Hundreds of America’s top military officers were abruptly ordered to Virginia on September 30 for a last-minute, vaguely explained meeting. The summons pulled generals and admirals from Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, fueling speculation about shake-ups at the Pentagon. The unease only grew when word spread that Donald Trump himself would address the group.
The meeting, held at Marine Corps Base Quantico, opened with Secretary of War Pete Hegseth laying out his agenda in blunt, confrontational terms. He railed against “woke” practices, mocked grooming and fitness standards, questioned the role of women in combat, and criticized “overweight generals and admirals.” He also dismissed diversity programs tied to the previous administration. The tone, several attendees said, felt less like a professional briefing and more like a televised political stunt—“something that could have been an email,” as one defense official put it.
Beyond the rhetoric, many blasted the decision to assemble so many senior leaders at one publicly known location, calling it a dangerous and unnecessary security gamble. One former Pentagon official described the entire event as “a waste of time” and “an inexcusable strategic risk” in exchange for “a hollow message.”
Trump’s own remarks ranged widely—from repeating his well-known “two N words” line (the second being “nuclear”) to airing grievances. But the most lasting impact came after the fact. Retired Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling, who once commanded U.S. Army Europe, broke ranks with the silence of many peers and publicly denounced the spectacle. Speaking on MSNBC, he said Hegseth’s words amounted to shaming the military in front of the nation, while some demands brushed dangerously close to violating the oath officers swear to uphold.
Hertling stressed that while tightening fitness standards or addressing readiness gaps are legitimate directives, other proposals—such as dismissing women who already meet combat standards or pushing illegal orders—are unacceptable. “Officers will not execute illegal orders,” he warned, adding that many in the audience felt “personally embarrassed” to be dressed down on camera for political theater.
The retired general invoked a basic rule of leadership to explain why the gathering backfired: leaders should praise in public and correct in private. Instead, the Quantico event flipped that principle, turning what should have been a professional dialogue into a nationally broadcast scolding—one that, Hertling argued, risks driving a wedge between the armed forces and the citizens they serve.
