Senior Pentagon leaders were the recipients last week of a memo sent by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth directing the following actions:
- A minimum 20% reduction of 4-star positions across the Active Component
- A minimum 20% reduction of general officers in the National Guard
- A minimum 10% reduction in general and flag officers with the realignment of the Unified Command Plan
A video posted on X by Hegseth officially identified his latest reform as the “General and Flag Officer Reductions.”
Calling it the “Less Generals More GIs Policy,” Hegseth explained that the Department of Defense will “shift resources from bloated headquarters elements to our warfighters.”
The numbers do in fact suggest bloat.
The U.S. had a ratio of one general officer to 6,000 troops during World War II. Now the ratio is one general officer to 1,400 troops, Hegseth said. “More generals and admirals do not equal more success,” notes to the Defense Secretary.
Of note, former president Barack Obama removed over 100 flag officers who were considered not politically aligned with the Obama agenda.
According to Lt. Col. Darin Gaub (USA-Ret.), a former UH-60 Blackhawk pilot and battalion commander, “the overall numbers didn't change much.”
He tells American Family News Obama’s action “was a political purge not focused on readiness and lethality at all.” The difference now is the new administration isn’t “purging based on political affiliation,” Gaub argues.
Instead, Hegseth said the reduction will be a “deliberative process, working with the joint chiefs with one goal: maximizing strategic readiness and operational effectiveness by making prudent reductions in the general and flag officer ranks.”
During the Global War on Terror Gaub worked in multiple headquarters throughout Afghanistan. “You couldn’t shake a stick without hitting the general,” he said, adding many were performing tasks that could have been done by lower ranking officers including colonels, lieutenant colonels, and majors, for example.
“On top of that, many of the generals stuck around for far too long for the job that needed to be done,” Gaub said.
“People in the field were needed more than people at major headquarters around the world or in the halls of the Pentagon,” he added. “Many of these were, frankly, political appointments, not military appointments.”
A long time coming
Gaub sees a financial benefit to reducing the number of general and flag officers. “In many cases, I’d rather see their salary go to a number of soldiers on the ground who actually do the war fighting.”
For decades, Gaub welcomed a reduction in senior military leaders, but command was hesitant.
“Nobody was willing to do it, and God forbid we actually do it.”
It’s necessary to “cut management for the sake of the workers rather than cutting workers for the sake of the management,” Gaub said. “It’s good to see Hegseth act on these issues, because many service members and veterans are happy it’s finally happening.”
