Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth will announce plans Wednesday to cut the number of positions for generals and admirals by 20% during his State of the Force address to the troops at Quantico, Virginia.
Mr. Hegseth approved the cuts earlier in September. The military services were directed to complete the reductions by the end of the year, a Pentagon official said Tuesday.
The 20% figure doubles the across-the-board reduction of generals and admirals that the defense secretary called for in a May 5 memo to senior Pentagon leaders.
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Mr. Hegseth said he was committed to ensuring the lethality of U.S. military forces by cultivating “exceptional senior leaders who drive innovation and operational excellence, unencumbered by unnecessary bureaucratic layers that hinder their growth and effectiveness.”
More than a dozen generals and admirals have been fired since President Trump returned to the White House, including nearly all members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff who were appointed during the Biden administration.
The shakeup in senior uniformed leadership is part of Mr. Hegseth’s efforts to instill a “warrior ethos,” including the elimination of “woke” objectives such as diversity, equity and inclusion programs in the armed forces.
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