WASHINGTON — Lt. Gen. Brett Sylvia is out as the Pentagon’s top military planner. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth fired him while investigators look into alleged leaks of classified information on the Iran war and Russia’s war in Ukraine, according to CNN and a War Department official who spoke to other outlets.
Sylvia ran the J5, the Joint Staff’s directorate for strategy, plans and policy. It is the office that gives the Joint Chiefs chairman military advice and works out plans with the White House and the combatant commands.
Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell did not name Sylvia in a post on X on Thursday morning. He said the action followed a long Air Force investigation.
“Following an extensive Air Force OSI investigation, the Department took necessary personnel action to protect sensitive information,” Parnell wrote. “To protect the integrity of the investigation, no further comment will be made regarding the individual or the circumstances of this action.”
Parnell added that the case had gone to the Justice Department, along with other matters, for possible legal action.
“The Department of War has zero tolerance for the intentional, unauthorized disclosure of classified information,” he wrote.
A War Department official gave a sharper account to the New York Post and other outlets. The official said Sylvia was fired for severe misconduct, had failed three polygraph tests about leaking classified information, and had met journalists outside the Pentagon to get around a rule requiring reporters to be escorted inside the building. Those allegations have not been independently verified, and no evidence was made public in the reports.
President Donald Trump told reporters on Thursday that Sylvia is “going to have big problems” and added, “We’re very much looking for leakers.”
CNN reported that Sylvia’s biography was removed from the Joint Chiefs website by Wednesday evening and that no replacement has been named. CNN has sought comment from Sylvia directly.
A Joint Staff spokesman first thanked Sylvia for 32 years of service. The spokesman later revised the statement, saying the first version did not reflect the full circumstances of the departure, according to CNN. The Washington Examiner reported that the Joint Staff then declined to comment further, citing the ongoing personnel process.
The firing comes while Trump weighs renewed strikes on Iran after the Nov. 3 midterm elections. Two U.S. officials told CNN earlier this week that forces in the Middle East could launch major operations within 96 hours of an order from Trump, though the president has not decided, officials said.
Sylvia, a former commander of the 101st Airborne Division, is the second J5 chief to leave under Hegseth. His predecessor, Lt. Gen. Joe McGee, left the post in October 2025 under pressure, sources told CNN at the time.
Have something to promote?
Bring your business, services or event to our readers.