A memorandum directing general and flag officer reductions.
Introducing the “Less Generals More GIs Policy.” pic.twitter.com/bQLRL2MqSC
— Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth (@SecDef) May 5, 2025
SUBJECT: General/Flag Officer Reductions
The Department of Defense is committed to ensuring the lethality of U.S. Military Forces to deter threats and, when necessary, achieve decisive victory.
To accomplish this mission, we must cultivate exceptional senior leaders who drive innovation and operational excellence, unencumbered by unnecessary bureaucratic layers that hinder their growth and effectiveness.
A critical step in this process is removing redundant force structure to optimize and streamline leadership by reducing excess general and flag officer positions.
Therefore, I direct 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; and
- An additional minimum 10% reduction in general and flag officers with the realignment of the Unified Command Plan.
Through these measures, we will uphold our position as the most lethal fighting force in the world, achieving peace through strength and ensuring greater efficiency, innovation, and preparedness for any challenge that lies ahead.
MEMORANDUM-DIRECTING-GENERAL-AND-FLAG-OFFICER-REDUCTIONS (pdf)
The general officer bloat in the reserves continues to amaze and degrade….how about merging the Guard and Reserves and letting go of literally hundreds of useless flag ranks….how many generals does Delaware or Wyoming need? Shutting one of the service academies is also reasonable……unless you believe the key mission of DOD is simply to provide well paying jobs? Sadly, conservative and liberals see DOD as simply a jobs function.
I have seen (perhaps my own blindness) no discussion about closing a service academy. Any such move would be plain-out stupid. Each academy serves a particular culture and need. The DOPMA insanity we went through a few years back, where “joint” officers were considered fungible across service assignments, was disasterous. Each academy is focused on developing officers for service in a particular branch, all of which are needed and each with a particular need. I fervently hope there is no real initiative to close or combine them. The alignment of two services who draw on the same academy (Air Force and Space Force from Colorado Springs and Navy and Marine Corps from Annapolis) has roots in long time similarities in culture and mission and necessarily needs to stay the same. Let’s not screw this up. By a joint qualified officer and USNA grad.