Letter: Hegseth meeting with military leaders was insulting

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I am a retired Army Infantry colonel, a West Point graduate, Airborne-Ranger qualified, with two combat tours in Iraq. While on active duty, I never took part in presidential elections.

Knowing many one- to four-star generals, I was appalled by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s mandatory in-person meeting last week. Not only was it very expensive to arrange, but it insulted the most loyal, gifted officers the country ever developed.

To have a man of questionable morals , with only platoon leader level experience, lecture heroes who have led battalions, brigades and divisions in tough combat over multiple tours, was extremely degrading. Taking these officers