US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has summoned the military’s top officers – hundreds of generals and admirals – to a base in northern Virginia for a sudden meeting next week, according to three people familiar with the matter.
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The directive did not offer a reason for the gathering on Tuesday of senior commanders of the one-star rank or higher and their top advisers at the Marine Corps base in Quantico.
The people, who described the move as unusual, were not authorised to publicly discuss the sensitive plans and spoke on condition of anonymity.
The Pentagon’s top spokesman, Sean Parnell, confirmed that Hegseth “will be addressing his senior military leaders early next week”.
Across the military, there are 800 generals and admirals of all ranks. Many command thousands of service members and are stationed across the world in more than a dozen countries and time zones.
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US defence chief Pete Hegseth warns of ‘imminent’ China threat during Shangri-La Dialogue
US defence chief Pete Hegseth warns of ‘imminent’ China threat during Shangri-La Dialogue
The meeting, first reported by The Washington Post, comes on the heels of several unusual and unexplained actions that Hegseth has taken involving military leaders.