据五名美国官员说，国防部长皮特·海格塞斯(Pete Hegseth)已经下令大批将官和海军上将下周二在弗吉尼亚州匡蒂科(Quantico)的海军基地集合。其中两人告诉美国广播公司新闻，他们不知道是什么促成了这次可能有数百名美国军方最高领导人参加的聚会。
这是非常罕见的举行这样一个大型会议的将军谁是总部设在美国和海外在一个地方，它包括国防部长。
这次不寻常的会议也将在海格塞思下令将四星军衔的军官人数减少20%几个月后举行，此外他还解除了15名高级军官的职务，包括小查尔斯·“CQ·”布朗将军当时的参谋长联席会议主席和海军最高上将丽莎·弗兰切蒂上将。
五角大楼首席发言人肖恩·帕内尔在一份声明中说:“国防部长将于下周早些时候向他的高级军事领导人发表讲话。”
帕内尔使用了赫格塞斯的非正式头衔，这个头衔来自唐纳德·特朗普总统的行政命令重新命名国防部陆军部本月早些时候。该部门的正式更名需要国会采取行动。
消息人士告诉ABC新闻，邀请发给了一星及以上级别的指挥官，以及他们的军士长。这意味着数百名这样的高级官员将会同时聚集在海军基地。
根据五角大楼6月份的最新统计数据，总的来说，现役将官和上将共有838人，其中446人来自较高的二星、三星和四星军衔，但很难确定指挥职位与参谋职位之间的比例。
五角大楼拒绝透露将有多少人参加会议，以及会议的目的是什么，这让许多官员对最后一刻的命令感到困惑。
《华盛顿邮报》第一个报道下周聚会的消息。
国防部长会见五角大楼的高级军官或那些在国内外旅行的人并不罕见。负责美国作战司令部的高级官员每年两次聚集在五角大楼与国防部长会面。
然而，会议的规模和范围使得下周的聚会很少见，可能是规划者的安全担忧。这次会议也引发了官员们的猜测，即这是否与海格思减少将军或海军上将数量的举措有关。
五月，海格塞斯签署备忘录指示现役部队中四星上将和海军上将的数量“至少”减少20%。
他还呼吁将国民警卫队的将官人数至少减少20%，并将隶属于作战司令部的将官和旗官人数至少减少10%。
在备忘录附带的一段视频中，赫格塞斯将其描述为“少将军多GIs政策”在备忘录中，Hegseth表示，该命令需要“推动创新和卓越运营，不受阻碍其增长和效率的不必要的官僚层的阻碍。”
他还写道:“这一过程中的一个关键步骤是，通过减少多余的将军和旗手职位，消除多余的部队结构，以优化和精简领导层。”
Hegseth calls rare meeting of large number of generals and admirals
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered a large number of general officers and admirals to gather next Tuesday at the Marine base at Quantico, Virginia, according to five U.S. officials. Two of them told ABC News they don't know what prompted this gathering of potentially hundreds of the U.S. military's most senior leaders.
It is very rare to hold such a large meeting of general officers who are based stateside and overseas in one location and for it to include the defense secretary.
The unusual meeting will also take place months after Hegseth ordered a 20% reduction in the number of officers of the four-star rank, in addition to the 15 senior military officers he has removed from their posts, includingGen. Charles "CQ" Brown, Jr.the then-chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Adm. Lisa Franchetti, the Navy's top admiral.
"The Secretary of War will be addressing his senior military leaders early next week," chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement.
Parnell used Hegseth's informal title, which came from President Donald Trump's executive orderrenaming the Department of Defensethe Department of War earlier this month. The formal renaming of the department would require Congress to act.
The invitation went out to commanders at the one-star level and higher, as well as their command sergeant majors, sources told ABC News. This means several hundred of these high-ranking officials are expected to converge upon the Marine base at once.
Overall, there are 838 total general officers and admirals on active duty -- 446 of them are from the higher two-star, three-star and four-star ranks -- according to the Pentagon's latest statistics from June, though it is difficult to ascertain a breakdown of how many officers are in command positions versus staff positions.
The Pentagon declined to say how many people will attend the meeting and what its purpose is, leaving many officials scratching their heads about the last-minute order.
The Washington Postwas first to reportthe news of next week's gathering.
It is not unusual for a defense secretary to meet with senior military officers at the Pentagon or those on domestic and overseas travel. Twice a year, the senior officers in charge of the U.S. combatant commands gather at the Pentagon to meet with the secretary.
However, the size and scope of the meeting that makes next week's gathering rare and likely a security concern for planners. The meeting has also led to speculation among officials as to whether it has anything to do with Hegseth's moves to reduce the number of officers serving as generals or admirals.
In May, Hegsethsigned a memodirecting a "minimum" 20% reduction in the number of four-star generals and admirals across the active-duty force.
He also called for at least a 20% reduction of general officers in the National Guard, as well as at least a 10% reduction in general and flag officers affiliated with combatant commands.
In a video accompanying the memo, Hegseth described it as a "Less Generals More GIs Policy." In the memo, Hegseth said the order was needed to "drive innovation and operational excellence, unencumbered by unnecessary bureaucratic layers that hinder their growth and effectiveness."
"A critical step in this process is removing redundant force structure to optimize and streamline leadership by reducing excess general and flag officer positions," he also wrote.
