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Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered hundreds of the U.S. military’s generals and admirals to gather on short notice — and without a stated reason — at a Marine Corps base in Virginia next week, sowing confusion and alarm after the Trump administration’s firing of numerous senior leaders this year.
The highly unusual directive was sent to virtually all of the military’s top commanders worldwide, according to more than a dozen people familiar with the matter. It was issued earlier this week, against the backdrop of a potential government shutdown, and as Hegseth’s overtly political moves have deepened a sense of distress among his opponents who fear that he is erasing the Defense Department’s status as a nonpartisan institution.
In a statement Thursday, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell affirmed that Hegseth “will be addressing his senior military leaders early next week,” but he offered no additional details. It was not immediately clear whether the White House is involved with the meeting or if President Donald Trump also intends to be there.
There are about 800 generals and admirals spread across the United States and dozens of other countries and time zones. Hegseth’s order, people familiar with the matter said, applies to all senior officers with the rank of brigadier general or above, or their Navy equivalent, serving in command positions and their top enlisted advisers. Typically, each of these officers oversees hundreds or thousands of rank-and-file troops.
Top commanders in conflict zones and senior military leaders stationed throughout Europe, the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific region are among those expected to attend Hegseth’s meeting, said people familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to publicly discuss the issue. The order does not apply to top military officers who hold staff positions.
None of the people who spoke with The Post could recall a defense secretary ever ordering so many of the military’s generals and admirals to assemble like this. Several said it raised security concerns.
The Defense Department possesses and often uses highly secure videoconferencing technology that enables military officials, regardless of their location, to discuss sensitive matters with the White House, the Pentagon or both. Another person said ordering hundreds of military leaders to appear in the same location is “not how this is done.”
On Capitol Hill, where Hegseth’s unorthodox stewardship of the Defense Department has rankled members of both political parties, lawmakers also appeared caught off guard. Republican and Democratic leaders of the Senate and House armed services committee did not immediately comment on the development.
Hegseth’s directive in May to slash about 100 generals and admirals also has generated concern among top military leaders. He called then for a “minimum” 20 percent cut to the number of four-star officers — the military’s top rank — on active duty and a corresponding number of generals in the National Guard. There also will be another 10 percent reduction, at least, to the total number of generals and admirals across the force.
Last month, Hegseth fired Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Kruse, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency; Vice Adm. Nancy Lacore, the chief of the Navy Reserve; and Rear Adm. Milton Sands, a Navy SEAL officer who oversaw Naval Special Warfare Command. No specific reasons were given in those cases.
The firings were the latest in a wider purge of national security agencies’ top ranks. Since entering office, the Trump administration also has fired the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr.; the chief of naval operations, Adm. Lisa Franchetti; the commandant of the Coast Guard, Adm. Linda Fagan; and the Air Force vice chief of staff, Gen. James Slife among others. The list includes a disproportionate number of women.
Gen. David Allvin, the chief of staff of the Air Force, announced last month he will step down in November, after he was asked to retire.
© 2015 Mutual Fund Observer. All rights reserved.
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Comments
if you can imagine
Since Mr. Hegseth is exceedingly unqualified to be Defense Secretary,
I have concerns regarding the results of this "special" meeting.
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of the United States in the same location. Isn't that rather risky in terms of unnecessary risk of,
maybe remote but real, deadly consequences."
Anna,
You are not the only one concerned about placing many of our military leaders
in the same location when it doesn't seem to be necessary.
(1) We’ve captured an alien from another world.
(2) Something to do with the 25th Amendment
Keep in mind Pete hasn’t had good luck communicating with his military through normal channels.
@Anna makes a good point.