He's called a meeting next week of hundreds of generals. He's already screwed up Army Aviation and completely sidetracked the career paths of a ton of commissioned and warrant officers. I wonder how many 20 year guys wanting to do 30 are sending out their resume'?

https://wapo.st/4nidndf

We are calling home every general and flag officer leading their people overseas, including the Pacific, to an auditorium and not even telling them why or what the topic of the speech is?

Very odd and extremely dangerous from a security perspective to have all ~800 in the same room. Just send an email.

Kind of an unfair remark that Hegseth has screwed up Army Aviation. These plans and goals have been in place long before he was appointed. Technology is changing. The new F-47 can supposedly have one pilot commanding multiple drones on his wings…as an example.
They will need folks to fill new roles I am sure.
Hegseth isn't causing the technology change.

OldArmyCT said:

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Tango.Mike said:

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What has Hegseth done to Army aviation?

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This isn't all on him but he is the guy who signs off on things:
https://taskandpurpose.com/news/army-cuts-thousands-pilots/

And there will soon be almost zero aviation left in the Reserves.

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That decision was put forth in the 2022 POM cycle, when neither Hegseth nor his boss were in charge. Do you really think the monolith that is the DoD went from idea to cuts in 8 months (and less than 2 months after NEXT YEAR'S budget was passed)? Come on man

And moving aviation out of the Reserves was the Army's idea and request for over a decade.

My money is on a surprise PT test and follow up with a HT/WT. LOL, just kidding. Sort of.

clarythedrill said:

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My money is on a surprise PT test and follow up with a HT/WT. LOL, just kidding. Sort of.

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That would be awesome.

Why the hullabaloo? Every Fortune level MultiNational brings it's leadership into one location at the beginning of their fiscal year to ensure everyone is aligned on the strategy and direction....seems like the right thing to do.

japantiger said:

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Why the hullabaloo? Every Fortune level MultiNational brings it's leadership into one location at the beginning of their fiscal year to ensure everyone is aligned on the strategy and direction....seems like the right thing to do.

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Because it is an unprecedented thing to pull potentially hundreds of flag officers away from their combatant commands, or other leadership posts. Especially in the modern age when you can even do secure video chats, or signal chats.

He wants to brief them on Trump's fascistic plan to impose martial law and cancel elections, starting in 2026 and definitely 2028, as well as getting them on board with all the concentration camps he needs to imprison all the loyal, patriotic Americans opposing him at every turn.

A little more seriously, maybe he'll ask for the resignations of everyone who received his or her first star, or one or more additional stars, between 2009 and 2017 and 2021 and 2025.

More seriously, this isn't a brainstorming session. He won't be asking 800 people for their ideas on how to fulfill his stated goal of making the military more lethal -- at least not there. If there's been some resistance to increasing standards and trying to eliminate wokeness, maybe he's going to lay down the law. Maybe he's going to divulge a plan to address the chronic issue of peacetime generals being ill-prepared to actually conduct a war. Or maybe he's going to tell them what happens when the government shuts down next week. Shrug.

Any O-7s (ret) or above here have any ideas?

The obvious reason is to have all of them pledge allegiance to Trump.

A cabinet member, high-ranking DoD officials, and 800 generals all in one room.

That has to exceed some sort of safety guideline for the amount of ego that be collected all in one place.

bigtruckguy3500 said:

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japantiger said:

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Why the hullabaloo? Every Fortune level MultiNational brings it's leadership into one location at the beginning of their fiscal year to ensure everyone is aligned on the strategy and direction....seems like the right thing to do.

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Because it is an unprecedented thing to pull potentially hundreds of flag officers away from their combatant commands, or other leadership posts. Especially in the modern age when you can even do secure video chats, or signal chats.

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Hundreds of senior officers are pulled away from their commands all the time to sit in conferences. Not a big deal. Also, these GO/FOs leave their commands all the time to fly around to DC and their AOs. Not a big deal.

The Senate and Congress piles into a room all the time. Where's the outrage for that? Again, not a big deal.

I wonder what the tab for this meeting will come to. TDY, travel, mileage, lodging, some of those guys will fly in on military aircraft. All to listen to a radio jock who has no idea how to communicate securely.

Pirate04 said:

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Tango.Mike said:

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OldArmyCT said:

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Tango.Mike said:

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What has Hegseth done to Army aviation?

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This isn't all on him but he is the guy who signs off on things:
https://taskandpurpose.com/news/army-cuts-thousands-pilots/

And there will soon be almost zero aviation left in the Reserves.

---

That decision was put forth in the 2022 POM cycle, when neither Hegseth nor his boss were in charge. Do you really think the monolith that is the DoD went from idea to cuts in 8 months (and less than 2 months after NEXT YEAR'S budget was passed)? Come on man

And moving aviation out of the Reserves was the Army's idea and request for over a decade.

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Army Reservist here. To be fair, we were told in May that this was happening. As of today, we have two aircraft left in the company, zero flight program starting in a few days, and no money for soldiers who travel to drill.
We were given information prior to May that said we would likely consolidate into fewer flight companies. Instead, it took less than 8 months to fully dismantle the ARAC with Full casing of the Brigades' colors happening at the end of FY26.

I do agree with you that it's not all on the current administration and that the Reserve has been a target for cuts for a while. However, those of us in the flight companies, at the lowest levels, feel extremely left behind by the current DOD (DOW).

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That's natural that you feel "left behind." Every person at the battalion level on AD feels "left behind" by the big Army for one reason or another. These decisions take years to go through POM cycles, Quadrennial Defense Review alignment, President's Budget markup sessions in the E-Ring, and finally into implementation. If you see it happen in one company in 8 months, it probably took 3 years of political wrangling and staff planning to get to you. In the Reserves AVN case, it's literally been 13 years

As for the GO conference, it's not a big deal. Back when I was a CIG planner for the CSA the Army would gather every single GO once per year so the Chief could talk to everyone in person. Every GO, every year, one week all together. Sure, he talked to the MSCs via Zoom all the time, but this gave him an opportunity to see everyone face to face. And at least once they'd go into a room all together with no entourage, no phones, no notepads so he could talk frankly without it getting leaked out to somebody's favorite political bent

The point of this particular thread is that the OP appears to be here only to grind some personal political axe without any understanding of how the big DOD/DOW works

OldArmyCT said:

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I wonder what the tab for this meeting will come to. TDY, travel, mileage, lodging, some of those guys will fly in on military aircraft. All to listen to a radio jock who has no idea how to communicate securely.

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So emotional, cry harder.
Where was all this manufactured outrage when the last administration was spending money on a bunch of dumb **** way worse than this?

2004FIGHTINTXAG said:

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bigtruckguy3500 said:

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japantiger said:

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Why the hullabaloo? Every Fortune level MultiNational brings it's leadership into one location at the beginning of their fiscal year to ensure everyone is aligned on the strategy and direction....seems like the right thing to do.

---

Because it is an unprecedented thing to pull potentially hundreds of flag officers away from their combatant commands, or other leadership posts. Especially in the modern age when you can even do secure video chats, or signal chats.

---

Hundreds of senior officers are pulled away from their commands all the time to sit in conferences. Not a big deal. Also, these GO/FOs leave their commands all the time to fly around to DC and their AOs. Not a big deal.

The Senate and Congress piles into a room all the time. Where's the outrage for that? Again, not a big deal.

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I haven't really seen much outrage. I've seen a lot of questioning since, again, it does seem to be unprecedented. And of course these people leave their commands all the time. But usually for vacation or important reasons. The question is what's so important to pull hundreds of them away at once? Can you imagine having to fly 24-36 hours (one way) from some of the further commands just to hear something that could've been done over video chat?

And I know they've all got someone manning the reigns should something happen. But still, who cares if congress gets taken out. But the top 800 strategic minds of the US forces getting hit at once? That would be a huge vulnerability. That being said, putting them all in one room isn't a big deal outside of an active war, in my opinion

Rumor is that it's about grooming standards and the warrior ethos. Which could be completely off, or a cover for something more serious. I really hope it's something more serious than grooming standards. Can you imagine flying 24 hours just to sit in on a meeting telling you to enforce people shaving?

bigtruckguy3500 said:

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Can you imagine flying 24 hours just to sit in on a meeting telling you to enforce people shaving?

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I was in the Army long enough that I CAN imagine that. Sucks to be them.

bigtruckguy3500 said:

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2004FIGHTINTXAG said:

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bigtruckguy3500 said:

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japantiger said:

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Why the hullabaloo? Every Fortune level MultiNational brings it's leadership into one location at the beginning of their fiscal year to ensure everyone is aligned on the strategy and direction....seems like the right thing to do.

---

Because it is an unprecedented thing to pull potentially hundreds of flag officers away from their combatant commands, or other leadership posts. Especially in the modern age when you can even do secure video chats, or signal chats.

---

Hundreds of senior officers are pulled away from their commands all the time to sit in conferences. Not a big deal. Also, these GO/FOs leave their commands all the time to fly around to DC and their AOs. Not a big deal.

The Senate and Congress piles into a room all the time. Where's the outrage for that? Again, not a big deal.

---

I haven't really seen much outrage. I've seen a lot of questioning since, again, it does seem to be unprecedented. And of course these people leave their commands all the time. But usually for vacation or important reasons. The question is what's so important to pull hundreds of them away at once? Can you imagine having to fly 24-36 hours (one way) from some of the further commands just to hear something that could've been done over video chat?

And I know they've all got someone manning the reigns should something happen. But still, who cares if congress gets taken out. But the top 800 strategic minds of the US forces getting hit at once? That would be a huge vulnerability. That being said, putting them all in one room isn't a big deal outside of an active war, in my opinion

Rumor is that it's about grooming standards and the warrior ethos. Which could be completely off, or a cover for something more serious. I really hope it's something more serious than grooming standards. Can you imagine flying 24 hours just to sit in on a meeting telling you to enforce people shaving?

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Yes I can imagine flying 24+ hours to meet with my leaders ...I did it when I was the guy overseas. You can't look someone eye to eye over zoom. You can'thave dinner and spend the evening hashing out real issues over Zoom. You can't build a relationship over Zoom...you can't build trust over zoom. You can't change a culture over zoom.

bigtruckguy3500 said:

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2004FIGHTINTXAG said:

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bigtruckguy3500 said:

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japantiger said:

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Why the hullabaloo? Every Fortune level MultiNational brings it's leadership into one location at the beginning of their fiscal year to ensure everyone is aligned on the strategy and direction....seems like the right thing to do.

---

Because it is an unprecedented thing to pull potentially hundreds of flag officers away from their combatant commands, or other leadership posts. Especially in the modern age when you can even do secure video chats, or signal chats.

---

Hundreds of senior officers are pulled away from their commands all the time to sit in conferences. Not a big deal. Also, these GO/FOs leave their commands all the time to fly around to DC and their AOs. Not a big deal.

The Senate and Congress piles into a room all the time. Where's the outrage for that? Again, not a big deal.

---

I haven't really seen much outrage. I've seen a lot of questioning since, again, it does seem to be unprecedented. And of course these people leave their commands all the time. But usually for vacation or important reasons. The question is what's so important to pull hundreds of them away at once? Can you imagine having to fly 24-36 hours (one way) from some of the further commands just to hear something that could've been done over video chat?

And I know they've all got someone manning the reigns should something happen. But still, who cares if congress gets taken out. But the top 800 strategic minds of the US forces getting hit at once? That would be a huge vulnerability. That being said, putting them all in one room isn't a big deal outside of an active war, in my opinion

Rumor is that it's about grooming standards and the warrior ethos. Which could be completely off, or a cover for something more serious. I really hope it's something more serious than grooming standards. Can you imagine flying 24 hours just to sit in on a meeting telling you to enforce people shaving?

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Just got out after 20 years in. We had a 2-star fly from HI to FL every two months. This in addition to him flying all over the Pacific often. Again, not a big deal.

Oh, and you're being very generous with your "800 strategic minds" comment.

OldArmyCT said:

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inconvenient truth said:

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OldArmyCT said:

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I wonder what the tab for this meeting will come to. TDY, travel, mileage, lodging, some of those guys will fly in on military aircraft. All to listen to a radio jock who has no idea how to communicate securely.

---

So emotional, cry harder.
Where was all this manufactured outrage when the last administration was spending money on a bunch of dumb **** way worse than this?

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For the record I have never voted for a Democrat in my entire life and voted for Trump twice. I also spent 20 in the Army and flew Hueys in Vietnam. But you know if they can cut the pilots and airframes out of the picture you can be sure tanks are next followed by non-mobile artillery and a lot of the storage and maintenance support that goes with it. So if you're a 12 year FA Major thinking you will retire at least as a Colonel what are you going to do? What's you're alternate specialty and is there a space somewhere you can fit into? When does the Army designate a Drone Branch? Are boots on the ground important anymore? What does a 12 year CW3 aviator do to get to 20? Why is Bell proceeding with the Valor? And yeah, the cost may be insignificant in the scheme of things but they could have fixed a lot of military quarters/barracks with some of that money. Now maybe I don't like Hegseth, well that's true, I don't, and it has nothing to do with DEI, any competent leader could have fixed DEI in the military if charged to do so. If I had my druthers I would have talked to McChrystal but no one asked me.

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It's absolutely not the SecWar's job to make sure individuals get to stay in one role until they retire. Good gracious.

For the first time in the history of ever we're not focused on winning the last war, and you want the SecWar to be concerned about a CW3.

I couldn't care less if you like Hegseth or not, I don't know the guy (and neither do you). But you have zero idea of what his job is or what decisions he's made (though you obviously think you do)

Tango.Mike said:

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But you have zero idea of what his job is

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does he, though?

If you appreciate a fit, trained, and ready military. You would have loved his comments and the guidance he provided. He laid down the gauntlet to all his generals that the standards everywhere must improve. I served 26 years and work closely still with the army. I love soldiers but their standards have slipped drastically. I hope this jump starts the military similar to Reagan's approach. We don't want any solider to be harmed because they were not trained and properly equipped.

In my opinion, the worst part of this was it being aired on TV and turned into a spectacle for viewers at home and abroad.

Want to crack down on fitness in senior officer ranks, great, want to promote lethality and end the quota roles, perfect.

Both parties need to stop using the military as a political and social experiment. I say that as a retired Marine (mustang) who spent a few years representing the DoD in the halls of congress (mostly the senate).

It was specifically broadcast to the world as a strategic messaging opportunity to let all of our adversaries around the world that we're re no worried about the social experiment dumbassery of the past and that we're solely focused on defeating them in a crisis/conflict.

I appreciate that perspective but having sat in meetings with both US and foreign officials and worked on defense policy with nations around the world, I'm confident in my assessment.

The theatrics were for political reasons at home.

Don't get me wrong, appreciate a lot of what he said. It's the theatrics we need less of.

On a separate note, I find it funny the left is now propping up Gen. Milley based on a snippet from one speech he gave (where he looked fat AF). Now they are calling him a great patriot. That's after he was ripped for walking through the streets of DC.