Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth wants the number of active-duty four-star generals and admirals in the U.S. military to be cut by at least 20 percent, according to a new memo released Monday.
In the order, dated May 5, Hegseth also directed senior Pentagon leadership to slash the number of general officers in the National Guard by a minimum of 20 percent, and cut the total number of general and flag officers — those with the rank of one star or higher — across the military by 10 percent.
In a video posted to social media later on Monday, Hegseth announced that the order, which he referred to as “Less Generals, more GIs,” would “shift resources from bloated headquarter elements to our warfighters.”
The move would take an axe to the already limited number of four-star generals and admirals, as there were just 37 such individuals as of 2023. Hegseth’s directive would put that number south of 30.
The move would also diminish the roughly 900 current general and flag officers to below 720.