Hegseth calls all of the top military brass together for an in person meeting

[nearwildheaven]

If SPANX makes women meet their fitness standards, perhaps.

[TheTooth]

I wouldn’t accept it.

[Tatterdemalion]

Did they ever find out who took the strawberries?

[Son_of_a_Rich]

I can see them scanning the faces of the brass, looking for signs of disaffection/ contempt. Or lack of amusement at his dissing of his predecessors.

[bobot]

Am I to understand that the assembled military leaders did not take Trump into custody?
Checking, because it was one of the possible outcomes.
Damn. OK, carry on.

[Tripler]

Granted, I recognize that video was edited, but no wonder the crowd was dead–that stand-up comedian sucks!

Tripler
Cripes, I coulda done a better job.

[Q.Q.Switcheroo]

For no particular reason, I’m remembering the CPO Sharkey episode where the base welcomes its new commander (Captain Buckner, played by Richard X. Slattery), whose first order of business is to enforce tough new fitness requirements and ban beards…

[Crane]

@wolfpup

the Orange Menace used this occasion to bring up the 51st state bullshit once again.

Sadly, he may be serious.

He really does believe his own bullshit. He believes he has stopped wars. eliminated crime in DC, and personally created the economy. He seeks more outrageous challenges. Why not help Canada survive their crisis.

[Buck_Godot]

I didn’t catch Trump’s speech but I did peruse various news source while it was ongoing, and found something very telling.

CNN, the NYTimes, FOX News, and Washington post all had a feed of real time updates with mini articles about the speech highlighting the latest, extreme statement or talking point. But about half way through Fox’s feed entirely disappeared from their front page. In fact there was no mention of meeting at all. All the other News sites had at the top of the page but on Fox nothing.

Eventually Fox put up a short article about Trump praising the “Warrior Spirit”, but nothing else from his speech. That blub has now gone down to the bottom of the page and if you didn’t search for it you would have no idea that the meeting ever happened.

Its clear that even Fox News realizes that the whole thing was a huge shit show.

[Stranger_On_A_Train]

@Buck_Godot

Its clear that even Fox News realizes that the whole thing was a huge shit show.

You can paint a turd but not a puddle of diarrhea.

Stranger

[not_what_you_d_expect]

So what was it he was asking them to raise their hands for? I can’t understand his slurring.

I feel some relief that these men were quiet. It is a good sign, right? Please say yes.

[Crane]

#2 Is scary. Outstanding opportunity to change history and purpose. ChatGPT lists the Military Education and Training Standards as:

1. Basic Soldiering Skills – marksmanship, drill, physical fitness, fieldcraft, first aid.

2. Technical and Specialist Training – artillery, engineering, logistics, signal, medical, etc.

3. Leadership Development – especially through service schools like the Command and General Staff College or the War College.

4. Education Programs – including military history, tactics, and strategic studies.

5. Evaluation & Certification – requirements for units and individuals to demonstrate proficiency before deployment.

Implementation

• Published in manuals, circulars, and Field Service Regulations.

• Enforced at all levels: training camps, schools, unit drills, and field maneuvers.

• Adjusted during wartime to reflect lessons learned on the battlefield.

• Linked to career progression: officers and NCOs had to meet education and training standards to advance.

[EddyTeddyFreddy]

@Odesio

I read the generals didn’t give Trump’s rambling speech any applause. I hope that’s true.

Yup. Lemme see if I can find the clip I saw on Facebook of the reaction as Hegseth wound up the rally/his speech. Best described as grim silence.

ETA: No, I believe it was on Bluesky and I’m not going to search through thousands of posts to find it.

ETA2:

@steronz

Hegseth and his ilk are incapable of looking beyond image.

Because that’s all they have.

[wguy123]

@Buck_Godot

Its clear that even Fox News realizes that the whole thing was a huge shit show.

You have to search and dig to find this news on the Fox News website. You have to go quite a bit below the “Halle Berry flaunts curves in string bikini” “news” article to even know that Kegsbreath and Trump talked to the leaders of the US military today.

Odd.

[aurora_maire]

@wguy123

You have to go quite a bit below the “Halle Berry flaunts curves in string bikini” “news” article to even know that Kegsbreath and Trump talked to the leaders of the US military today.

Odd.

Just keeping their audience ignorant of reality. It’s what they are good at.

[ThelmaLou]

@not_what_you_d_expect

I feel some relief that these men were quiet. It is a good sign, right? Please say yes.

They were instructed not to react.

@ThelmaLou

From @Aspenglow’s NYTimes link in post #141:

Mr. Trump’s comments were greeted by expressionless faces — the Pentagon’s senior military leaders had warned the officers not to react or cheer, per the norms of what is supposed to be a nonpartisan military. The result: the audience was quieter and much more still than Mr. Trump usually encounters in his stump speech

[Euphonious_Polemic]

@steronz

The idea that a modern militaries need a bunch of buff, white men to be effective is childish nonsense. Logistics, military intelligence, effective command and control, and technology win wars.

NO kidding. We’re not going to be fighting WW1 in the trenches. We’re going to need drone operators who are really, really good at video gaming. They really don’t need to be able to be amazingly fit specimens to do that.

[robby]

@robby

Most of these sound like the kind of “improvements” that a know-it-all very junior person put into a position far beyond their capabilities would come up with.

I’m not the only one who thought this.

@The Atlantic

One female officer, who like other officials spoke on condition of anonymity to share her candid views, told us that she was disappointed by the contents of Hegseth’s address. She said that most officers were open to altered fitness or grooming standards but expected the Pentagon’s highest official to be focused more on refining American strategy and winning future wars than on the details of physical training. “It’s something I would expect from a captain or a major,” the officer said.

Hundreds of Generals Try to Keep a Straight Face

The article pointedly mentions the fact that Hegseth left the National Guard with the rank of major in 2021. FFS, I left the Navy Reserve with the same rank nearly 20 years ago and I’m not qualified to run an organization like DoD. It goes without saying that neither is Hegseth.

[DWMarch]

Does any of this solve any actual problems that the military has? Like with the hazing rules being relaxed. Is there currently a situation where a buck private can go running to high command because a drill instructor stared at them for a second too long, violated their safe space and left them with lifelong PTSD? I know that’s how Trump and co. think it works right now but I have a feeling they might be wrong.

I must also note the way the flags were arranged on stage gave me hints of Nazi Germany but like every time Trump tries to imitate Hitler it was a pretty flaccid display overall.

[Spoons]

@Euphonious_Polemic

NO kidding. We’re not going to be fighting WW1 in the trenches. We’re going to need drone operators who are really, really good at video gaming. They really don’t need to be able to be amazingly fit specimens to do that.

“Sir, we’re being attacked by a bunch of buff, fit, clean-shaven US military men!”

“Deploy the nerds!”