Retired Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling calls the attendance criteria "the performance of a bad squad leader"
Mark HertlingRetired United States Army lieutenant general and former commander of U.S. Army Europe, as a military analyst on MS NOW
Retired Lieutenant General Mark Hertling, a former commander of U.S. Army Europe, criticised the Pentagon's attendance criteria for Hegseth's address on MS NOW. He said the military measures height and weight rather than waist-to-height, so the requirement was miscommunicated to the force, described the criteria as poor leadership, and relayed an email from a retired senior officer who said he was more concerned about soldiers going blind from eye-rolling. He added that senior officers were following lawful orders while cringing at them.
“This is the performance of a bad squad leader, a bad newly promoted sergeant who's trying to get his troops in line. It smacks of poor leadership.”
Original video
Where this statement fits
Were the Pentagon's Fitness and Grooming Requirements for Hegseth's Speech Appropriate?
Ahead of a "State of the Force" address scheduled for September 30, 2026, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth emailed U.S. Army commanders asking them to nominate service members who meet the Army's waist-to-height ratio and fitness-test standards, along with "impeccable grooming and uniform standards (no exception)" and other performance criteria, for the chance to attend and join him for a workout, according to a Wall Street Journal report. The Pentagon declined to comment on the request when contacted by multiple outlets; the directive drew public criticism and mockery from several commentators.
Source and context
Original video
About this source
The outlet's own upload of the broadcast segment. The quoted wording is our transcription of the video audio. Speaker attribution rests on the panel roster in the video description and on points in the exchange where Wallace addresses a panellist by name immediately before their answer. Paul Rieckhoff also speaks in the segment but his contributions could not be attributed with confidence from audio alone and are not recorded.
Before the quotation
The Wall Street Journal reported on September 15 that Pentagon emails asked Army commanders to nominate troops who meet the Army fitness test and waist-to-height ratio with "impeccable grooming and uniform standards (no exception)" for the September 30 address.
After the quotation
The Pentagon declined to comment on the Wall Street Journal's reporting. Hegseth had used an earlier address to say there would be "no more beardos" or "fat generals."
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
Hertling rejects them as poor leadership and as a misuse of a defence secretary's time during a war, which condemns the conduct under scrutiny. The closest competing label is “Challenged the characterization”, since part of his answer corrects the terminology, noting the Army uses height and weight rather than waist-to-height. That loses because the correction is preliminary to a substantive judgment about leadership rather than the whole of his response.
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- Pete Hegseth
More from this case
Read the full caseHegseth defends enforcing standards
“Telling someone to get in shape, or shave, or fix their uniform, or start busting their ass - that's not discrimination. That's leadership.”Read statement
Pentagon press office offers no comment on the speech attendee criteria
United States Department of Defense
“Nothing to offer you on this.”Read statement
Jen Psaki calls the attendance criteria "casting call requirements" and questions Hegseth's priorities
“Way to focus in the middle of a war on things that really matter right now.”Read statement
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- Retired Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling calls the attendance criteria "the performance of a bad squad leader"
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The Dispute Index. "Retired Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling calls the attendance criteria "the performance of a bad squad leader"". First published: 2026-09-18. Last updated: 2026-09-22. https://disputeindex.com/events/1078-retired-lieutenant-general-mark-hertling-a-former-commander