By In a very rare move, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered hundreds of the U.S. military’s generals and admirals to report to a Marine Corps base in Virginia next week, without explanation, igniting confusion and alarm after a year of high-profile firings under the Trump administration.
The directive, described by several officials as unprecedented, was transmitted to virtually every senior commander worldwide, according to The Washington Post. It comes as a government shutdown looms and amid Pentagon plans for a sweeping consolidation of top commands. “Hegseth will be addressing his senior military leaders early next week,” Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said Thursday, offering no further details.
The order applies to all generals and admirals in command positions, O-7 through O-10, and their senior enlisted advisers, according to one official who reviewed the document. Roughly 800 officers meet that description, spread across dozens of countries and multiple time zones. “All general officers in command in grade O-7 through O-10 and their general officer senior enlisted advisers are directed to attend within operational constraints,” the order states.
None of the officials contacted could recall a defense secretary ever compelling so many of the military’s top leaders to assemble in person. “People are very concerned. They have no idea what it means,” one person said. Another defense official, pointing to commanders being summoned from overseas, added: “It will make the commands just diminished if something pops up.”
The Pentagon possesses secure videoconferencing systems designed for sensitive discussions, raising further questions about why hundreds of officers must converge on Quantico. “You don’t call GOFOs leading their people and the global force into an auditorium outside D.C. and not tell them why/what the topic or agenda is,” one person said, using shorthand for general or flag officer. A U.S. official put it more bluntly: “Are we taking every general and flag officer out of the Pacific right now? All of it is weird.”
The summons arrives as Hegseth has pursued sweeping changes at the Pentagon, including a May directive to slash about 100 generals and admirals — at least 20 percent of four-stars and a corresponding reduction in the Guard — along with a broader 10 percent cut across the force. He has also ordered the Defense Department rebranded as the Department of War.
According to Hegseth, there are currently 44 four-star and flag officers across the military, making for a ratio of one general to 1,400 troops, compared to the ratio during World War II of one general to 6,000 troops.
Last month, Hegseth dismissed Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Kruse, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency; Vice Adm. Nancy Lacore, chief of the Navy Reserve; and Rear Adm. Milton Sands, who oversaw Naval Special Warfare Command. No reason was provided. Those firings followed the ousters of Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., Adm. Lisa Franchetti, Adm. Linda Fagan, and Air Force Vice Chief Gen. James Slife, among others — a purge that has included a disproportionate number of women.
Some officials speculated that Hegseth’s meeting may preview the administration’s forthcoming national defense strategy, which is expected to shift focus from countering China to prioritizing homeland defense. But the lack of clarity, coupled with the scale of the summons, has left many in uniform unsettled.
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