Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered sweeping cuts to the U.S. military's senior leadership ranks, directing the Pentagon to eliminate 20% of its four-star generals and admirals, as well as a 10% reduction across the broader corps of general and flag officers.
The directive, outlined in a memo signed Monday and obtained by CNN, also includes a 20% reduction in general officer positions within the National Guard. As of 2023, the U.S. military had 37 active four-star officers and approximately 900 general and flag officers across all branches.
These cuts are a ”critical" step toward "removing redundant force structure to optimize and streamline leadership by reducing excess general and flag officer positions," Hegseth wrote.
The reduction order marks the most significant structural shake-up of military leadership in nearly four decades and follows earlier firings of top officers, including Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff C.Q. Brown and the Chief of Naval Operations. Hegseth, a former Fox News host and Army veteran, assumed office earlier this year under President Trump's second term.
Hegseth said in a video released alongside the memo that the changes are not intended to be "slash and burn," but are meant to enhance military performance and efficiency. "More generals and admirals does not lead to more success," he said.
The restructuring will occur in two phases. The first phase will rapidly reduce the number of four-star billets. The second phase involves a classified "strategic review" of the Unified Command Plan, which governs how U.S. forces are distributed globally. That review is expected to support further consolidation and may include merging U.S. European Command and U.S. Africa Command, as well as combining Northern and Southern Commands - each currently led by four-star officers.
The Army is preparing to eliminate approximately 40 positions led by generals, out of roughly 200 such billets, according to a person familiar with internal planning.
Hegseth has long criticized what he views as bureaucratic bloat and ideological conformity at the upper echelons of the armed forces. In a podcast last year, he alleged that "over a third" of the most senior officers are "actively complicit" in the politicization of the military.
"They'll do any social justice, gender, climate, extremism crap because it gets them checked to the next level," Hegseth said in a separate podcast appearance.
Despite the controversial tone of those remarks, Hegseth has framed the structural overhaul as a return to military fundamentals. "Through these measures, we will uphold our position as the most lethal fighting force in the world," he wrote in Monday's memo.
