Hegseth fires top military planner in latest purge as Trump weighs fresh Iran strikes: Report

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has fired the Pentagon’s top military planner, Army Lieutenant General Brett Sylvia, from his role as director of strategy, plans and policy on the US Joint Staff, NBC Washington reported on Wednesday, citing a defence official. The move comes as President Donald Trump weighs possible renewed strikes on Iran, adding to a wider shake-up of senior military leadership under his administration.

Sylvia previously commanded the US Army’s 101st Airborne Division and led a unit in Iraq. No reason was given for his removal.

A Joint Staff spokesperson initially issued a statement that appeared to confirm Sylvia’s departure but later withdrew it. The spokesperson subsequently said: “Out of respect for the servicemember and the ongoing personnel process, we will not comment further.”

Trump weighs renewed strikes on Iran

Sylvia’s removal comes as Trump considers further military action against Iran after next Tuesday’s US midterm elections.

“We may do another little Epic Fury,” Trump said last week, referring to the US-Israeli strikes on Tehran in February that triggered the eight-month-long war. He did not specify when another attack might take place.

Neither Washington nor Tehran has carried out major attacks on land-based targets since early September. Instead, the conflict has increasingly involved strikes on commercial vessels.

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Trump administration’s purge of senior military officials

Since returning to the White House for his second term, Trump and Hegseth have overseen a sweeping shake-up of the US military leadership. Nearly two dozen senior military and civilian defence officials have reportedly been fired, forced to retire or removed from their positions.

Among them was General Charles “CQ” Brown, whom Trump dismissed as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in February 2025 without publicly explaining the decision. Army Chief of Staff General Randy George has also been among the senior figures affected by the administration’s changes.

Other departures have included the heads of the US Navy and Coast Guard, the director of the National Security Agency, the US Air Force’s vice chief of staff, a Navy admiral assigned to NATO and three senior military lawyers.

Hegseth has defended the changes, arguing that the president has the authority to choose the military leaders he wants. Democratic lawmakers, however, have raised concerns that the departures could undermine the traditionally non-partisan role of the US military.

Last month, Hegseth said the administration had reduced the number of generals and admirals by 20 per cent, describing the move as an effort to improve “accountability”.

He suggested the cuts targeted officers who did not support his push to prioritise war-fighting over what he called the “woke” policies of previous administrations. Hegseth described the reductions as an “accomplishment”.