29.10.2026
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has fired US Army Lieutenant General Brett Sylvia, a senior military planner on the Pentagon’s Joint Staff, over accusations he leaked classified information to the public, officials said on Thursday.
Sylvia’s firing is one of the highest-profile consequences to date from Hegseth’s sweeping hunt for officials suspected of leaking information to the news media as the unpopular Iran war enters its ninth month.
Hegseth’s effort includes a Pentagon task force to identify the source of leaks and the widespread use of polygraph exams on senior officials as part of these investigations.
Last year, he introduced a media policy that raised legal concerns among press organizations, and revoked the press credentials of journalists who refused to sign it.
A senior Pentagon official, speaking on condition of anonymity, accused Sylvia of failing three polygraphs questioning him about leaking classified information.
“The extent of his leaking became so critical that Secretary Hegseth took immediate action and fired Sylvia in order to protect national security. Urgent action was needed and could not wait another second,” the official said.
US President Donald Trump, who misidentified Sylvia as a woman, said the senior US general has “got problems.”
“We’re very much looking for leakers, and she’s going to have big problems, long-term problems,” Trump told reporters.
Sylvia could not be immediately reached for comment.
Sylvia led the Directorate for Strategy, Plans, and Policy at the Joint Staff, known inside the military as the J5, a key position that helps advise the top US military official, General Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
He previously led the US Army’s 101st Airborne Division. His dismissal was first reported by The Atlantic magazine.
His removal comes as the US military plans for a potential resumption of intensive bombings in Iran, something Trump has called “another little Epic Fury.” The Pentagon has fumed about leaks during the Iran war, including about its planning and the expenditure of munitions. Reuters