Pentagon plans to cut a fifth of general and admiral positions

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth plans to cut by about 20% the number of positions designated for generals and admirals of the U.S. armed forces. The new reform will affect billets for officers from one to four stars.

This was reported by The Wall Street Journal and Reuters, citing American officials.

Hegseth is expected to present the changes on September 30 during a speech at the Marine Corps base in Quantico, Virginia. Hundreds of junior officers and enlisted and non-commissioned personnel will take part in the meeting.

The move primarily concerns reducing the general and admiral billets themselves, not the dismissal of a fifth of current senior officers. According to Reuters, some future positions will be converted to lower military ranks, and some positions will be eliminated completely.

The U.S. armed forces will be tasked with completing the reorganization by January 1, 2027, WSJ writes.

The new plan expands the reform that Hegseth launched in 2025. At that time, the Pentagon chief ordered a reduction of at least 10% in the total number of general and admiral billets as part of the restructuring of the command structure.

At the same time, a separate directive was issued to reduce by at least 20% the number of four-star positions in the active forces and by the same percentage the number of general positions in the National Guard.

The Pentagon explained the reform by the intention to remove redundant management layers and make the command structure more compact. Hegseth argued that increasing the number of senior officers does not by itself enhance the combat effectiveness of the military.

According to the latest detailed data cited by the Congressional Research Service, as of the end of September 2023, 809 generals and admirals were serving in the active U.S. armed forces, with a statutory limit of 857. At the same time, the share of senior officers relative to the total size of the armed forces has increased over the past decades.

The reform will be another stage of the large-scale overhaul of the Pentagon under Hegseth. Previously, the department began reviewing the structure of commands, reducing the civilian workforce, and changing the organization of individual units, stating the need to redirect resources directly toward the military's combat capabilities.

Based on material from: The Wall Street Journal, U.S. Department of Defense, Rzeczpospolita