Hegseth to Announce 20% Cut to Senior Officer Ranks

The Wall Street Journal ^ | Updated Sept. 29, 2026 1:02 pm ET | Lara Seligman

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Defense secretary to unveil the plan during Wednesday speech to hand-picked lower-ranked officers and troops

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth will announce plans to cut by 20% the number of positions reserved for generals and admirals during a speech to servicemembers on Wednesday, according to Pentagon officials.

The cuts will double the 10% reduction to the top positions that the Pentagon chief ordered last year, the officials said. The armed services have been directed to complete the reductions by Jan. 1, 2027, the officials said. Fox News earlier reported the plans.

Hegseth is expected to lay out his priorities for the Pentagon in the coming year during an address at a U.S. Marine Corps Base in Quantico, Va., on Wednesday.

He directed the original cuts to top brass in May 2025, instructing Pentagon leadership to cut the total number of four-star active-duty general officers by at least 20%, in addition to reducing the overall number of flag officers—admirals and generals with a one-star rank or above—by 10%.

Hegseth has long been vocal about his view that the military’s senior ranks are too big. In a May 2025 memo, he framed the cuts as overdue streamlining, calling for “removing redundant force structure.”

“This is not a slash and burn exercise,” he said in a video posted on X. “More generals and admirals does not lead to more success.”

As of Sept. 30, 2023, there were 809 active-duty flag officers, 48 fewer than the maximum of 857, according to the Congressional Research...

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TOPICS: Military/Veterans
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[albie]

With my brother in law it was more about the full bird. AND the pay.

[alloysteel]

The archetype known as “Colonel Blimp”, a leftover remnant of the last large scale military conflict, and yet not leaving service, gets sort of “kicked upstairs” in an application of the Peter principle, which states that people are promoted to their level of incompetence, suggesting that something is fundamentally misaligned in the promotion. There is no content to the artificial position, and no purpose for being there, except to collect a paycheck.

These positions should rightly be terminated through retirement, or if the subject is resistant, a RIF action.