Brett Sylvia gives a speech during the change of command ceremony at the 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, in May 2025. Sylvia was promoted from that role to serve as director of strategy, plans, and policy at the Joint Staff; he was fired from that role on Wednesday night. (US Army/Staff Sgt. Kaden D. Pitt)
Pete Hegseth Just Fired the Pentagon’s Top Strategic Planner
Lt. Gen. Brett Sylvia was fired for allegedly leaking classified information to the press—but his firing could also be related to political comments his son made last year.
Lt. Gen. Brett Sylvia is the latest casualty of Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s ongoing restructuring within the Department of Defense, having abruptly been shown the door on Wednesday. Although Hegseth has cleaned house as part of his ongoing efforts to reduce top-heavy command structures and to purge what he has labeled as “woke” or non-aligned elements within the Pentagon, Sylvia’s firing is noteworthy in that he served as the director for strategy, plans, and policy, and was the head of the Joint Chief of Staff’s J5 directorate.
Sylvia’s removal comes after he was accused of leaking classified information regarding the ongoing wars in Iran and Ukraine, and failed a polygraph test intended to clear his name. It also follows the removal of his predecessor, Lt. Gen. Joseph McGee, last year, The Atlantic first reported.
The J5 director is typically responsible for generating and coordinating military plans with the president, the Secretary of Defense, and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. It is notable that Sylvia’s ouster comes only days after President Donald Trump publicly contemplated a new round of strikes against Iran after the upcoming 2026 midterm elections.
Sylvia’s firing will leave the DoD without a head of the directorate.
As previously reported, Secretary Hegseth has regularly used polygraph tests to hunt down suspected leakers in the Pentagon, despite some pushback from internal criticism as well as from the White House. As recently as August, Pentagon investigators reportedly administered the tests to roughly 50 members of the military’s Joint Staff in an attempt to find the source of classified leaks. Critics of polygraphs continue to question their effectiveness and accuracy.
How Was Laura Loomer Involved in Sylvia’s Firing?
Far-right political activist Laura Loomer appeared to have inside information on Sylvia’s ouster, citing details from a “senior Pentagon official” in a social media post about the firing on X on Wednesday night.
“Sylvia is the subject of an investigation for leaking classified information about the Iran War, the war between Russia and Ukraine, and more,” Loomer wrote. “Due to the Pentagon’s media policy requiring journalists to have escorts in the building, Sylvia began meeting with journalists outside of the Pentagon in order to leak classified information.”
Loomer also claimed that Sylvia had failed three polygraph tests questioning him about leaking classified information.
“The investigation into him remains ongoing and has been referred to the Department of Justice for further action,” she wrote.
Loomer previously took credit for the firing of Gavin Sylvia, Gen. Sylvia’s son, from a government data analyst job after he allegedly celebrated the death of far-right activist Charlie Kirk last year.
It is also unclear if President Donald Trump even knew who Gen. Sylvia was. When asked by reporters on Thursday morning about the dismissal, Trump responded, “She’s got problems”—seeming to suggest he believed Sylvia was a woman.
“She’s gonna have big problems,” Trump said. “She did. We’re very much looking for leakers, and she’s going to have big problems, long-term problems.”
Hegseth’s Pentagon Purge Continues
Sylvia, who previously served as the commander of the famed 101st Airborne Division until May 2025, follows a long list of high-ranking officers to have been fired or otherwise forced to depart from the US military under Hegseth’s tenure—few of which have been explained by the Pentagon.
That included Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll, who announced in August that he would be stepping down from his post, and Secretary of the Navy John C. Phelan, who resigned in April. Both men had openly disagreed with Hegseth.
Phelan’s departure came only weeks after Hegseth fired the Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George, the United States Army’s top uniformed officer and a West Point graduate with more than three decades of service. Hegseth also fired Gen. David Hodne, a former United States Army Ranger who had been overseeing the service’s Transformation and Training Command, and Major Gen. William Green, the chief of chaplains.
Is Hegseth on His Way Out, Too?
There has been speculation that Hegseth’s job security could be in question, as he has borne the brunt of frustration from both Congress and the Trump administration over criticism of the war in Iran. Hegseth narrowly dodged an impeachment vote in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives in September, and is almost certain to face one in January if Democrats take control after the midterms.
To extract himself from this situation, Hegseth is now reportedly hoping to be appointed to the open United States Senate seat in Tennessee, should incumbent US Senator Marsha Blackburn win her campaign to be the state’s governor.
It is widely expected that Blackburn will win that race, and that could create an opening for Hegseth, who maintains a primary residence in the Volunteer State, to fill the remainder of her Senate term. According to reports, Hegseth could use the transition to the Senate as a way to step down before any impeachment hearings.
However, Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson recently denied that such an escape plan was in the works.
About the Author: Peter Suciu
Peter Suciu regularly writes about military hardware, firearms history, cybersecurity, politics, and international affairs. He has contributed to dozens of newspapers, magazines, and websites over a 30-year career in journalism, including Forbes and Clearance Jobs. He is based in Michigan. You can follow him on Twitter: @PeterSuciu. You can email the author at Editor@nationalinterest.org.
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