Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Wednesday that the U.S. military has cut 20% of its general and flag officer ranks, doubling a reduction he first ordered last year and rejecting the argument that the shake-up amounts to a purge. Speaking at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia, Hegseth said: “The media calls that a purge. I call it accountability, and long overdue, and frankly, the bare minimum.”
Two U.S. officials had told Reuters a day earlier that Hegseth would announce a 20% cut in the number of general and admiral positions, covering one- to four-star officers.
What Hegseth Said at Quantico
Hegseth delivered the remarks in what he called his “State of the Force” address to junior officers and enlisted leaders, the second consecutive year he has spoken at Quantico. About 600 rank-and-file troops attended, and Hegseth used the event to announce six initiatives.
Hegseth said the new reduction builds on a 10% cut he ordered last year. “The number crunchers say we’ve fired 10% of the generals and admirals across the force, and that number sounds about right,” he said. “And I know—because I directed it—that we’ve also reduced the overall number of general officer slots by an additional 10%. So yes, 20% reduction across the board.”
He framed the cuts as a matter of institutional culture. “As usual, what the media levels as an accusation, I wear as an accomplishment,” Hegseth said. “You see, you can’t change a culture with the same people who enabled it.”
Pentagon officials had previewed that the services would be directed to double the 10% reduction Hegseth ordered last spring, covering roughly 800 flag and general officer positions, with the full 20% to be completed by January. Fox News reported that the services have until Jan. 1, 2027, and that some affected roles are expected to be downgraded rather than eliminated. Hegseth did not specify a timeline during the speech. The U.S. military has about 850 active-duty generals and admirals.
How the Cuts Began
The reductions trace to May 2025, when Hegseth issued a memo titled “General/Flag Officer Reductions.” It ordered a minimum 20% cut to four-star positions in the active component and among National Guard general officers, plus an additional minimum 10% reduction in general and flag officers across the military. At the time, Hegseth said the plan would eliminate “redundant force structure to optimize and streamline leadership” and prevent “unnecessary bureaucratic layers.”
“This is not a slash-and-burn exercise meant to punish high-ranking officers,” Hegseth said in May 2025. “This has been a deliberative process, working with the Joint Chiefs of Staff with one goal: maximizing strategic readiness and operational effectiveness by making prudent reductions in the general and flag officer ranks.” It remains unclear whether all of the four-star and National Guard cuts ordered last year have been completed.
“The Generals Heard the Message”
Hegseth tied Wednesday’s announcement to his Sept. 30, 2025, address at Quantico, which he said “reestablished a singular mission for this department: warfighting. Preparing to fight and preparing to win. Unrelenting, unapologetic, and uncompromising in that single pursuit.” That speech was delivered to many of the military’s generals and admirals.
“Now, I think the generals heard the message,” Hegseth said. “Those who responded positively, which is most of them, are leading newly focused and newly empowered and disciplined formations. Those generals who did not, who clung to the ‘woke’ department or seemed to think civilian control of the military is simply a suggestion—well, they no longer work here.”
Experts Say a Trim Is Plausible, but Execution Matters
Peter Feaver, a Duke University political science professor who specializes in civil-military relations, said many experts agree “that there probably could be a trimming of the general and flag officer ranks, that they had grown perhaps unnecessarily large in recent years, and that some rebalancing would be prudent if it was done carefully and managed carefully.”
“In the abstract, could the U.S. military absorb a 20% cut in general flag officer ranks if properly managed? I’d say yes, and I think most experts would say yes,” Feaver said. He noted, however, that the cut follows earlier reductions and is moving on a relatively fast timeline.
“The burden will be on Secretary Hegseth and his team to demonstrate that they are making these cuts wisely and consolidating wisely and not recklessly,” Feaver said. “The faster they do it, and the less explanation that they give, and the more that really good officers are cut, the more doubt there will be.”
Turmoil in the Pentagon’s Leadership
The announcement lands amid upheaval at the top of the Defense Department. At least 20 generals, admirals and civilian defense leaders have been fired or have departed since Hegseth took office at the start of the second Trump administration. CNN has reported that Hegseth has fired more than two dozen senior officers, many with little or no explanation, which has dismayed lawmakers in both parties.
Army Secretary Dan Driscoll resigned at the end of August after clashing with Hegseth over firings of the Army’s senior leadership and other department changes. A source familiar with the resignation told CBS News that Driscoll had raised concerns that Hegseth pushed out generals who were leading efforts to transform the Army for the next generation of warfare. Hegseth fired Army chief of staff Gen. Randy George in April.
Republican Criticism Grows
Hegseth has faced backlash from Democrats and some Republicans over his management of the department and his handling of the war in Iran. Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, who has clashed with the Trump administration on multiple occasions, introduced articles of impeachment against Hegseth earlier this month, including allegations tied to the Iran war. Massie accused Hegseth of violating his oath to support and defend the Constitution.
Sen. Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican, publicly criticized Hegseth’s management after Driscoll’s resignation. “I have never witnessed more inept management of the brave men and women who serve our country,” Tillis said in a social media post. “I urge the President to find a new leader at the Pentagon who will retain and empower our military talent rather than diminish it.” Tillis, who voted to confirm Hegseth, later told reporters, “He needs to go,” whether through impeachment or the president replacing him.
The Wall Street Journal reported that congressional support for Hegseth was slipping, and Nebraska Republican Rep. Don Bacon told the paper he did not like that some 80 generals and admirals had been fired or blocked from promotion, though he said he was unsure the conduct was impeachable. An impeachment resolution requires approval by the House, and a conviction in the Senate requires a two-thirds vote.
New Initiatives: Project Meridian and an Autonomous Warfare Command
Hegseth paired the personnel announcement with several programs. He unveiled “Project Meridian,” which he described as “an effort led by America’s best minds to study the future of warfare,” including “discovering, developing, and fielding the weapons and systems that our children and our grandchildren will need in their lifetimes … on any future battlefield, from under the Earth to beyond the Moon.”
Under secretary of defense for research and engineering Emil Michael will lead the project, co-directed by Elon Musk, Anduril co-founder Palmer Luckey and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, with findings due in 120 days. “We should have the humility to recognize that the best forecasters of future conflict do not solely reside inside the Pentagon,” Hegseth said.
Hegseth also announced a new Autonomous Warfare Command to develop and employ autonomous and robotic weapons. Other initiatives included a religious affairs office reporting directly to the secretary and new corps of cadets at five universities. Hegseth also said the department plans to build “the next great American base,” lamenting that no new U.S. military base had been built in decades and urging governors to “bring us their best sales pitch.” “If your state wants the honor of hosting 15 to 25,000 of America’s great troops, show us why and how you’re going to do it,” he said.
A Continued Push on Military Culture
Hegseth also praised his efforts to remove what he calls “woke” culture from the armed forces, including rolling back diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. “The only focus, as you know, in your formations should be training, readiness, accountability, discipline, and lethality. And when you pursue those things, you don’t have to walk on eggshells,” he said. “The complainers, the ideologues, and the poor performers are no longer in the driver’s seat. No more silly PowerPoint trainings or drag queen shows. No more diversity quotas. No more gender pronouns. No more identity months. Only the warrior ethos.”
“We are no longer the ‘woke’ department or the weak department,” Hegseth said, before using derogatory terms for people who are overweight and people who are transgender. “No wimps, no radicals,” he said. “Just warriors. Just tough, ready, committed troops.”