Hegseth to Slash General, Admiral Positions by 20%

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is moving to shrink the Pentagon's top brass again. Two Pentagon officials say Hegseth will announce a 20% reduction in admiral and general billets across the Army, Navy, and Air Force on Wednesday during his "State of the Force" address at Quantico, the Hill reports. It builds on earlier directives to cut National Guard generals by 20% and trim overall general and flag officers by 10%, part of his "Less Generals, more GIs" push, which Hegseth has described as shifting "resources from bloated headquarters elements to our warfighters."

Service branches are expected to implement the new cuts by Jan. 1, with some posts downgraded rather than eliminated. The moves follow Hegseth's removal or sidelining of more than two dozen senior officers and his blocking of promotions, actions that have drawn bipartisan concern in Congress. The Pentagon has asked commanders to select troops who meet waist-to-height requirements and have "impeccable" grooming standards to attend Wednesday's speech. In his first State of the Force address last year, Hegseth summoned generals and admirals to Quantico for a speech in which he denounced political correctness and said he didn't want to see any "beardos" or "fat generals," the Wall Street Journal reports.