
Tom Boggioni
September 26, 2025
RAW STORY
Defense secretary nominee Pete Hegseth walks through Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., December 11, 2024. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz
A decision by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to bring the approximately 800 most senior generals and admirals in one place for a secretive meeting at Quantico drew fire on MSNBC on Friday morning from retired U.S Army Lieutenant General Mark Hertling.
During an appearance on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” Hertling, a military analyst for the network, pointed out the danger of pulling the senior military officers from their posts all around the world and putting them in one spot, thereby giving America’s enemies an opportunity to create havoc.
He began by stating, "I’ve never seen anything like this before, and it just seems extremely bizarre and strange,” co-host Joe Scarborough prompted his guest with, “Well, general, let me just ask you strategically how just how stupidly dangerous is this?”
"It's pretty dangerous, Joe,” he conceded. “What I'd say is, you know, a lot of people are looking at it from the generals' perspective. Them thinking, ‘What the heck are we going to hear, because I don't.”
“I think there's, from what I've talked to some of my colleagues that are still active, they don't know what this is about,” he added. “So it could be about a shifting national security strategy. It could be cuts to the general officer corps –– Secretary Hegseth has mentioned that several times. It could be about the upcoming budget stalemate. Or it could be concerns over information leaks or press leaks.”
“But general, don't they have communication systems where they can do that, so we can actually keep our generals and our admirals in the field where they are needed?" the MSNBC host pressed.
“Certainly, Joe and they're called secure video teleconferences. It is,” he replied. “The same thing as a secure computer. Not Snapchat, not Signals app. This is, no kidding, secure stuff.”
Tom Boggioni
September 26, 2025
RAW STORY
Defense secretary nominee Pete Hegseth walks through Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., December 11, 2024. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz
A decision by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to bring the approximately 800 most senior generals and admirals in one place for a secretive meeting at Quantico drew fire on MSNBC on Friday morning from retired U.S Army Lieutenant General Mark Hertling.
During an appearance on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” Hertling, a military analyst for the network, pointed out the danger of pulling the senior military officers from their posts all around the world and putting them in one spot, thereby giving America’s enemies an opportunity to create havoc.
He began by stating, "I’ve never seen anything like this before, and it just seems extremely bizarre and strange,” co-host Joe Scarborough prompted his guest with, “Well, general, let me just ask you strategically how just how stupidly dangerous is this?”
"It's pretty dangerous, Joe,” he conceded. “What I'd say is, you know, a lot of people are looking at it from the generals' perspective. Them thinking, ‘What the heck are we going to hear, because I don't.”
“I think there's, from what I've talked to some of my colleagues that are still active, they don't know what this is about,” he added. “So it could be about a shifting national security strategy. It could be cuts to the general officer corps –– Secretary Hegseth has mentioned that several times. It could be about the upcoming budget stalemate. Or it could be concerns over information leaks or press leaks.”
“But general, don't they have communication systems where they can do that, so we can actually keep our generals and our admirals in the field where they are needed?" the MSNBC host pressed.
“Certainly, Joe and they're called secure video teleconferences. It is,” he replied. “The same thing as a secure computer. Not Snapchat, not Signals app. This is, no kidding, secure stuff.”
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