WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced a plan to slash 20% of the military’s most-senior generals and admirals, continuing the purge of military brass under President Donald Trump.
The move to eliminate senior officer positions, Hegseth wrote in a May 5 memo, is necessary to “cultivate exceptional senior leaders who drive innovation and operational excellence, unencumbered by unnecessary bureaucratic layers that hinder their growth and effectiveness.”
Hegseth called for a minimum cut of 20% of the Pentagon’s active duty four-star generals and admirals. Four-star officers hold the top posts in the military, including the chairman and vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the armed services.
There are 37 four-star generals and admirals in the active-duty force of about 1.3 milllion troops.
Hegseth has wielded an ax to the upper ranks since his confirmation. He and Trump already have fired the military’s most-senior officer, Air Force Gen. CQ Brown, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Gone, too, is Adm. Lisa Franchetti, who led the Navy.
Hegseth has made plain his antipathy for officers who have championed so-called woke policies such as diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.
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Trump, for his part, famously clashed in his first term with Army Gen. Mark Milley, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. That breach started after Milley admitted he had made a mistake appearing in uniform with Trump in the summer of 2020 when protesters had been forcibly evicted from a park near the White House.
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Hegseth’s memo also calls for a 20% reduction in the number of generals in the National Guard.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Pentagon purge: Hegseth plans cuts of senior generals and admirals
