Hegseth’s ultimatum to generals sparks fears of departures

The Hill ^ | 10/07/25 6:00 AM ET | Ellen Mitchell

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s “my way or the highway” message to hundreds of generals and admirals at a summit in Virginia last week has sparked fears that some top leaders may choose to bow out of the U.S. military entirely.

I believe that was the general idea.

[Williams]

Yep.

[Carl Vehse]

"His speech directly attacked the values of many of the senior officers and enlisted members in the audience"

Especially the values of the traitors to the United States of America!

[ComputerGuy]

Were those 0bama’s or Biden’s generals?

[Highest Authority]

“Less restrictive rules of engagement” …….. FINALLY!!!!!

[Paul R.]

“Fears”?

“Hopes”, on my part, if they are upset about Hegseth’s speech.

[Governor Dinwiddie]

What really ticked off the brass was Pete's new dictum: no stretch waist bands!

[ansel12]

Make it so.

[Paul R.]

The US military is waaayyy too top heavy anyway.

[Anti-Bubba182]

“I believe that was the general idea.”

Almost certainly!

[rktman]

Disgust? At their own slovenly statures? Bow away......

[stanne]

“my way or the highway”

Im pretty certain he is within the rules of the UCMJ whereas many of their behaviors have not been

The Hill will never get that

[Mariner]

“His speech directly attacked the values of many of the senior officers and enlisted members in the audience, and I would expect many of them to demonstrate their disgust by retiring,” Don Christensen, a retired Air Force colonel and former military lawyer who watched the speech, said of Hegseth.”

Perhaps Mr. Christensen is gay and engaging in wishful thinking.

Don’t ask, Don’t tell was the right and proper policy.

[oldbill]

An Air Force colonel lawyer is quoted as an expert?

This brings back the Dan Rather days when Rather and Mapes used an ignorant lieutenant clerk and an Army colonel who knew absolutely nothing of the Texas Air Guard as their two go-to experts on Bush’s service.

[central_va]

A complete purge would have been better.

[Red Badger]

I hope so...................

[Retain Mike]

“His speech directly attacked the values of many of the senior officers and enlisted members in the audience, and I would expect many of them to demonstrate their disgust by retiring,”

Officers have one value, that is to support and defend the Constitution. They demonstrated other values to Obama and Biden.

If there is room at the top, that sounds fine to me.

[so_real]

Yes, it was kind of the whole point, wasn't it. Being troubled by woke liberals leaving our military is a concept I cannot fathom.

[HIDEK6]

… some top leaders may choose to bow out of the U.S. military entirely.

Yes, that’s the plan.

[Pilsner]

Am I the only one at least a little concerned that some may be leaving because they see a significant chance of a war with China, and they don’t want to be the Generals/Admirals in charge when that happens? Hegseth is making good changes, but reversing decades of Political Correctness will take time, and China may well see a window of opportunity closing, not getting wider.