Login to Continue Learning
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth also addressed the gathering, warning against “decay” within the Defense Department and calling for stricter physical fitness standards and grooming norms. He urged senior officers who did not resonate with his message to resign, echoing Trump’s threats.
Hegseth announced 10 new directives, including physical fitness standards, bringing combat arms positions up to male standards, and ordering troops to shave their beards and cut their hair short. While generals and admirals were not required to take the physical fitness test themselves, every member of the joint force would be tested twice a year.
Hegseth mandated that all senior commanders at the rank of brigadier general or rear admiral lower half and above report to the Virginia base around 40 miles south of Washington, DC. The meeting came on just a week’s notice, with Trump revealing days before the event that he would also address the generals.
The volume of top generals and their entourages descending on the area is expected to create traffic snarls and a security nightmare. Residents can expect increased security checks, altered traffic patterns, and increased security personnel in the lead-up to the meeting.
Related Post
Experts estimate the cost of the meeting – bringing senior officers and their staff to Quantico, lodging them, and securing the area – could add up to millions of dollars. Democratic lawmakers criticized the meeting as a waste of money and said taking top generals off their jobs for a pep rally-type event was a bad idea.
In a letter to Hegseth, Democratic Senators Tammy Duckworth and Mazie Hirono raised concerns about security, cost, and operational impacts, noting that adversaries would know many senior commanders from around the world were gathered together with some of the highest levels of civilian chain of command.
