Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s first major address to U.S. military leadership was supposed to be a strategic pivot. Instead, it turned into a spectacle — one that’s now being mocked across the internet, criticized by top brass, and condemned by retired generals who say the man behind the mic has no business leading the Pentagon in the first place.
The closed-door meeting at a Marine base in Quantico, Virginia, brought together hundreds of generals, admirals, and combatant commanders — many of them flown in from overseas under unusual and abrupt orders. They expected to be briefed on major updates to U.S. defense policy.
What they got was… something else entirely.
“If the secretary of War can do regular, hard [physical training], so can every member of our joint force,” Hegseth declared, standing in front of a massive American flag. Then he let loose.
“Frankly, it’s tiring to look out at combat formations – or really any formation – and see fat troops. Likewise, it’s completely unacceptable to see fat generals and admirals in the halls of the Pentagon. It’s a bad look! It is bad, and it’s not who we are.”
That quote wasn’t a joke. It was part of Hegseth’s new policy push to tighten physical fitness standards across the board — including mandatory bi-annual PT tests and stricter weight requirements for every rank, from fresh recruits to four-star generals.
The problem? Many in the room weren’t laughing, nodding, or even reacting. One Pentagon official described the vibe as “somewhere between disbelief and secondhand embarrassment.”
"It's a bad look!"
DOD Sec. @PeteHegseth uses surprise meeting of military leaders to rail against "fat troops" and "fat generals and admirals"
Announces new standards requiring regular PT tests and weight requirements pic.twitter.com/LzFxAx8HR5
— Alexander Willis (@ReporterWillis) September 30, 2025
A ‘Canned’ Speech That Missed the Moment
Retired Brig. Gen. Steve Anderson, speaking on CNN just hours later, didn’t hold back.
“I think that there’s probably a lot of general officers sitting there right now muttering to themselves, I traveled 8,000 miles to hear this?” he said. “This is essentially a canned speech that really could have been delivered by anybody in almost any time.”
Anderson warned that Hegseth’s comments hint at a deeper — and more dangerous — shift in strategy: pulling U.S. military presence back from overseas and retreating from long-standing alliances like NATO, Japan, and South Korea.
“That has kept this world safe for 80 years,” Anderson said. “For us to come off on that would be a terrible, terrible mistake.”
Anderson also didn’t forget about Signalgate — the still-unresolved scandal involving Hegseth’s use of unsecured communications for classified information.
“If you talk about accountability, responsibility, he needs to start with himself,” Anderson said. “He should have resigned after the Signalgate disaster. We shared our classified secrets on an insecure line. Every single person in that room knows that they would have been fired had they done the same thing.”
The moment wasn’t just a dig — it was a shot across the bow. Several military insiders have quietly questioned how Hegseth weathered that storm while lower-ranking officials have been punished for far less.
FAFO — And Fall Flat
But the real headline moment — and the one lighting up social media — was Hegseth’s attempt at a red-meat applause line.
“Should our enemies choose foolishly to challenge us, they will be crushed by the violence, precision, and ferocity of the War Department,” Hegseth said. “To our enemies, FAFO.”
He paused, grinned, and scanned the room.
Nothing. Dead silence — except for one sad “woohoo” from the back.
“If necessary, our troops can translate that for you,” Hegseth added.
It was supposed to be his “Mission Accomplished” moment. Instead, it landed like a bad dad joke at a funeral.
“‘To our enemies: FAFO.’ Holds for applause that doesn’t come,” posted one social media account. “Cringey awkward moment as Hegseth summons all generals to hear him do a one-man show about how strong we are.”
“This is, no exaggeration, some of the most loser s–t I have ever seen in my life,” wrote New York Times columnist Jamelle Bouie.
“Enjoying myself imagining the thousand yard stares that all the four-star generals must be greeting this with,” added The Atlantic’s Helen Lewis.
Strategy? What Strategy?
Meanwhile, the actual National Defense Strategy — the real reason military leaders thought they were being summoned — barely got serious attention.
According to the Washington Post, Hegseth’s draft plan is already drawing fire behind the scenes. The chair of the Joint Chiefs, Gen. Dan Caine, has reportedly been vocal about his deep concerns, particularly about Hegseth’s desire to shift resources away from Europe at a time when Russia is still on the offensive and China is expanding its military power in the Pacific.
“There’s a concern that it’s just not very well thought out,” one senior defense official told the Post.
Another source added that Caine “shared his concerns with top Pentagon leadership” and “gave Hegseth very frank feedback.”
Retired officers and defense officials say Hegseth’s address wasn’t just uninspiring — it was irresponsible.
Anderson summed it up best: “There’s nothing like being lectured to by a reserve major about accountability and responsibility… These guys can write books about their service and their sacrifice and the bravery that they have shown.”
“I think we’re going to see a lot more of this — trying to get the military to kowtow to [Trump] and their will,” he said. “Unfortunately, that’s the direction this is headed.”
