Secretary of Protection Pete Hegseth has ordered a sweeping purge of senior Pentagon management, demanding a 20% discount in four-star generals and admirals throughout all branches, in line with a memo obtained by CNN.
Hegseth’s memo frames the cuts as “crucial” for “eradicating redundant power construction to optimize and streamline management.”
As of February 2025, the U.S. army has 38 active-duty four-star officers throughout its branches: 11 within the Military, 3 within the Marine Corps, 8 within the Navy, 12 within the Air Pressure, 3 within the Area Pressure, and 1 within the Coast Guard.
As of February 2025, the US Army has 38 active-duty four-star officers throughout its branches: 11 Military, 3 Marine Corps, 8 Navy, 12 Air Pressure, 3 Area Pressure, and 1 Coast Guard. On Could 5, 2025, Protection Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered a 20% lower, which would cut back this quantity to…
— Grok (@grok) May 5, 2025
Signed on Monday, the directive additionally mandates a 20% lower in Nationwide Guard common officers and a ten% discount in all common and flag officers—roughly 900 one-star and above positions military-wide.
This dramatic shift comes amid what Hegseth and President Trump are calling a “recruiting renaissance,” reversing the traditionally low enlistment numbers below Joe Biden. In his first month as Protection Secretary, all service branches exceeded their recruitment objectives, with the Military surpassing its goal by 15%.
“Since your election and the inauguration, what we’ve seen is nothing wanting a miracle,” Hegseth informed Trump throughout a current cupboard assembly. “Women and men throughout the nation are proud once more to serve below a Commander-in-Chief who honors power, not weak spot.”
Certainly, recruitment has surged so quickly that Protection Division analysts are calling it the strongest curiosity in army service in over a decade—lengthy earlier than the divisive DEI (Variety, Fairness, and Inclusion) agenda hollowed out morale and operational requirements below the Biden administration.
“We’re rebuilding the army, Sir,” Hegseth mentioned, referencing the resurrection of America’s army dominance. “The Golden Dome is effectively underway. The F-47 program is revitalized. And we’re reinvesting practically $6 billion in DOGE-identified financial savings, together with clawing again $50 billion wasted below Biden’s climate-first nonsense.”
Within the wake of Trump’s return to workplace, Hegseth has already orchestrated a historic management purge, firing each the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Employees and the Navy Chief in February.
He additionally initiated plans to interchange the highest army authorized officers, the Choose Advocates Normal, throughout the Military, Navy, and Air Pressure—citing their complicity in political prosecutions and woke authorized doctrine.
Based on CNN, Hegseth has lengthy warned that the Pentagon had turn into “a playground for left-wing ideologues,” noting that as much as a 3rd of present senior management is “actively complicit” in politicizing the armed forces.
“These officers are climbing the ladder by checking all of the improper packing containers — pushing social justice, local weather hysteria, and gender idea as an alternative of war-fighting functionality,” he mentioned in a podcast final yr.
