Pete Hegseth (AP)
The Pentagon is convening a rare gathering of top US military leaders next week in Quantico, Virginia. Defence secretary Pete Hegseth has summoned senior commanders from around the world, though the purpose of the meeting remains unclear.”People are scrambling to change their plans and see if they have to attend,” a source was quoted as saying by Reuters.Many senior military officials, who often command thousands of troops and maintain schedules planned weeks in advance, face disrupted plans due to the meeting. It remains unclear how many will attend, but gatherings of this scale, with so many top officials in one room, is a rare occurrence.“The Secretary of War will be addressing his senior military leaders early next week,” Pentagon spokesperson Parnell’s office said. The office did not respond to questions regarding the number of officers attending, the purpose of the meeting, or why Hegseth issued the abrupt summons.A meeting of this scale is highly unusual and would typically be conducted via secure video teleconference, as roughly 800 generals and admirals are stationed across the US and globally. The order targets senior officers at the rank of brigadier general or higher, or their Navy equivalents, along with their top enlisted advisers, as cited by the Washington Post. The US maintains troops worldwide, including in distant locations such as South Korea, Japan, and across the Middle East, under the command of two, three, and four star generals and admirals.Hegseth has rapidly reshaped the defence department, dismissing top generals and admirals to advance Trump’s national security agenda and eliminate diversity initiatives he deems discriminatory. Last month, Hegseth removed the head of the Pentagon’s intelligence agency along with two other senior military commanders.In May, Hegseth issued a directive to cut roughly 100 generals and admirals, including a “minimum” 20 percent reduction among four-star officers. He also ordered an additional 10 percent reduction in general and flag officers across the military.”More generals and admirals does not lead to more success,” Hegseth said at the time, as reported by Reuters.
