People have speculated about purging the senior ranks of anyone who appears to have any loyalty to their country instead of just the GOP.
There is a possibility of this
Usually if you want to purge, you leave the next in charge in place to handle to transition. Hegseth has not done this so it less likely to be a purge. Scuttlebutt is that the generals aren't concerned, just annoyed. A 'it could have been an email' meeting
That being said, Hegseth is very incompetent and he does not know how to organize himself out of a wet paper bag. So he could literally be making a stupid mistake like this during a purge
.... and Hegseth being incompetent could be the main reason why this is happening. He's also a photo diva so it could be just that, particularly after he Virtue Signals about being antiwoke
Or it could be all three things at the same time. Hegseth is just that type of guy