Hegseth confirms additional firings of top-ranking US military

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has addressed the military's top brass, confirming the firing of 20% of general officers, while announcing a new autonomous warfare department.

The fiery speech on Wednesday at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia adds to an earlier round of personnel cuts in 2025.

There are over 800 active-duty generals and admirals across the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force and Space Force, according to the latest defence department tally.

The last time Hegseth assembled military leaders at Quantico, in September 2025, he criticised the department as being too "woke" and slammed its leaders for being out of shape, saying "fat generals and admirals" is "a bad look".

In his remarks on Wednesday, Hegseth referred to last year's Quantico speech as Liberation Day, saying that those who were not on board with his changes, "well, they no longer work here".

"We are no longer the woke department or the weak department," Hegseth said, adding "no fatties" and "no weirdos".

He also announced the creation of the Autonomous Warfare Command, aimed at easing the procurement of robotics and drones for warfare, "supercharged" with artificial intelligence.

A new Office of Religious Affairs, cadets programme partnering with US universities, and what Hegseth called "the next great American [military] base" were also announced.

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