According to comprehensive reports from Xinhua Agency and Beijing Youth Daily, on September 30, local time, a meeting of US military generals convened by U.S. Defense Secretary Hagerseth was held at the Marine Corps Base in Quantico, Virginia. In a speech, Hagerseth said that the Department of Defense needs "the right talent" and "the right culture" and proposed 10 new instructions in this regard.

Image by U.S. Defense Secretary Hertz (data map)

In a nearly 50-minute speech, Hagerseth pointed out that misleading politicians have long forced the U.S. military to focus on the wrong things, and that he is committed to eliminating the "obvious interference" that has weakened the Department of War's lethality in the past few years. Hagerseth's new instructions include strengthening physical standards and testing, strengthening grooming requirements, conducting a comprehensive review of so-called "harmful leadership" and "bullying and bullying" policies, ending the command culture of "walking on thin ice" and zero-error, and liberating the "weaponized" supervision process. In terms of strengthening physical fitness standards and testing, Hegseth said that soldiers engaged in combat-related occupations must undergo physical fitness tests in accordance with male standards, with scores of 70% or above. In terms of appearance, Hagerseth announced that beards would no longer be allowed and criticized fat soldiers and generals.

According to previous comprehensive reports, according to several media reports, on September 25 local time, Hertz orders a temporary convocation of hundreds of senior U.S. military generals from around the world to return to the U.S. to attend the conference scheduled for the 30th and listen to Hertz's speeches about the "fighting spirit". It is that this is the first of three speeches he plans to hold, and the next two will focus on the defense industry base and military deterrence.

According to reports, the assembly order issued by Hegseth applies to all senior officers in command positions with the rank of brigadier general or above, or naval officers with equivalent rank, as well as their senior aides. Considering that the United States has troops stationed all over the world, these troops are usually commanded by two-star, three-star or even four-star generals, and each commander is usually accompanied by several senior aides and lower-level assistants when traveling. The total number of people who are called back to China to attend the meeting may exceed 1,000, and the resulting travel expenses may be as high as millions of dollars.

The picture shows senior US military officials attending the meeting

"Spending millions of dollars just to gather the military leadership together for a short speech is undoubtedly a huge waste of taxpayer effort," said a Defense Department official. More Pentagon officials questioned whether those battle-hardened senior generals really needed to listen to the defense chief's explanation of "fighting spirit" and "how to fight".

As U.S. media explosions continue to ferment on social media, more and more netizens accuse this "absolutely e-mail-solved" gathering of Hertz's "personal show". Faced with speculation and questioning, Trump and Vice President Watson have previously tried to lessen the meaning of the meeting. Trump said in an interview that the arrangement was "not a big thing" and Watson even asked the media why the generals' conversations with Hertz's had been a big news.

Jiemu News Comprehensive Xinhua Agency, Beijing Youth Daily, Shangguan News, etc.

Extended reading

Spittle flew everywhere on Trump stage, and the generals were expressionless off the stage

On September 30, local time, U.S. Secretary of Defence Hector Hertz convened a thousand U.S. military generals at the Naval Corps Base in Pattyco, Virginia, to hold an unprecedented general meeting.

These two politicians, who were former "TV stars", spat everywhere, and the generals in the audience were silent.

In his nearly 50-minute speech, the defense chief asked commanders to "prepare for war". He wants to eradicate "political correctness" in the military, lashing out at "fat generals" and diversity policies, claiming these have contributed to decades of decline in the military, and demanding the resignation of commanders who disagree with its agenda. He stressed that the Ministry of National Defense needs to have "the right talents" and "the right culture", restore the traditional military appearance standards, cancel the "awakening culture" and eliminate the "obvious interference" that has weakened the lethality of the Ministry of War in the past few years.

Trump also delivered a super-long speech of more than one hour at the meeting. He exaggerated that the United States was suffering an "internal invasion" and that this threat was more difficult to deal with than foreign enemies, and put forward a controversial idea: to use the "dangerous cities" of the United States as "military training grounds". He also said that he would invest more than $1 trillion in various services to keep the US military at the "strongest level in the world", give priority to merit rather than political factors, and re-emphasize the physical fitness of the military.

On the other hand, the event sparked strong condemnation from Democrats, who criticized it for seriously weakening the neutrality of the U.S. military and putting the military under political pressure. Illinois Governor Pritzker accused Trump of portraying American immigrants as "enemies within" extremely dangerous.

On September 30, Trump attended a meeting of senior U.S. military generals.

Bombarding "Fat General" and "Bearded Monster"

Reuters described the conference itself as "televised", whether it was Hegseth, a Fox host, or Trump, a former reality TV star. The top U.S. military officials were informed to attend this impromptu meeting last week. Because the convening was hasty and the purpose was unclear, the intention of the event triggered widespread speculation.

"Stupid and reckless political leaders set the wrong steering wheel, and we lost our way. We became the 'Ministry of Awakening'. But this situation is over," Hegseth said in the opening.

Faced with senior generals flying in from all over the world, Hegseth defended his dismissal of middle and high-ranking military officials, including a black U.S. chief of staff and a female admiral. The sacked officers represented a "sick culture," he said.

He promised to overhaul the Pentagon's system for handling discrimination complaints and investigating misconduct, criticizing the current system for allowing top military officials to walk on thin ice.

He called for reforms ¡°so that those leaders who are forgivable, who are sincere or slightly guilty, will no longer be burdened by these mistakes for life.¡±

¡°Everyone commits heartless mistakes, and our mistakes shouldn¡¯t define our entire career.¡±

He said the military would ensure that ¡°all designated combat positions are restored to the highest male standards¡± because ¡°this work is about life and death and must meet the standards.¡±

"Under my instructions, the era of unprofessional images is over!"

He explained that the move was not to prevent women from serving.

¡°It¡¯s good if women can meet the standards; if not, it¡¯s the case. Even if that means that some combat positions don¡¯t qualify for women, it doesn¡¯t matter,¡± he said, ¡°it¡¯s not our original intention, but it might be the end result.¡±

"It also means that frail men will not be able to do it. Because we are not playing a game."

He also said it was ¡°absolutely unacceptable¡± to see ¡°obese generals and naval captains¡± in the Pentagon, and stressed the importance of military discipline: ¡°No longer permission for the bullshit, no more ¡®beard monsters¡¯!¡±

Furthermore, Hegseth told the generals to "prepare for war and prepare to win".

The current pressing situation requires more troops, more munitions, more drones, more submarines, more B-52 bombers, more innovation and more artificial intelligence, and to advance quickly to stay ahead of the curve, he said.

"The time has come, and the task is urgent."

He concluded by saying, ¡°If my words today cool your hearts, you should make a glorious choice to resign, but I know that most of you are not so, and these words boil your blood.¡±

The generals just listened quietly.

Trump says: Dangerous cities will become training grounds

On his way to the venue, Trump told reporters he would fired certain military leaders if he did not like them.

The Associated Press (AP) pointed out that Trump is accustomed to a noisy crowd of supporters, who will laugh at his jokes and applaud his boastful claims. But among the military leaders present at the meeting, he did not receive such a response.

In the military's nonpartisan tradition, military leaders were mostly straight-faced during Trump's politicized comments, in stark contrast to scenes of rank-and-file soldiers cheering during Trump's speech at Fort Bragg this summer.

After Hegseth, Trump took the stage and delivered a speech for more than an hour. He joked, "If you don't like what I said, you can leave. Of course, this means that your rank and future are gone."

Subsequently, he talked about the power of the U.S. nuclear submarine, as well as heavily criticized the media, former President Biden and Venezuela.

Trump changed the name of the Department of Defense to the Department of War earlier this month, saying the Department of War "will stop the war."

U.S. enlistments have soared to record highs in recent months, he said, stressing the importance of culture and readiness.

Trump said that all services of the U.S. military are receiving huge investments, including promoting the first batch of sixth-generation fighter jets, investing tens of billions of dollars in modernizing the U.S. nuclear deterrence capability and the "Golden Dome" missile defense system under construction.

¡°I promise to spend more than $1 trillion in our military by 2026, which will be the largest in our history!¡±

Trump is also struggling to raise military resources for the president¡¯s priorities and clear domestic purposes, including calming up riots and violent crime.

He had previously sent the National Guard and Marine Corps to Los Angeles, threatening to take the same measures against other Democratic-led cities to combat crime and illegal immigration, and to send additional troops to the Mexican border.

"I told Pete (referring to Hagerseth) that we should use these dangerous cities as training grounds for our military, the National Guard, but what about the military? We're moving to Chicago soon. It's a big city and the governor is not good enough."

Trump added, ¡°We are facing internal invasion, which is no different from external enemies, but in many ways more difficult to deal with because they don¡¯t wear armor.¡±

"Trump doesn't deserve"

Since taking office, the Trump administration has reshaped the Pentagon at an alarming rate, firing a large number of top generals to advance Trump's national security agenda and eradicate what he calls "discrimination" DEI (Diversity, Equality and Inclusion) initiatives. In September, Trump signed an executive order to rename the Ministry of National Defense as the "Department of War".

It is very rare for the U.S. military leadership to gather together for a meeting. According to the latest statistics from the Pentagon in June, there are currently a total of 838 active generals in the US military.

A few days earlier, the meeting of U.S. military generals from all over the world has sparked controversy.A number of informed people have revealed that the meeting is not planning to issue a major national security statement, which is essentially a speech aimed at outlining the Trump administration's plan to change the Department of Defense into a "department of war" and to set new military standards.

In an interview with Reuters on Monday, Trump announced that he would also attend the meeting, ¡°I want to tell the generals that I love them, they are respected leaders, to be strong, tough, smart and compassionate.¡±

A well-informed defense official described it as: ¡°It¡¯s like taking horses back and domesticating them. From a visual point of view, it¡¯s better for senior generals wearing a star to perform as spectators. This is the opportunity for Hector to convey a message to them: either cooperate or end your career early.¡±

Critics have accused Trump and Hertz of intending to ¡°show.¡±

Corey Shaq, former director of defense strategy at the White House National Security Council and now a researcher at the American Enterprise Institute, said: "I heard that this was a personal show by Hagerseth to show that he could muster them to submit. Since all commanders and their sergeant major were present, it was more likely that the minister's obsession with 'warrior spirit' and appearance standards than strategy."

Several military officials and rank-and-file soldiers said they were not sure how Trump and Hegseth's remarks would affect their daily lives in the military. Some people are worried about defining domestic unrest as "war", while others think Hegseth's idea of "stricter adherence to physical fitness standards and abolishing unnecessary training" is attractive.

Senate military committee Democratic leader Jack Reed bombarded the meeting as ¡°a costly and dangerous leadership failure.¡±

"What is even more disturbing is that Mr. Hagerseth issued an ultimatum to senior U.S. military officers: either abide by his political views or resign," Reid said in a statement, calling it an "extremely dangerous" request.

Other Democrats have criticized the meeting for severely undermining the U.S. military¡¯s neutrality and forcing the military to be under political pressure.

Plitzke, the Democratic governor of Illinois, said on the X-Platform: ¡°Anyone who calls his compatriots an enemy that must be ¡®removed¡¯ is not worthy to lead this country!¡±