Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered the Pentagon to cut 20% of four-star generals and admirals.
The high number of senior generals and admirals has been a source of criticism among both analysts and President Donald Trump, who has portrayed it as a symptom of a bloated and inefficient military. On Monday, Hegseth announced the promised cut of four-star generals and admirals, detailing the move in a memo obtained by the Washington Examiner.
“The Department of Defense is committed to ensuring the lethality of U.S. Military Forces to deter threats and, when necessary, achieve decisive victory. To accomplish this mission, we must cultivate exceptional senior leaders who drive innovation and operational excellence, unencumbered by unnecessary bureaucratic layers that hinder their growth and effectiveness,” the memo read.
“A critical step in this process is removing redundant force structure to optimize and streamline leadership by reducing excess general and flag officer positions,” it added.
To accomplish this, Hegseth ordered the military to cut at least 20% of four-star leaders in every active branch and another 20% in the National Guard. Another minimum of 10% of general and flag officers were to be cut as well. He called the move “less generals, more GIs” policy.
To argue for the necessity of the move, Hegseth pointed out how the U.S. had 17 four and five-star generals in World War II, when the U.S. was fielding 12 million warfighters. Today, the U.S. has 44 four-star and flag officers. This represents a change from one general for every 6,000 troops in World War II to one general for 1,400 troops today.
“We’re going to shift resources from bloated headquarters elements to our war fighters,” Hegseth said.
“Now this is not a slash-and-burn exercise meant to punish high-ranking officers. Nothing could be further from the truth,” he continued, preempting the type of criticism that has targeted the Trump administration’s previous administrative cuts. “This has been a deliberative process, working with the Joint Chiefs of Staff with one goal: maximizing strategic readiness and operational effectiveness by making prudent reductions in the general and flag officer ranks.”
The Washington Examiner reached out to the Pentagon for further comment.
PETE HEGSETH’S HARD CHOICES: TODAY’S DECISIONS AND TOMORROW’S MILITARY
Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker (R-MS) told the Washington Examiner Hegseth’s plan has “merit.”
“I think there’s merit to the idea,” he said, though he added, “I hope it’s implemented on a stepped basis and not done abruptly.”
An excess of senior generals and admirals is a problem endemic to many modern militaries. The United Kingdom’s Royal Navy now infamously boasts nearly twice as many admirals as actual warships.
