War Secretary Pete Hegseth has approved plans to cut general and admiral billets across the military by 20%, doubling last year’s broader reduction target as the Pentagon moves to shift some senior positions to colonels and Navy captains by Jan. 1, 2027.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
War Secretary Pete Hegseth is preparing a major restructuring of the military’s senior leadership ranks, ordering the services to reduce by 20% the number of positions designated for generals and admirals as part of a broader effort to eliminate headquarters layers and move authority farther down the chain of command.
According to a Fox News report, Hegseth is expected to formally present the initiative Wednesday during his State of the Force address, where he will outline his priorities for the military during the coming year. He approved the reduction plans for the Army, Navy, Air Force and the military’s joint pool earlier in September, according to internal memoranda reviewed by Fox News Digital. The services have been directed to implement the changes by Jan. 1, 2027.
The latest directive goes beyond the reductions Hegseth ordered in May 2025.
That earlier initiative called for an overall 10% reduction in general and flag officer positions across the armed forces, along with separate minimum reductions of 20% for active-duty four-star positions and 20% for general officers in the National Guard. Hegseth called the initiative his “less generals, more GIs” policy.
The new 20% target applies to billets — military positions authorized to be occupied by generals or admirals — rather than requiring the military to immediately remove one-fifth of all officers who currently hold general or flag rank.
That distinction means some positions can be reclassified rather than abolished.
In a Sept. 16 memorandum concerning the joint pool, Hegseth directed military officials to establish O-6 requirements for general and flag officer billets selected for downgrading. O-6 officers include colonels in the Army, Air Force, Marine Corps and Space Force and captains in the Navy.
Under that approach, duties currently assigned to a one-star or higher officer could in some cases remain intact while responsibility for the position shifts to a lower-ranking officer.
Hegseth has argued that the Pentagon accumulated too many layers of senior leadership and large headquarters staffs while authority became increasingly distant from the service members responsible for carrying out military missions.
He has said reducing the number of senior officer billets can redirect personnel, money and decision-making power toward operational forces rather than administrative structures.
“More generals and admirals does not equal more success,” Hegseth said when he unveiled the first round of reductions in May 2025.
At the time, Hegseth rejected the characterization that the cuts were intended as a purge of senior officers.
“This is not a slash-and-burn exercise meant to punish high-ranking officers,” Hegseth said. “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.”
The initial plan was expected to affect more than 120 senior military positions if fully implemented, according to an Associated Press analysis published in 2025. Military officials said at the time that some positions would disappear through attrition while others could be reduced in rank or reassigned as the services determined which leadership posts remained essential.
The latest 20% billet target effectively doubles the broader reduction goal established last year and moves the Pentagon deeper into a reorganization of its senior command structure.
Hegseth has repeatedly argued that the size of the general and flag officer corps should be evaluated against the size and mission of the overall force.
When announcing his 2025 plan, he pointed to the difference between the military leadership structure during World War II and the modern force. Hegseth said the United States had approximately 12 million service members and 17 four- and five-star officers during World War II, compared with about 2.1 million service members and 44 four-star general and flag officers when he announced the reductions.
Congress sets statutory limits on the number of active-duty general and flag officers in the individual services. The existing caps include 219 Army general officers, 150 Navy flag officers, 171 Air Force general officers, 64 Marine Corps general officers and 21 Space Force general officers, although separate statutory provisions and exemptions can affect the final number serving at a given time.
The restructuring is occurring alongside other changes to how the Pentagon selects and evaluates its senior leaders.
The military is introducing new Joint Warfighting Evaluations for officers competing for promotion to one-star rank beginning with the fiscal 2027 promotion cycle. The assessments will test operational planning, decision-making and leadership through simulations and, in some cases, in-person war games. Pentagon officials have said the existing performance-report system will remain central to promotions but that the new tests will give selection boards an additional measure of how candidates respond to battlefield problems.
The first group of eligible O-6 officers is expected to undergo the evaluations between approximately February and June 2027, ahead of promotion boards later that year.
Wednesday’s State of the Force address also comes exactly one year after Hegseth assembled hundreds of generals, admirals and senior enlisted leaders at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia for an unusual gathering focused on readiness, standards and military culture.
During the Sept. 30, 2025, address, Hegseth told senior leaders that the department’s principal mission was preparation for and victory in war and said commanders unwilling to implement his reforms should consider stepping aside.
This year’s audience is expected to be structured differently.
Military commands have been instructed to send high-performing service members who meet physical fitness and body-composition standards and maintain what internal guidance described as “impeccable” grooming and uniform standards, according to reporting on the preparations. Some of the service members selected for Wednesday’s gathering are also expected to participate in physical training with Hegseth.
The senior-rank reductions are likely to affect the services differently because their command structures and numbers of general and flag officer positions vary considerably.
The Army, as the largest branch, has historically maintained the largest number of general officer positions and was expected to absorb a significant share of the earlier reductions. The Marine Corps and Space Force operate with substantially smaller senior leadership structures.
Reducing billets also does not necessarily mean reducing the size of the overall military.
Hegseth has framed the initiative as a redistribution of rank and authority, arguing that responsibilities currently performed by generals and admirals can in some cases be assigned to colonels, Navy captains or other officers without diminishing operational capability.
Critics of the earlier reductions questioned whether numerical targets could remove experienced military leadership without demonstrating that the affected positions were unnecessary.
Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said following the 2025 announcement that he supported Pentagon efficiency but objected to reductions based primarily on percentages.
“I have always advocated for efficiency at the Department of Defense, but tough personnel decisions should be based on facts and analysis, not arbitrary percentages,” Reed said at the time. “Eliminating the positions of many of our most skilled and experienced officers without sound justification would not create ‘efficiency’ in the military — it could cripple it.”
Hegseth has maintained that the effort is being conducted with the Joint Chiefs and is intended to strengthen rather than weaken military readiness.
The new plans give each service only a few months to translate that policy into its command structure.
By Jan. 1, 2027, the Army, Navy, Air Force and joint organizations are expected to have completed the newly approved reductions, with some senior billets eliminated and others downgraded for officers below the general and admiral ranks.
Wednesday’s announcement will mark the next stage of Hegseth’s effort to reshape the Pentagon’s leadership hierarchy — moving from last year’s 10% service-wide target to a 20% reduction in positions reserved for the military’s highest-ranking officers.
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