Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has fired U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Brett Sylvia, a senior military planner on the Pentagon’s Joint Staff, over accusations that he leaked classified information to the public, officials said on Thursday. A senior Pentagon official, speaking on condition of anonymity, accused Sylvia of failing three polygraphs questioning him about leaking classified information, and said the extent of the alleged leaking had become so critical that Hegseth took immediate action to protect national security.
Al Jazeera, reporting with the Associated Press, said the Pentagon accuses Sylvia of leaking classified information about the Iran war, the Russia-Ukraine war and more, by meeting journalists outside the Pentagon, and that the investigation is ongoing. The same official who described the failed polygraphs clarified that Sylvia was not a central planner for the Iran war, a responsibility held by Central Command under Admiral Brad Cooper, and an official told the Associated Press there is no immediate replacement for him.
Sylvia led the Directorate for Strategy, Plans, and Policy at the Joint Staff, known as the J5, the position that helps advise General Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and he previously led the Army’s 101st Airborne Division, until May 2025. Chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said the decision followed an extensive investigation by the Air Force Office of Special Investigations and that the matter, along with others, has been referred to the Justice Department for potential further legal action. President Donald Trump told reporters the general has “got problems” and faces “long-term problems”; Sylvia could not be immediately reached for comment, and the Joint Staff withdrew an initial statement expressing gratitude for his 32 years of service, saying it did not appropriately reflect the full circumstances.