Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has fired Army Lt. Gen. Brett Sylvia, the Pentagon's top military planner, over allegations that he leaked classified information, Pentagon officials said. Sylvia was director of strategy, plans and policy on the Joint Chiefs of Staff, a post known as the J5. The inputs differ on timing: one says officials discussed the firing on Thursday, Oct. 29, while another says he was fired on Wednesday, Oct. 28.
According to Pentagon officials, some speaking anonymously, Sylvia failed three polygraph tests about leaking classified information related to the Iran war and the Russia-Ukraine conflict. A senior Pentagon official said, "The extent of his leaking became so critical that Secretary Hegseth took immediate action and fired Sylvia in order to protect national security," adding that "urgent action was needed and could not wait another second." One official said Sylvia began meeting journalists outside the Pentagon after a media policy required reporters to have escorts inside the building. The matter has been referred to the Department of Justice for potential further legal action.
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said "the Department of War has zero tolerance for the intentional, unauthorized disclosure of classified information" and that anyone who compromises such information "puts the lives of our Warriors at risk." Another statement attributed to him said that "following an extensive Air Force OSI investigation, the Department took necessary personnel action to protect sensitive information." CBS News reported that two other Pentagon sources confirmed the firing was related to the polygraph results but said the accusations against Sylvia are not true. The Pentagon declined to comment further out of respect for Sylvia and the ongoing personnel process, and officials said no replacement has been named.
The Joint Staff first issued a statement thanking Sylvia for his 32 years of service and wishing him and his family well. It was withdrawn, with the spokesperson saying, "upon further review, we determined that the statement did not appropriately reflect the full circumstances." Sylvia is the second general removed from the J5 post under Hegseth; his predecessor, Lt. Gen. Joseph McGee, was forced to retire in October 2025. Sylvia commanded the 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, until May 2025, and received the Bronze Star for Valor and a Purple Heart after being wounded in combat in Afghanistan.
The firing came as President Donald Trump weighs renewed strikes on Iran in the eight-month-old conflict. Trump told reporters Sylvia has "got problems" and "is going to have big problems." Trump has said he wants to "finish the job" and that new strikes are an option after the midterm elections on Tuesday, Nov. 3. U.S. officials have told regional allies to prepare for possible action and Iranian retaliation, and a third aircraft carrier and thousands more troops are being sent to the region. Officials say Trump has not made a final decision.
Nearly two dozen generals, admirals and other military leaders have been fired, forced to retire or otherwise departed under Hegseth, most without public explanation. In September, Hegseth ordered the military to double cuts to top officers, reducing roughly 800 flag and general officer positions by 20 percent by Jan. 1, 2027. He called the cuts "accountability and long overdue" at Marine Corps Base Quantico on Sept. 30. Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., a former Navy combat pilot, said last month, "He's purging a generation of great leaders of the military, and it's going to take a generation to recover from it."
Leaking classified information is a crime punishable by prison time, though leak allegations are not always accurate. Last year the Pentagon fired three Hegseth advisers for alleged leaks during an internal power struggle; one, Dan Caldwell, was later rehired in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence after being exonerated.
