Pentagon Shake-Up: Pete Hegseth to Cut 20 Percent of Admirals and Generals — Just Months After Defense Secretary's Controversial Firing Spree

Patrick Previty

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is preparing to announce a 20 percent cut in the number of military jobs reserved for generals and admirals, two Pentagon officials confirmed Tuesday.

The plan is part of his longer effort to shrink the Pentagon's senior leadership layer and send more authority to commanders. Hegseth is expected to make the announcement Wednesday during a State of the Force address at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia.

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Fewer Star-Rank Jobs

The plan shrinks the number of positions that require a general or admiral.

Army, Navy and Air Force leaders, along with officials who manage joint assignments that cut across the services, have been told to finish the reductions by Jan. 1, 2027.

The jobs are called billets, which are an authorized slot on an organizational chart, and the kind of job that is supposed to be filled by a one-star officer or higher.

Generals serve in the Army, Air Force, Marine Corps and Space Force, while admirals serve in the Navy. Together they are often called general and flag officers.

Cutting 20 percent does not, by itself, require the Pentagon to fire one in five officers who currently wear those ranks. Some of the jobs will be downgraded, and in those cases, a colonel or a Navy captain could fill a post that used to require a general or admiral.

The new target doubles the 10 percent overall reduction Hegseth ordered last year.

That earlier directive also called for a 20 percent cut in active-duty four-star positions and a 20 percent cut among National Guard general officers.

Hegseth Wants to Continue Reduction

Hegseth is doubling an earlier reduction target.

The announcement arrives after an already unusually fast turnover at the top of the armed forces.

Since Hegseth took office, he has fired or pushed out more than two dozen senior military and civilian leaders and blocked promotions for dozens of other officers who had been selected by service boards.

Those moves have included the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and several service chiefs.

Embrace Reforms or Step Aside

Hegseth has already removed senior leaders and stopped other officers from moving up.

Last September, Hegseth summoned hundreds of generals and admirals to Quantico and told them to embrace his reforms or step aside.

This year, commands have been told to send junior officers and enlisted troops who meet fitness rules, including waist-to-height standards, and who keep "impeccable" grooming and uniform appearance.

Some of those service members are expected to work out with Hegseth as part of the visit.

Federal law already limits how many general and flag officers may serve on active duty.

The services now have to decide which headquarters positions can shrink or drop a rank without weakening command of current missions.

Congress may later have to decide whether the underlying statutory caps need to change.

https://radaronline.com/p/pete-hegseth-to-cut-20-percent-of-admirals-and-generals/

Midair Horror: FlyDubai Pilot Reportedly Stabbed, Israeli News Says Incident Treated As "Full-Fledged Terror Attack"

Flydubai Flight FZ1073 from Dubai to Tel Aviv abruptly diverted to Saudi Arabia earlier today after a reported fight between the pilots triggered a distress alert, sources told CNN.

Flight-tracking data from Flightradar24shows Flydubai Flight FZ1073 diverted over Jordanian airspace toward Saudi Arabia and rapidly descended 17,400 feet in just minutes around 0120 ET. Israeli fighter jets were scrambled.

According to Amit Segal of Israel's Channel 12 News:

Following situation assessments and passenger testimonies, Israel is treating the incident as a full-fledged terrorist attack.It appears that the co-pilot repeatedly stabbed the captain. Once the attack began, several crew members and passengers managed to break through the cockpit door and subdue the attacker.

According to one senior official, the co-pilot is currently being questioned, and indications are mounting that he intended to take control of the plane and crash it with the passengers on board.

Flydubai confirmed the midair incident and said the Boeing 737 landed safely in Tabuk, with all passengers safe and accounted for. However, the airline did not specify the nature of the incident.

"Our teams are working closely with the relevant authorities," the carrier said. "Further updates will be issued as additional confirmed details become available."

Passengers told Israel's Channel 12 that they heard shouting near the cockpit and an altercation inside.They also said the aircraft plunged before landing in Saudi Arabia.

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/midair-horror-flydubai-pilot-reportedly-stabbed-israeli-news-says-incident-treated

updated 17 minutes ago

IRGC says it targets ships daily as Araghchi presents US proposal at cabinet meeting

Summary

• A flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia after a violent cockpit altercation, with Israeli media reporting growing suspicion of an attempted terror attack while other explanations remain under review.

• There are military confrontations in the Strait of Hormuz every 24 hours, and the IRGC targets ships,but the United States has not responded for some time, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards spokesman said.

• A tanker heading into the Strait of Hormuz was struck by an unknown projectile, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said on Wednesday, citing a verified source.

• Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi presented a proposal from the United States at Wednesday’s cabinet meeting, the government spokesperson said.

• The United States completed the withdrawal of its forces and equipment from Erbil Air Base, ending its Operation Inherent Resolve mission in Iraq, US Central Command said.

• The Iraqi government now bears primary responsibility for addressing Iran-aligned militias that undermine Iraq’s sovereignty and regional stability, the Pentagon said.

• Iran executed two men arrested during January demonstrations in the northeastern city of Mashhad on Wednesday, the judiciary said.

https://www.iranintl.com/en/liveblog/202609269384

SICK! CNN’s Erin Burnett Forgets to Mention the Children She Wants to Keep from Their Parents Were Smuggled Into the US by Cartels and Rescued by Border Patrol!

by Jim Hoft Sep. 30, 2026 7:45 am73 Comments

Nearly 300,000 unaccompanied children who entered the US during the Biden years remain unaccounted for. The Trump administration has been able to locate 146,000 of these children since he returned to office.

The rest are still missing.

Does anyone at CNN have a soul?

CNN’s Erin Burnett reported on an immigration hearing today where dozens of children facing deportation, appealed to stay in the United States.They were coached by their handlers on what to say before the committee.

Erin Burnett made it a sappy story in defense of children whom the Trump Administration wants to send back to their parents — parents who want them back home!

Burnett failed to mention anything about the hundreds of thousands of missing children lost inside the country during the Biden years.

She also failed to mention that these children were trafficked by smugglers into the US and rescued by the Border Patrol.

What is wrong with Erin Burnett?

White House Deputy of Staff, Stephen Miller, later released a statement exposing Erin Burnett as a twisted fake news propagandist.

Burnett refused to mention that these children were minors whom cartels recently attempted to smuggle into the US, and were rescued by Border Patrol!

Stephen Miller: Large swaths of corporate media exist at this point primarily to propagandize and radicalize subsets of the population into supporting the liquidation of national sovereignty.

Willfully omitted by the CNN propagandists is that these are minors who cartels have recently tried to smuggle across the Southwest Border but who were rescued by Border Patrol. These minors will now be safely and humanely reunited with their families by dedicated public servants who have devoted their lives to combatting child trafficking.

It is because of the efforts of these public servants that there is no longer a raging UAC (“unaccompanied alien child”) catastrophe — the Trump Administration swiftly, urgently and righteously ended the child trafficking nightmare.

Between ten to twenty thousand children a MONTH were successfully smuggled by cartels into the US under Biden, who worked with taxpayer NGOs to deliver the smuggled children to unknown adults in the US, whereupon they disappeared.

The NGOs then submitted knowingly fraudulent asylum claims to try to keep the children from ever going home or seeing their families again.

These same Democrat-NGO networks for cartels were also ruthlessly exploited by TDA and MS-13 to insert gang members into the United States and violent criminals into our high schools (automatically allowed in merely by claiming to be 17), subjecting innocent American children to unspeakable horrors.

It was one of the darkest of many dark chapters of the Biden era.

The Trump Administration put the child traffickers out of business and CNN considers this a great tragedy to be urgently reversed.New depths of “journalistic” depravity and immortality.

Stephen Miller did not let this wicked propagandist get away with her junk reporting this time!

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2026/09/sick-cnns-erin-burnett-forgets-mention-children-she/