New Delhi: US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth intends to cut positions reserved for generals and admirals in the US military by a fifth. The announcement was scheduled for his ‘State of the Force’ speech at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia, on Wednesday for newly enlisted personnel and junior officers.
Unnamed defence and Pentagon officials leaked the details of Hegseth’s internal memos directly to Fox News Digital, which published the initial scoop on Tuesday. The move effectively doubles last year’s 10 per cent cut to the numbers of general and flag officer positions, estimated at around 800.
The objective, according to a Pentagon statement of 5 May last year, is to eliminate “redundant force structure”, shift resources away from bloated headquarters, and focus more on front-line warfighters under the banner of “less generals, more GIs”. GI, or ‘Government Issue’ is slang for American soldiers.
In July 2026, a Defense Department tally said there were 851 active-duty generals and admirals serving in the United States military. The legal limit is 857.
Anonymous defence officials told Reuters that instead of firing people, “the rank of some future jobs would change while billets for others would be cancelled”. This means that instead of an outright firing of those holding these posts, a restructuring would occur through attrition and downgrading future roles to lower ranks like colonels and captains.
A report from the Washington Post indicates that this move could impact the careers of “hundreds of current and rising military leaders following scores of firings and denied promotions”.
Since assuming office in January 2025, US President Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth have ousted or forced the retirement of over two dozen senior military commanders. Among those removed was General Randy George, the Army’s top uniformed officer, dismissed in April.
This administration also saw the firing of the only two women serving as four-star officers, as well as many other female officers in senior roles. Other senior-ranking officials have left through retirements and resignations, like former Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, who submitted his resignation following months of butting heads with Hegseth.
Following the Fox News exclusive, Hegseth signed a memorandum on Tuesday, halting tenured civilian appointments at US military service academies, stating reasons to eliminate civilian academic norms that dilute military focus and refocus military education strictly on warfighting and lethality. “Tenure often leads to academic stagnation, faculty complacency, and institutional inability to adapt to emerging needs. Additionally, it contributes to a curriculum that drifts from the mission of educating our warfighters to the research priorities of the tenured academics,” said Hegseth on Tuesday.
Before becoming the Pentagon’s top civilian official, Hegseth, a former Army National Guard infantry officer and Fox News commentator, frequently criticised senior military leadership. He argued that senior commanders had neglected frontline service members while placing too much emphasis on diversity initiatives.
Ashwin Shekhar is a TSPJ alum, currently interning with ThePrint.
(Edited by Nardeep Singh Dahiya)
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