{"id":47986,"date":"2025-05-05T21:37:08","date_gmt":"2025-05-05T21:37:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2025\/05\/05\/hegseth-directs-20-cut-to-top-military-leadership-positions\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T16:46:27","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T16:46:27","slug":"hegseth-directs-20-cut-to-top-military-leadership-positions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/breaking-news\/2025\/05\/05\/hegseth-directs-20-cut-to-top-military-leadership-positions\/","title":{"rendered":"Hegseth directs 20% cut to top military leadership positions"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Monday directed the active duty military to shed 20% of its four-star general officers as the Trump administration keeps pushing the services to streamline their top leadership positions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hegseth also told the National Guard to shed 20% of its top positions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a memo dated Monday, Hegseth said the cuts will remove \u201credundant force structure to optimize and streamline leadership.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On top of the cuts to the top-tier four-star generals, Hegseth has also directed the military to shed an additional 10% of its general and flag officers across the force, which could include any one-star or above or officer of equivalent Navy rank.<\/p>\n\n\n\t