Citing a need to “remove redundant force structure,” Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on Monday announced that he’s ordered a major reduction in the number of generals and admirals serving in the US military. Specifically, the DOD is charged with reducing active duty 4-star officers by at least 20% and National Guard generals by 20%, followed by a second round of reductions that will target another 10% of all generals and admirals — collectively called “flag officers.” Hegseth said he informally calls the policy, “Less Generals, More GI’s.” 

“Keeping with President Trump’s commitment to achieving peace through strength, we’re going to shift resources from bloated headquarters elements to our warfighters,” Hegseth said in a video posted to X. Putting the number of generals and admirals in historical perspective, he said that, in World War II, it only took 17 four- and five-star generals to lead 12 million troops. Today, America has 44 four-stars overseeing only 2.1 million service members. Overall, the ratio of generals to troops has gone from 1 to 6,000 in World War II to 1 to 1,400 today. 

“More generals and admirals does not mean more success,” said Hegseth. “This is not a slash-and-burn meant to punish high-ranking officers…this has been a deliberative process working with the joint chiefs of staff with one goal: maximizing strategic readiness and operational effectiveness.” No specific timeframe for the reductions has been announced, and it’s unclear to what extent the cuts may occur via attrition as opposed to forced retirements. Since they “serve at the pleasure of the president,” generals and admirals can be pushed out with relative ease. That’s even more true for the top brass, as retired Air Force Maj Gen Charles Dunlap explained in a 2016 essay at Lawfire:

The most senior generals — that is, the three and four star generals — only hold those grades during the period in which they occupy positions designated as being ones of “importance and responsibility.” Accordingly, if the President chooses to terminate that assignment, and the officer does not apply for voluntary retirement, then he or she will typically revert to their permanent grade, usually as a two-star major general. There are very significant financial implications to the reversion…  

Hegseth has been looking to cut some fat not only in the figurative sense, but the literal one as well. In April, he decried the American Security Project’s finding that nearly 68% of National Guard and Reserve troops are overweight or obese. “This is what happens when standards are IGNORED — and this is what we are changing. REAL fitness & weight standards are here,” he wrote on X. “We will be FIT, not FAT.” The previous month, Hegseth ordered “sex-neutral” physical fitness requirements for combat positions.  

Introducing the “Less Generals More GIs Policy.” pic.twitter.com/bQLRL2MqSC

— Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth (@SecDef) May 5, 2025

In February, President Trump took the extraordinary step of firing the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and five more senior Pentagon officers. The next month brought the sudden ouster of the three-star general leading the Defense Health Agency, which comprises a vast medical system serving more than 9.5 million service members, retirees and family members around the world via more than 700 hospitals and clinics with a staff of more than 130,000 service members, civilian employees and contractors.  

Sadly, none of this overhauling will result in lower Pentagon spending. Far from it: Hegseth and Trump are poised to take most of the savings squeezed out by DOGE and throw it into the gaping maw of the military-industrial complex. Last month, Trump announced the Pentagon will have its first $1 trillion budget — up from $895 billion in the 2025 defense authorization bill. “Nobody’s seen anything like it. We have to build our military, and we’re very cost-conscious, but the military is something we have to build, and we have to be strong,” Trump said as he hosted Israeli prime minister and military-aid welfare-queen extraordinaire Benjamin Netanyahu.