On May 5, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered a one-fifth reduction in the amount of current four-star officers.
Hegseth has previously remarked that the top brass had too many officers in it.
“More generals and admirals does not lead to more success,” Hegseth said in a video posted on X.
Reuters
The move does raise more questions than answers. In a country of over three hundred million people, how many four star generals should there be? How much is too much, or insufficient? Even if there was an objectively right answer to this question, which Hegseth claims to have, there would have to be a sound reason to relieve these officers, who attained their rank through merit. Senator Jack Reed warned of baseless firings by Hegseth; this 20% cut in four-star officers likely marks a continuation of these firings.
Additionally, Hegseth wrote in a memo that there is to be a “20% reduction in the number of general officers in the National Guard and an additional 10% reduction among general and flag officers across the military.”
The combination of some commands is being considered. For instance, a merger between United States African Command and United States European Command is being considered.
