Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s plans to slash the number of senior military leaders across the services would cut more than 120 high-ranking officer jobs in the active duty and National Guard, including as many as nine top general slots. Based on the percentages outlined by Hegseth and his senior staff, 20% of the 44 authorized top active duty general and admiral jobs would be eliminated, along with 10% of the more than 800 one-, two- and three-star positions, according to numbers compiled by The Associated Press. The cuts — about nine positions among four-star generals and 80 jobs across the other leadership levels — would affect dozens of active duty officers scattered across the five services as well as those who are in joint command jobs, such as those overseeing Africa, the Middle East and Europe. The changes would eliminate 33 senior National Guard positions. The cuts are part of a broader government-wide campaign to slash spending and personnel across federal agencies that is being pushed by President Donald Trump’s administration and ally Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency. According to Hegseth and others, the intent of the military job reductions isn’t to reduce the overall size of the force but to thin out the higher ranks and offset those cuts with additional troops at lower levels. While the overall number of service members may not drop, the salary costs will be lower. Some Democratic members of Congress have criticized Hegseth’s plans as an attempt to politicize the military and oust leaders that don’t agree with the Trump administration. The changes also come as the world is roiled by conflicts, including the wars in Gaza and Ukraine, and as the U.S. has troops deployed in Syria and elsewhere. Shifting leadership responsibilities Military officials expect that as various jobs are downgraded — for example from a lieutenant general in charge to a major general or brigadier general — more leadership responsibilities will fall on colonels or Navy captains and other subordinates. And while many of the job cuts will come through attrition, as senior officers retire or move on, the services say they will have the flexibility to move people into higher priority positions and get rid of less critical posts. “More generals and admirals does not equal more success,” Hegseth said in a video describing his plan. “This is not a slash and burn exercise meant to punish high-ranking officers. Nothing could be further from the truth. This has been a deliberative process.” Calling it the “Less Generals, More GIs” plan, he said the department will make “prudent reductions.” How the cuts will hit the military services The Army, which is the largest service, is allowed to have a maximum of 219 high-ranking general officers and is expected to absorb a higher number of the cuts, while the Marine Corps will probably see little impact at the very top. There are only two Marine four-star generals, and the tiny Space Force also only has two. “The Marine Corps, with our general officers, like our civilians and senior executives, is by far the leanest service,” said Lt. Col. Josh Benson, a Marine spokesman. “Due to the already lean nature of the general officers in the Marine Corps, any cuts to Marine general officers will have an outsized impact to the Corps […]