Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced on Monday that the U.S. military will soon be seeing a dramatic reduction in the number of general officers across all branches.
He called the reduction a “historic” move to fulfill President Donald Trump’s commitment to “achieving peace through strength.”
“We’re going to shift resources from bloated headquarters elements to our warfighters,” said Hegseth.
According to Hegseth, there are currently 44 four-star and flag officers across the military, making for a ratio of one general to 1,400 troops, compared to the ratio during World War II of one general to 6,000 troops.
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Hegseth, who has pledged to transform the military into a “leaner, more lethal force,” issued a memo to senior Pentagon personnel on Monday in which he ordered the reductions to be carried out in two phases.
In the first phase, Hegseth ordered a “minimum” 20% reduction of four-star generals and flag officers in the active-duty component as well as a 20% reduction in the National Guard.
In phase two, the secretary is ordering an additional 10% reduction in general and flag officers across the military.
The secretary called the reductions part of his “less generals, more GIs policy.”
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In a video announcing the change, he said the reductions will be done “carefully, but it’s going to be done expeditiously.”
He said “this is not a slash-and-burn exercise meant to punish high-ranking officers” but rather a “deliberative process, working with the joint chiefs with one goal: maximizing strategic readiness and operational effectiveness by making prudent reductions.”
“We got to be lean and mean. And in this case, it means general officer reductions,” said Hegseth.
Congress sets the number of general officers allowed in the military. The total number of active-duty general or flag officers is capped at 219 for the Army, 150 for the Navy, 171 for the Air Force, 64 for the Marine Corps and 21 for the Space Force.
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