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Hegseth Fires Top Pentagon Strategist Amid Leaks Investigation
· Confirmed
In Short: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has fired Gen. Brett Sylvia, the Pentagon's top military planner, amid an investigation into alleged leaks of classified information related to the wars in Iran and Ukraine, according to multiple reports.
The firing comes as Hegseth conducts a shake-up at the Pentagon, leading to a series of departures and bitter recriminations, sources told the BBC.
Gen. Sylvia was head of strategy, plans, and policy for the Joint Chiefs of Staff in the Army and had raised concerns about army readiness and transformation, which he said Hegseth was blocking by firing generals responsible.
A Pentagon official told CBS News that Gen. Sylvia failed three polygraph tests about sharing classified information with the media, and the case has been referred to the Department of Justice.
Jon Duffy, a retired Navy captain and former White House defense policy official, said Driscoll's resignation showed how far Hegseth had 'hollowed out' the military leadership at a critical moment.
Michael Schiffer, a former top Pentagon official, told the BBC that Hegseth had initiated much of the modernization plan but subsequently came into conflict with Driscoll and others advocating its rapid expansion.
The Pentagon has not publicly explained Sylvia’s dismissal, but CBS News reports a defense official accused him of leaking classified information related to the wars in Iran and Ukraine.
Hegseth has also criticized Anthropic's AI tools and the US Department of Defense is no longer using them, an official told the BBC.
Hegseth's tenure has been marked by internal politics and allegations of misconduct, with former aides pointing fingers at each other.
The defense secretary has bragged that he’s already canned 10 percent of his department’s top brass, according to The Daily Beast.
What this adds
The firing of Gen. Sylvia is part of a broader shake-up at the Pentagon under Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who has been criticized for his handling of military leadership and internal politics.
Background
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has fired the Pentagon's top military planner, Gen. Brett Sylvia, amid an investigation into alleged leaks of classified information.
What's confirmed
- Published: 23:58 EDT, 28 October 2026 | Updated: 10:06 EDT, 29 October 2026 Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has fired the Pentagon 's top military planner as President Donald Trump considers renewed strikes on Iran following next week's midterm elections.
- US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth has dismissed another high-ranking general from the Pentagon during his nearly two-year tenure, the Associated Press reported, citing an anonymous source.
- Gen. Brett Sylvia, the Pentagon's chief planner, was removed from the Joint Chiefs of Staff earlier this week with no explanation given, The Atlantic reported Wednesday.
- Gen. Brett Sylvia, the Pentagon's top military planner, according to a Pentagon official.
- Download the Straight Arrow app today to get the stories that matter free from manipulation, bias or agenda.™ The Pentagon has not publicly explained Sylvia’s dismissal, but CBS News reports a defense official accused him of leaking classified information related to the wars in Iran and Ukraine.
- On Thursday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the proceedings would be available for public viewing.
- “Now is not the time when you’d want to lose the J5,” a former Joint Chiefs of Staff official said.
What's still developing
- The second is a culture war at home in which Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth is conducting a promised shake-up at the Pentagon, sparking bitter recriminations and a string of departures including the top civilian in charge of the US Army last week.
- The country’s absence from the International Contact Group on Civilian Harm Mitigation and Response summit reinforces the abandonment of a mission the Pentagon had encouraged partners to embrace, said current and former officials.
- The US Government says Nidal Hasan's death by firing squad will be live streamed. ( AFP: Bell Country Sherriff's Department ) US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has said the execution of convicted Fort Hood military base shooter Nidal Hasan will be livestreamed.
- Defence secretary Pete Hegseth has publicly criticised Anthropic's boss Dario Amodei The US Department of Defence is no longer using Anthropic's AI tools, an official has told the BBC, months after it designated the company a supply chain risk on national security grounds.
- Exactly a week away from the Israeli Knesset election, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth made an unannounced visit to Israel on Monday, during which he met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Axios reported, citing two sources with knowledge.
- All it took was for Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to advocate live streaming the upcoming death-by-firing-squad execution of the Army officer convicted in the 2009 Fort Hood shooting and the Pentagon announced it, then Donald Trump said Me, too.
- US Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth had said that Nidal Hasan would be executed by firing squad and that it would be done "in public."
- President Donald Trump announced on Thursday that Nidal Hasan's execution by firing squad "will not be streamed" -- reversing the controversial announcement by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that the killing would be publicly broadcast.
- With Hegseth under the gun for what has been dubbed "Signalgate," new revelations that he included his wife, brother and lawyer in a separate Signal chat where he discussed war plan, and use of an unsecured internet commercial " dirty line " from his Pentagon office, Lowell reported that fighting among dismissed Hegseth aides has also gotten messy.
- "I mean, Hugo, this is the Department of Defense, this is national security, this is the welfare of not only our armed forces and the people that are sacrificing to be able to defend us, but it's our safety. And this is the type of insanity that's going on under Pete Hegseth's's tenure."
- According to his report, the DOD has been "marked for weeks by ugly internal politics" with his now-ousted chief of staff J oe Kasper pointing the finger at the departed Dan Caldwell, deputy chief Darin Selnick and chief to the deputy defense secretary Colin Carroll, with them reciprocating.
- "And when reached by phone yesterday, told us that, you know, it's so 'egregiously. stupid' that I'm, you know, getting mired into this stuff and how could I have held a security clearance for so long if I was actually doing drugs? But the wider point is correct."