Hundreds of US generals and admirals around the globe have been called to Virginia for a meeting with Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth next Tuesday, several US officials told CNN, though the reason for the meeting is unclear.
The meeting is expected to be held at the military installation in Quantico, Virginia, multiple officials said, adding that no one seems to know what the meeting is about, including the general and flag officers themselves, or why it was suddenly added to the calendar.
One source familiar said they had heard theories ranging from a group physical fitness test, to receiving a briefing on the state of the Defence Department, to a mass firing of officers, but regardless of the reason the sudden convening of so many senior military officers is highly unusual.
“It’s being referred to as the general squid games,” one official quipped.
Some officials also voiced security concerns about having so many high-ranking officers in one place at the same time.
A congressional aide told CNN that unless Hegseth planned to announce “a major new military campaign or a complete overhaul of the military command structure, I can’t imagine a good reason for this.”
The Washington Post first reported news of the meeting early on Thursday.
Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell confirmed that Hegseth would address “his senior military leaders early next week.”
The Pentagon did not answer specific questions about the purpose of the meeting or if the directive was for all general and flag officers in the military.
During a press conference in the Oval Office on Thursday afternoon, President Donald Trump responded to a question about the upcoming gathering by saying, “Isn’t it nice that people are coming from all over the world to meet?”
Trump said the meeting would at least partially be tied to a review of military equipment.
“We have the greatest equipment in the world,” he said.
“A lot of generals want to be here. They’re also going to be touring equipment sites. They’re going to be talking about the newest weapons.”
It’s unclear if the order was for all general and flag officers — those with the rank of one star or higher — or just those in certain command or leadership roles.
The meeting comes as the Trump administration has fired a slew of high-profile general and flag officers since taking office in January, in many instances due to Hegseth’s campaign against diversity-related issues, but often also for unspecified reasons.
Hegseth also ordered the Defence Department in May to cut the number of four-star generals and admirals by at least twenty per cent.
The officers who have been fired thus far include former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. CQ Brown; Adm. Lisa Franchetti, former Chief of Naval Operations; Adm. Linda Fagan, former Commandant of the Coast Guard; Gen. James Slife, former vice chief of the Air Force; Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Kruse, former head of the US Defence Intelligence Agency; Vice Adm. Nancy Lacore, former chief of the Navy Reserve; and Rear Adm. Milton Sands, former head of Naval Special Warfare Command.
Before taking on the role of defence secretary, Hegseth repeatedly voiced disdain for much of the military’s currently serving general and flag officer corps.
In a podcast appearance last summer, Hegseth said a third of the military’s senior officers were “actively complicit” in what he argued is a move towards politicisation of the military.
In a second podcast, he said senior officers were “playing by all the wrong rules” to cater to “ideologues in Washington, DC.”
