The Secretary of War in the Trump administration, Pete Hegseth, is seeking to dismantle the military bureaucracy at the Pentagon by cutting 20% of the positions of generals and admirals, according to a department official who informed Fox News and the New York Post.
Hegseth is expected to reveal these plans during his "State of the Force" (State of the Force) speech to be held at the Marine Corps Base in Quantico, Virginia, this Wednesday, an event where the Pentagon chief typically outlines his priorities and gives his assessment of the country's military readiness.
This measure aligns with the plan that Hegseth himself announced earlier this month to drastically reduce the positions of senior officers and generals in the Air Force, Army, and Navy, aiming to complete this cleanup by January 1 of next year.
Trump and Hegseth at a cabinet meeting
Last year, Hegseth ordered a 10% reduction in the positions of generals and flag officers, as well as a 20% cut in National Guard generals and active four-star positions. "This is not a scorched earth exercise aimed at punishing senior officers," the senior official stated when announcing the measure.
"This has been a deliberative process, working with the Joint Chiefs of Staff with a single goal: to maximize strategic readiness and operational effectiveness by making prudent reductions in the ranks of generals and officers", explained the Pentagon chief.
Hegseth's reforms follow a simple but sound logic within the Trump administration: there should be fewer generals and more troops. Thus, since the Republican leader returned to the White House last year, several high-ranking military officials who held bureaucratic positions and were unable to inspire their soldiers have been relieved of their duties
Hegseth training with the soldiers stationed at Guantanamo Bay.
