{"id":6291,"date":"2025-05-06T06:07:59","date_gmt":"2025-05-06T06:07:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=6291"},"modified":"2025-05-06T06:07:59","modified_gmt":"2025-05-06T06:07:59","slug":"hegseth-orders-sweeping-cuts-in-senior-us-military-leadership","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=6291","title":{"rendered":"Hegseth orders sweeping cuts in senior US military leadership"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered a sweeping reduction in senior military leadership, directing the Pentagon to cut the number of four-star generals and admirals by at least 20%, according to a memo obtained by CNN and confirmed by other outlets.<\/p>\n<p>As of 2023, there were 37 active four-star officers across the military.<\/p>\n<p>Hegseth\u2019s directive also includes a 20% cut in National Guard general officers and a 10% reduction in total general and flag officers\u2014approximately 900 individuals ranked one star or higher.<\/p>\n<p>The memo describes the cuts as essential to &#8220;removing redundant force structure&#8221; and improving strategic readiness.<\/p>\n<p>Hegseth argues that a bloated top brass hampers battlefield effectiveness and leadership efficiency.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMore generals and admirals does not lead to more success,\u201d he said in a video posted on X, adding the reforms are not punitive but necessary.<\/p>\n<p>The reductions come amid broader efforts by the Trump administration to streamline federal agencies and reshape the Department of Defense.<\/p>\n<p>Hegseth, a former Fox News host and vocal critic of military bureaucracy, has rapidly moved to align Pentagon leadership with President Trump\u2019s national security agenda.<\/p>\n<p>He has already removed several top officials, including the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Navy\u2019s top admiral.<\/p>\n<p>Senator Jack Reed, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, criticized the plan, calling the cuts arbitrary and potentially damaging to military readiness.<\/p>\n<p>Further restructuring may include merging combatant commands like US European Command and US African Command to eliminate additional four-star posts.<\/p>\n<p>Hegseth insists the changes will be implemented &#8220;carefully but expeditiously,&#8221; though specific positions targeted for elimination remain undisclosed.<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered a sweeping reduction in senior military leadership, directing the Pentagon to cut the number of four-star generals and admirals by at least 20%, according to a memo obtained by CNN and confirmed by other outlets. As of 2023, there were 37 active four-star officers across the military. Hegseth\u2019s [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6291","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-english-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6291","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6291"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6291\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6291"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6291"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6291"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}