Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has issued urgent orders for 800 generals and admirals in the U.S. military worldwide to a meeting at a Marine Corps base in Quantico, Virginia, on short notice and without a stated reason, The Washington Post first reported.
According to sources familiar with the matter, the orders were issued earlier this week and have caused alarm and confusion among the nation’s top brass. The orders, highly unusual in their own right, come in the midst of a looming government shutdown and on the heels of the Trump administration attempting to rename the Department of Defense the “Department of War.”
Pentagon spokesman and senior Hegseth adviser, Sean Parnell, said in a statement released Thursday that Hegseth “will be addressing his senior military leaders early next week,” but offered no further details. Among the commanders expected to be at the gathering are those currently in active war zones and diplomatically sensitive areas, such as the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific region.
“People are very concerned. They have no idea what it means,” one person familiar with the orders told the Post.
Others expressed frustration and noted that military preparedness could be compromised by the meeting.
“It will make the commands just diminished if something pops up,” a defense official said.
Another person took issue with the sudden ordering of hundreds of high-ranking officials to one location, saying this is “not how it is done.”
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The New York Times also reported that the order has been given, reporting that it “has stirred anxiety among the military’s top ranks.”
Since his confirmation earlier this year, Hegseth has been at the helm of dramatic changes at the Pentagon. In April, Hegseth oversaw a “DEI purge” at the U.S. Naval Academy, leading to controversial book bans there.
In May, Hegseth issued a directive to remove 100 generals and admirals from their positions. Following this, Hegseth called for a 20% cut of four-star generals in active service and in the National Guard. In June, he ordered the Navy to rename one its ships, which bore the name of an assassinated gay rights activist and Navy veteran, Harvey Milk.
