Hegseth to Cut 20% of General and Admiral Jobs and End Tenured Civilian Faculty at Service Academies
The defense secretary is expected to announce the reductions at Quantico. Officials say some posts will be downgraded rather than eliminated, with changes due by Jan. 1, 2027.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth will announce a 20% cut in the number of general and admiral positions in a speech at Quantico, Virginia, on Wednesday, two U.S. officials told Reuters.
The reduction covers one- to four-star generals and admirals. It doubles the 10% minimum cut Hegseth ordered last year. The officials said the plan does not involve immediate firings. Instead it would change the rank classification of future positions and cancel other billets outright. Fox News reported that at least some positions will be downgraded to colonel level rather than eliminated, and that the changes are expected to be complete by Jan. 1, 2027.
Hegseth signed a separate Pentagon memo on Tuesday eliminating tenured civilian faculty positions at the U.S. military service academies. He framed the directive as refocusing the schools on "warfighting." The academies have long mixed military officers with civilian professors, who hold academic tenure and teach subjects from engineering to history.
The moves continue a restructuring of the military's senior ranks that Hegseth has pursued since taking office. Last year he ordered a 20% reduction in four-star officer positions, a separate cut in National Guard generals, and a 10% reduction overall, under the slogan "less generals, more GIs." He has also defended firing senior military leaders, including the top U.S. general and a Navy admiral.
At last year's Quantico address, where he summoned hundreds of senior officers, Hegseth criticized what he called "fat generals" and diversity initiatives. He told the assembled leadership: "If the words I'm speaking today are making your hearts sink, then you should do the honorable thing and resign." This year's speech is to a group of junior service members, according to reports.
The announcement comes as the Pentagon runs an active war with Iran and has just finished withdrawing all U.S. forces from Iraq. It also arrives amid political pressure on Hegseth at home: Rep. Thomas Massie filed articles of impeachment against him earlier this month, and the House voted 220-204 to pull U.S. forces out of the Iran war.
Supporters of the cuts say the military has too many senior officers and too many layers of staff. Critics worry that shrinking the senior ranks while fighting a war could thin the experience available to commanders, and that ending tenured civilian teaching at the academies will change how officers are educated. The Pentagon has not said how many positions in total will be cut or which commands will be hit first.
