Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered hundreds of generals to travel on short notice from around the world to hear him make a short speech on military standards and the “warrior ethos,” multiple people familiar with the event told The Washington Post.

Hegseth’s orders, which were sent this week to senior generals and admirals worldwide, require anyone in a command position with the rank of one-star general or rear admiral and above, as well as their senior enlisted leaders, to be at Marine Corps University in Quantico, Va., on Tuesday.

Exceptions will be granted on a rare basis with approval from top military officials, the people familiar with the matter said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive planning.

“It’s meant to be an eyeball-to-eyeball kind of conversation,” one person familiar with ongoing discussions said. “He wants to see the generals.”

The orders, first reported by The Washington Post on Thursday, were delivered without any stated reason, sending staff scrambling to make travel arrangements — many of whom will be coming in from commands that are focused on the world’s global conflicts. The directive comes in the wake of Hegseth’s firing of numerous senior military officers without cause this year, upending military norms and creating a culture of fear in the Pentagon, the people familiar with the matter said.

The Pentagon has declined to clarify the purpose or detail the agenda of the meeting and did not immediately respond to questions on the nature of Hegseth’s speech. Sean Parnell, a spokesman, affirmed in a statement that Hegseth “will be addressing his senior military leaders early next week.”

Hegseth appeared to address concerns about the meeting for the first time Friday morning, using his personal social media account. After a retired senior officer, Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges, tweeted that German generals were “called to a surprise assembly in Berlin” in 1935 and “required to swear a personal oath to the Führer,” the defense secretary responded with sarcasm.

“Cool story, General,” Hegseth wrote.

“Warrior ethos” across the services can have different meanings, but in general it refers to professional dedication to fighting and winning wars. It is a regular focus of Hegseth, a former National Guard infantry officer, who has also rhetorically championed a “return to lethality.”

Critics have argued that his policies thus far have often not seemed aligned with lethality — core initiatives have included removing transgender service members, ordering new shaving standards military-wide, and rebranding the Defense Department as the Department of War, complete with new seals and signage marking his Pentagon entrance.

By statute, and barring congressional action, the Department of Defense is still the name of the agency and must remain so in all statutory correspondence.

The recent firings of top military officers and the unusual nature of the order has stirred widespread concern among military officials that Hegseth may also have additional surprise in store. The secretary has spoken of plans to consolidate combatant commands and reduce the total size of the general and flag officer corps by as much as 20 percent.

The confusion on Thursday included military officials noting that two four-star Army commanders, Gens. Ronald Clark and Xavier Brunson, appeared in an internal service directory as lieutenants general, three people familiar with the issue said.

Clark, who oversees U.S. soldiers across the Pacific region, and Brunson, who commands troops in South Korea, both hold positions that observers worry Hegseth will downgrade in prominence. A spokesman for Clark, Col. Isaac Taylor, said the listing for the general appeared to be erroneous because of a “glitch,” and had been resolved.

The in-person nature of the meeting has generated frustration as hundreds of senior officers and their staff prepare to fly in on either commercial or military aircraft, and book lodging and transportation to be in the audience for Hegseth’s remarks early Tuesday.

Staff were reluctant to discuss how their generals and admirals would make the trip to Virginia, given operational security concerns.

How they travel will have a significant impact on the cost, with a last minute commercial ticket from the Indo-Pacific region or Europe for the top officer and staff likely costing thousands of dollars. Military flights are far more expensive and would tie up limited airlift capabilities.

There are about 800 one-star and above senior leaders in the military. Not all of those officers are in command positions and thus required to be present. But including aides and support staff, there could be hundreds of the nation’s top officers and hundreds of staff flowing in over the next few days.

“We are adjusting to meet the task to be there,” one U.S. official said about getting their senior officers to Quantico. While the official said it is good to hear directly from Hegseth, “It does have an impact, pulling them all in. Why is it so important to get them all in the room?”

Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine is also expected to attend to introduce Hegseth, one official said.

Congressional aides scrambled Thursday to understand why the meeting had been called, receiving little information from the Pentagon. At least one senator, Army veteran Tammy Duckworth (D-Illinois), planned to send Hegseth a letter raising concerns about the expense and risk to national security involved in abruptly summoning so many senior officers. Duckworth’s office began circulating the letter Friday and expected more Democratic colleagues to join the effort, which includes a request for a Pentagon briefing before Tuesday.

Republicans in Congress avoided commenting publicly on the meeting.

The Tuesday speech is expected to be the first in a series of three short lectures Hegseth will deliver, two people familiar told The Post. The second will be on the defense industrial base, and the third will be on deterrence — planned to be delivered at the Reagan National Defense Forum in California in December.

The timing of the event has been of particular concern: The speech is set for Sept. 30, the last day of the fiscal year. If there is a government shutdown, it could leave key staff stranded in Virginia as military commands across the globe are juggling the security implications of Russia’s war against Ukraine, Israel’s renewed offensive in Gaza and the continued threat to U.S. personnel in the Middle East, where the Houthis and other Iranian-backed militias continue to fire missiles and drones at U.S. interests.