Last night, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced a plan to make “prudent reductions in the General and Flag Officer Ranks”. I am inclined to think this is a good thing based on our (ahem) winning record of the last few wars. The official DOD title is “General and Flag Officer Reductions”. The Hegseth title is “Less Generals, More GIs Policy”.

I wouldn’t call this a “purge”. I would say removing excess or right-sizing. Purging generally means getting rid of something bad, unnecessary and unpleasant. Well, maybe we should have a purge. This isn’t it, although the Washington Examiner thinks it is. The paper posted the article: “Hegseth orders purge of senior commanders, cutting 20% of four-star generals and admirals”. The article opens with:

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered the Pentagon to cut 20% of four-star generals and admirals.

The high number of senior generals and admirals has been a source of criticism among both analysts and President Donald Trump, who has portrayed it as a symptom of a bloated and inefficient military. On Monday, Hegseth announced the promised cut of four-star generals and admirals, detailing the move in a memo obtained by the Washington Examiner.

Sounds like good sleuthing works, right? Nope, the memo is right on the Defense.gov website for anyone to peruse. Here is a screenshot:

The high number of senior generals and admirals has been a source of criticism by analysts, field grade and non-commissioned officers for decades. The late Colonel David Hackworth called them the Perfumed Princes:

Col. Hackworth spent more than half a century on the country’s hottest battlefields, first as a soldier, then as a writer, war correspondent and sharp-eyed critic of the Military-Industrial Complex and ticket-punching generals he dismissed as “Perfumed Princes.”

The Military Industrial Complex and its four-star box checking, political yes-men Generals are the enemies of everyone who loves our all-volunteer military. Here is Pete Hegseth making the announcement last night:

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

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

That noise you hear is me cheering. More from the Examiner:

“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,” the memo read.

“A critical step in this process is removing redundant force structure to optimize and streamline leadership by reducing excess general and flag officer positions,” it added.

To accomplish this, Hegseth ordered the military to cut at least 20% of four-star leaders in every active branch and another 20% in the National Guard. Another minimum of 10% of general and flag officers were to be cut as well. He called the move “Less Generals More GIs Policy.”

To argue for the necessity of the move, Hegseth pointed out how the U.S. had 17 four and five-star generals in World War II, when the U.S. was fielding 12 million warfighters. Today, the U.S. has 44 four-star and flag officers. This represents a change from one general for every 6,000 troops in World War II to one general for 1,400 troops today.

When you think of the perfumed prince, the bloated bureaucrat and the box-checking, yes man, you think of General Milley, don’t you?

As Secretary Hegseth pointed out, nothing like this study has been done since 1986 and the Goldwater-Nichols Act. From Wikipedia:

The Goldwater–Nichols Department of Defense Reorganization Act of October 4, 1986 (Pub. L. 99–433; signed by President Ronald Reagan) made the most sweeping changes to the United States Department of Defense since the department was established in the National Security Act of 1947 by reworking the command structure of the U.S. military. It increased the powers of the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and implemented some of the suggestions from the Packard Commission, commissioned by President Reagan in 1985. Among other changes, Goldwater–Nichols streamlined the military chain of command, which now runs from the president through the secretary of defense directly to combatant commanders (CCDRs, all four-star generals or admirals), bypassing the service chiefs. The service chiefs were assigned to an advisory role to the president and the secretary of defense, and given the responsibility for training and equipping personnel for the unified combatant commands.

Named after Senator Barry Goldwater (R-Arizona) and Representative William Flynt “Bill” Nichols (D-Alabama), the bill passed the House of Representatives, 383–27, and the Senate, 95–0. It was signed into law by President Reagan on October 1, 1986. Admiral William J. Crowe was the first chairman to serve under this new legislation.

It’s about time to revisit this, doncha think? According to KOAA in Colorado Springs, this downsizing might upset young officers. Boo Hoo. They shouldn’t worry. By the time they are ready to make four-star, the bloat will be back:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-OP78ecNRU

There are those of us who have just a few small requests of the Pentagon. If you are going to get into a war, win it and protect are military personnel. Good luck.

Featured Image: Grok/X/Public Domain