Hegseth Calls Cuts to Top Ranks 'Long Overdue'

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed Wednesday that the military will cut 20% of its generals and admirals as he delivered what he is calling his "State of the Force" address. Hegseth was speaking to junior officers and enlisted leaders at the Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia, the AP reports, the second year in a row that he has given such an address. This time, the US military is seven months into a war with Iran with no clear end in sight, has captured Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, and has killed more than 200 people in strikes on boats it says are trafficking drugs in Latin America, among other actions worldwide.

The speech is not a usual fixture among Pentagon leaders. While Hegseth's predecessors have regularly addressed troops and top officers, they have historically done so in small or private settings. The current Pentagon chief, however, again focused on how he has drastically retooled the military by targeting what he calls "woke" culture—through a rollback of diversity programs, a review of ground combat units with female troops, and a new screening program for "testosterone deficiency" among male personnel. He directed all military services to double the 10% reduction he ordered last spring for roughly 800 flag and general officer positions, making for a total 20% decrease in generals and admirals to be completed by Jan. 1. "I call it accountability and long overdue," he said Wednesday.

Several senators portrayed the move as nothing short of a "purge" of the military's top ranks that will take years to rebuild. "He's got some kind of like deep-seated grievance about leadership in the military," said Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly, a former Navy combat pilot and NASA astronaut. "He's purging a generation of great leaders of the military, and it's going to take a generation to recover from it." Republican Sen. Mike Rounds said he wants to understand Hegseth's reasoning behind the decision. "If it's simply a matter of eliminating a very heavy top, there may be some validity to it, but I want to see it first," Rounds said.