President Donald Trump threatened firings and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth lambasted "decades of decay" at the Pentagon as they spoke before a silent audience of hundreds of top military commanders who'd traveled from around the world on short notice to hear them at a Quantico, Virginia military base.

Trump spoke for over an hour, touching on his deployment of the National Guard to cities run by Democrats and his negotiations to end foreign conflicts. Hegseth, who took the podium first before a billboard-sized American flag, unveiled his major policy priorities, telling the country's military elite that new measures would weed out political correctness among the world's most powerful armed forces.

As some reports anticipated, Hegseth used the occasion to laud the "warrior ethos" and "peace through strength," and Trump delivered a characteristic speech, rife with self-praise. Critics said the gathering was a waste of taxpayer dollars and dangerous to national security. But it gave Hegseth, a former Fox News anchor who'd attained a lower rank during his military service than any of his guests in attendance, an opportunity to call for top leadership to get on board with his new Pentagon priorities.

Here's a look at key takeaways from the Quantico meeting.

Leaders who aren't in sync with the program should 'resign'

Both Trump and Hegseth told the gathering that generals and admirals who had problems with the Trump administration's program should resign.

"If you don't like what I'm saying, you can leave the room. Of course, there goes your rank, there goes your future. But you just feel nice and loose, okay?" Trump said. He had told reporters, with characteristic bravado, before arriving at the gathering that he would fire the generals "right on the spot" if he didn't like them.

Hegseth also delivered ultimatums. He told the senior officers they should resign if his words made their "heart sink."

"If the words I'm speaking today are making your heart sink, then you should do the honorable thing and resign," Hegseth said.

Michael Smith, a retired Navy Rear Admiral and president of National Security Leaders of America, said it was "ironic" that Hegseth advocated for stamping out politics before telling them to resign if they were not in alignment with his goals.

"The Secretary starts out saying how important it is for this group of generals and admirals to be apolitical. Then he goes on to air cultural grievances, and then says, 'If you don’t agree with this political vision, you should resign,'" Smith said.

Smith said the tenor of both speeches broke with standards.

"Demanding personal loyalty to an administration's political policies goes against the apolitical nature of our military," he said.

Military could use 'dangerous cities' as 'training grounds'

Trump suggested in his remarks that "dangerous cities" in the U.S. could be used as "training grounds" for military troops.

“We should use some of these dangerous cities as training grounds for our military,” he said.

The statement came days after he deployed the National Guard to Portland, Oregon, a move opposed by the state's governor and other local officials. Trump has also deployed troops to Los Angeles, the southern border, and Washington, DC, where many soldiers were tasked with "beautifying" neighborhoods, including picking up trash and raking leaves.

"Washington, DC, went from our most unsafe city to just about our safest city in a period of a month," he said, lauding the National Guard troops in the nation's capital.

These statements struck Mark Cancian, a senior defense advisor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, as worrisome.

"If he puts out some directive specifying that the military should use lethal force, then that could be a huge problem," Cancian said. "The military is just not trained in the nuances about civilian rights and the use of lethal force," he added.

Hegseth goes after 'decades of decay'

Hegseth told the crowd that "decades of decay" turned the armed forces into the "woke department." Under past leadership, he said, military officials were promoted based on their race or gender, standards slipped and "toxic ideological garbage" had "infected" the department.

"We are clearing out the debris, removing the distraction, clearing the way for leaders," he said, echoing language Trump administration officials have used often during his second term. "You might say we're ending the war on warriors."

It was a common theme for Hegseth, who wrote a book called "The War on Warriors." Since he took the reins at the Pentagon in January, Hegseth has led a campaign to end diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI policies, throughout the military, including firing top generals and dismissing military lawyers, ripping down internet content and kicking out transgender troops.

Cancian, who is also a retired colonel, said the most important part of the speeches was "what was not there."

"There was no purge of the generals, no demand for a loyalty oath, no demand for adherence to partisan political policies," Cancian said.

Some had feared Hegseth might do that when he ordered the Quantico meeting the week prior.

Hegseth delivered remarks to higher-ranking service members

As Hegseth addressed the crowd of hundreds of the military's most senior decorated members, he paced back and forth in front of a giant American flag reminiscent of the iconic scene of a World War II general from the classic military movie "Patton."

True to military form, the rows of top generals and admirals in his audience remained stoic and silent as he delivered the speech.

Trump later remarked on the silence in the room, saying, "I've never walked into a room so silent. Don't laugh, don't laugh. You're not allowed to do that."

Cancian said the generals and admirals "had clearly been briefed about how to react," and not to cheer or clap for the speeches.

Between the speaker and the audience, the deficit in military leadership experience was striking. In his years of service, Hegseth reached the rank of major, far below the lowest-ranked leader in the room, and he has never commanded a military unit.

In his book, "The War on Warriors," and public comments, Hegseth has outlined a vision in which a Pentagon outsider is needed to shatter a rotten military establishment.

Hegseth sets 'highest male standard' for combat roles

Hegseth said he had directed the military to return all combat arms positions to "the highest male standard" for physical fitness. Combat arms units would also require an added field test, he said.

He said standards that he claimed were changed in 2015 to allow for women to join combat arms units must be brought back.

"This is not about preventing women from serving," he said. "But when it comes to any job that requires physical power, performing combat, those physical standards must be high and gender-neutral."

Months before Trump picked him to lead the military, Hegseth said publicly that women "straight up" shouldn't be in combat roles, provoking concerns among many in the military that he would ban women from those positions. In April, he ordered the military to restore "sex-neutral" fitness standards – experts previously told USA TODAY that women in combat are nearly all subject to the same standards as men, meaning the standards were not changed.

Twice-a-year fitness tests, tighter grooming standards

Hegseth announced that every member of the military, from top to bottom, would need to undergo a physical fitness test and conform to height and weight standards twice a year.

"It's completely unacceptable to see fat admirals and generals in the halls of the Pentagon," Hegseth said.

He also said the Defense Department would crack down on grooming standards – "no more beards, long hair, superficial individual expression," he said.

"At my direction, the era of unprofessional appearance is over."

Hegseth announces overhaul of whistleblower, equal opportunity policies

Hegseth announced an overhaul of equal opportunity policies in the military and at the inspector general's office, the Pentagon's internal watchdog, which investigates complaints from anonymous whistleblowers.

"No more frivolous complaints, no more anonymous complaints, no more repeat complainants, no more smearing reputations," he said.

The Pentagon's inspector general was one of 17 agency leaders Trump fired in January. The position remains open.

Hegseth is also facing an investigation by the Pentagon's acting inspector general over his use of the encrypted messaging app Signal to share classified information about a U.S. military operation in Yemen.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Hegseth rips Pentagon 'decay,' 'fat generals': Quantico meeting takeaways

Reporting by Cybele Mayes-Osterman, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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