May 29, 2026
The Washington Post reports:
The Pentagon is moving to recruit hundreds of troops to appear as spectators next month at President Donald Trump’s UFC cage-fighting event on the White House lawn, and requiring those who attend to pay their own way and meet height and weight requirements, according to people familiar with the matter and internal memos reviewed by The Washington Post.
The Defense Department in recent days has solicited troops across the services to attend the June 14 event. Officials are seeking junior enlisted personnel and junior officers specifically, according to internal messages that make clear travel will be “member-procured.”
Junior troops make up the military’s lowest pay grades. One memo, circulated within the Air Force, stipulates that to be eligible, personnel “MUST MEET CURRENT WAIST-HEIGHT RATIO and current physical fitness standard.” Troops will be required to wear their short-sleeve dress uniforms, the memo adds.
Read the full article.
Pentagon Recruits Troops To Attend WH Cage Match
Scottie's Playtime 
This is wrong and infuriating on so. many. levels. But that’s Trump, MAGA, and their skewed worldview.
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Hi Michael. I can’t understand the thinking of the current leaders asking the lowest earning members to pay for their own food, lodging, and travel to attend a function to make the president look good. I remember when I was in West Berlin. I was on a four day pass and had my former first sergeant / former boyfriend visiting when the commanding officer sent for me. He needed me as one of the best unit drivers to drive a van in a five van convoy of visiting VIPs from the states to East Berlin for a ceremonial many courses dinner. (I was the only one in the unit to pass the semi driving test and was often asked to drive the commanding officer to places) He offered to pay for both myself and my guest to attend. So luckily my former 1st sergeant had a dress uniform with him. It was something to this country boy that was out of this world. So much pageantry and so many different things were placed down, eaten, picked up and replaced with more different stuff. I felt so out of place as an E-4 among all those officers and VIP officials. But I was made to feel included.
I was super glad for my !st Sergeant being there for support and because on the way back we were the last van and the convoy came under fire. I lost our headlights and heard glassbreaking. As the rest of the vans raced away I was stunned not knowing what to do, my boyfriend called my name and told me to drive as fast as safely possible, get up close to the other vans and stay with them. He turned and ordered very authoritatively for everyone to crouch down as low as they could. Then he kept talking to me as I concentrated on keeping up with the van ahead of me. We slid through check point charley scraping the concrete S shaped barriers, but we were safe. Bright lights were pointed at and behind us. I got a glimpse of large stationary weapon batteries pointed over us.
The van was a mess and I was not feeling much better, with broken windows dents, holes, and scrapes from where I had slid along the barrier. I figured I lost my stripes. Instead I got an award and an accommodation. I was debriefed, as was my boyfriend. I was then told the event never happened and not to talk about it. As I was in a signal unit attached to an intelligence unit, I got told that about things a lot at that assignment. But as that was in the 1980s and I can’t remember the names or much about it I figure it is not a big deal if I mention it these days. Hugs
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Thanks for sharing your story with me, brother. Stay well. Be strong. Hugs
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Hi Michael. As a career officer I thought you might appreciate it. I really was unsure and nervous sitting at a large table with all those people. The point was my commanding officer made it good for me and my guest compared to what Kegseth is asking lower ranks to do for him now. I had decent caring upper command staff, both enlisted and officers. Until the new person came in and forced me out because I was openly gay I always felt my superiors had my back, especially when I was responsible for a shift at the sat site for a year. I always felt I could go to them if I was unsure, I felt I could depend on them backing me up in a situation where I had to make a quick decision. But I admit that was the first time I was shot at, I never went through army basic. But I trusted my former boyfriend and kept listening to his voice as I concentrated on what I needed to do. Hugs
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