Hundreds of American generals and admirals from all over the world will start in the national capital for the next three days for what is now described as an opportunity for the Minister of Defense, Pete Hegseeth, to determine his vision of an improved ‘Warrior Ethos’ in the army.
In background briefings with several news organizations at the end of this week, civil servants of the White House and Pentagon speculated that the Tuesday meeting, whose goal was not officially announced, would include widespread dismissal and demotions of senior commanders or serving another mysterious goal.
On the contrary, it seems intended to offer Mr. Hegseeth, a statutory former TV news anchor, an opportunity to speak directly with the best commanders of the nation about the way he expects the army to compare in the future. Various sources said the meeting on the camera will be recorded for future public distribution.
While they reject a lot of fear about the meeting, different sources recognized about the logistics and security complications, as well as the costs of drawing an estimated 400 top officers away from their posts, sometimes from conflict zones halfway throughout the world. The meeting worsens the concern, the meeting is planned on the eve of a possible closure of the government.
The meeting, to be held on a naval base 35 miles south of Washington, DC, and described by one source as a ‘Pep Rally’, is ‘intended as a show of what the new army looks like under the president’, an official of the White House, told CNN.
“The point is to get the horses in the stable and to take them in shape,” another defense officer told the network, which said Mr. Hegseeth is expected to discuss new readiness, fitness and care standards for the army.
“And the boys with the stars on their shoulders provide a better audience from an optical point of view. This is a showcase for Hegseeth to tell them: go on board or possibly shorten your career.”
President Trump, who is not expected to participate in the meeting and is said to be not involved in the planning, this week in Oval Office comments suggested that many of the officers are enthusiastic about coming.
“It’s great if generals and top people want to come to the United States to be with a now driven war secretary,” Said Mr. Trump During a signing of executive orders on Thursday.
He noted that America sells military equipment “to others, other countries, and many generals want to be here,” he said. “And they want to look at the – they also go for touring equipment. They are going to talk about the latest weapons, etc.”
The call to Virginia only went out this week according to the Washington Post, which First reported The meeting, which the officers leaves little time to plan journeys and to arrange a continuity of operations, often in very sensitive areas such as the Central East and East Asia.
The post said that the order applies to all senior officers with the rank of Brigadier general or higher, or their navy equivalent, who serves in commandos positions, together with their best recruited advisers.
ABC News quoted Pentagon statistics from June with 838 total general officers and admirals in active service, but said it is difficult to determine how many of them the commandos positions have versus personnel positions. Other reports have suggested that around 400 officers will be at the meeting, along with one top adviser each.
The lack of a public explanation for the aim of the meeting led to initial speculation that it is possible to related to Mr Hegseeth’s intention to reduce the number of top officers in the services.
In a memo of 5 May reported By CNN, the secretary ordered a reduction of 20 percent in the number of four -star generals and admirals and a 10 percent lowered in the total number of general and flag officers in all branches. The memo described the movement as ‘critical’ to streamline leadership and eliminate superfluous command structures.
This year too, Mr. Hegseeth 15 removed senior officers from their positions, including General Charles “CQ” Brown, Jr. The then chairman of the joint staff chefs and Admiraal Lisa Franchetti, the top Admiral of the Navy.
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