Retired Col. Mark Ritchie criticizes Trump, Hegseth on Quantico talks

Occupy Democrats posted a YouTube video under the title “U.S. Army Colonel STUNS Trump, GOES VIRAL!🚨.” It carries the line “Basically, you’re done, Trump. You’re done, Hegseth.”

The channel’s description identifies the speaker as retired Lt. Col. Mark S. Ritchie of the U.S. Army Reserve, a veteran of three combat tours in Iraq with 32 years of service. According to the post, Ritchie blasted a Sept. 30 meeting at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia, where generals, admirals and senior NCOs sat in silence through what he called the most outrageous speeches in U.S. military history. The description cites Trump’s talk of using American cities as “training grounds,” says Ritchie labeled Trump a domestic enemy of the Constitution, and states that millions of veterans feel the same. It adds that Ritchie warned Trump not to try to stop the 2026 midterms.

The Quantico session featured speeches by Gen. Dan Caine, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and President Donald Trump that lasted about two hours, retired Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling wrote in The Bulwark on Oct. 3. Mark F. Cancian, in an Oct. 2 commentary, reported that the audience had been briefed on comportment: they stood when Hegseth entered, showed no reactions during the remarks, and applauded only at the end, a pattern repeated for Trump. Cancian wrote that the biggest news was what did not happen—no purge of generals, no change to the oath of office, no demand that officers support partisan policies. Hegseth released ten additional directives the same day.

Retired Army brigadier general Ty Seidule, a professor of history at Hamilton College, told Here & Now on Oct. 1 that his first reaction was praise for the officers in the room. “I think my first one would be kudos to the generals and admirals. They affirmed their dignity, civilian control of the military and their professionalism,” Seidule said. He called Hegseth’s order that senior leaders drop everything and fly in from around the world the day before a government shutdown an act of “managerial incompetence.” “It’s an insult, a tremendous waste of time and resources to senior leaders trying to deter war across the globe,” he said.

Seidule addressed Trump’s reference to an “enemy within.” “My first thought was the tactical term I think would be bonkers,” he told the program, adding that American troops would never be used that way in U.S. cities and that such talk breaks the bond with the public. Hegseth, for his part, criticized “fat generals” and “fat troops” and announced gender-neutral male fitness standards. Cancian noted that the Washington Post described Hegseth’s tone as “crass” and “highly political.” Cancian also recorded Hegseth’s line on women in uniform: “Our female officers and [female] NCOs are the absolute best in the world.”