Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s last-minute call for hundreds of generals and admirals to travel to a Virginia base has current and former Defense officials scratching their heads as to what would warrant such a major in-person gathering.

The order to attend a Tuesday meeting at Marine Corps University in Quantico, Va. — reportedly to hear Hegseth give a short speech on military standards and “warrior ethos” — was sent this past week to all officers with the rank of one-star general or rear admiral and above, as well as their senior enlisted leaders.

The highly unusual gathering, not seen before in recent memory in terms of its size and last-minute nature, has created more questions than answers as to what would warrant what some former military officials have labeled an “extremely bizarre” confab.

“We're way out in terms of unusual in this one,” retired Army Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling, a former commanding general of U.S. Army Europe, said Friday on MSNBC's "Morning Joe."

Active-duty colleagues “don't know what this is about,” he added. “So it could be about a shifting national security strategy, it could be cuts to the general officer corps — Secretary Hegseth has mentioned that several times — it could be about the upcoming budget stalemate, or it could be concerns over information leaks or press leaks.”

The Pentagon confirmed Thursday that Hegseth “will be addressing his senior military leaders early next week” but has offered no additional details as to what the conversation might entail.

The directive........

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