WASHINGTON − Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered about 800 senior military leaders stationed around the world to come to a last-minute meeting in northern Virginia on Sept. 30.

A meeting with such senior leadership would normally be planned months in advance.

"The secretary of war will be addressing his senior military leaders early next week," Pentagon chief spokesperson Sean Parnell said in a statement. The Pentagon declined to disclose the reason for the meeting, which will occur at Quantico, a Marine Corps base around 30 miles south of the Pentagon.

All senior officers above the rank of brigadier general must attend the meeting, according to the Washington Post, which first reported the meeting. Around 800 officers currently fall into that category, according to the Congressional Research Service.

Senior military officials in some cases command thousands of troops. Most have detailed schedules weeks in advance, which have now been upended.

It was unclear how many officials would actually attend the event, but it is rare to have so many senior officials in the same room at the same time.

The U.S. has troops around the world, including in distant locations like South Korea, Japan and across the Middle East – which are commanded by two, three and four-star generals and admirals.

Hegseth, a former Fox News host, has moved with stunning speed to reshape the department, firing top generals and admirals as he seeks to implement Trump's national security agenda and root out diversity initiatives he calls discriminatory.

In February, he fired Air Force General C.Q. Brown, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, along with five other admirals and generals in an unprecedented shake-up of U.S. military leadership.

Last month, Hegseth fired the head of the Pentagon's intelligence agency and two other senior military commanders.

In May, Hegseth ordered a 20% reduction in the number of four-star officers. In that May memo, Hegseth said there would also be a minimum 20% reduction in the number of general officers in the National Guard and an additional 10% reduction among general and flag officers across the military.

"More generals and admirals does not lead to more success," Hegseth said at the time.

Now, many of those generals and admirals will be in the same room.

Contributing: Reuters

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Hegseth orders top brass to attend last-minute meeting at Quantico early next week

Reporting by Cybele Mayes-Osterman, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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