Pentagon Fires Top General Brett Sylvia Over Alleged Leaks on Iran and Ukraine Wars

Photo: AFP via Al Jazeera (Hegseth, not General Sylvia)

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has fired Lieutenant General Brett Sylvia, the Pentagon's top military planner, over claims he leaked classified information about the wars in Iran and Ukraine to journalists.

Sylvia ran the Joint Staff's Directorate for Strategy, Plans and Policy, known in military circles as the J5. The job puts him close to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dan Caine, and covers long term military planning. The Pentagon says he failed three polygraph tests about leaking classified information, and the case has been sent to the Justice Department for further action.

President Donald Trump weighed in on Thursday, telling reporters the general had "got problems" and would face "big problems, long term problems". Trump wrongly referred to Sylvia as a woman in his remarks, a slip that was quickly noted in US coverage.

Main News Report: Pentagon Fires General Brett Sylvia Over Leaks

Reuters reported the firing on Thursday, quoting officials who said Hegseth acted after an inquiry found Sylvia had leaked classified information to the public. A senior Pentagon official, speaking on condition of anonymity, accused Sylvia of failing three polygraph tests that asked 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.

Al Jazeera reported the same firing, quoting a Defence Department official who said Sylvia had been "meeting with journalists outside the Pentagon in order to leak classified information". The official said the Pentagon's media policy, which requires journalists inside the building to have escorts, had pushed the meetings outside.

The Pentagon says Sylvia was fired for "severe misconduct". The investigation covers leaks about the Iran war, the war between Russia and Ukraine, and more, officials said. Sylvia could not be reached for comment, Reuters reported, and no replacement has been named yet.

Background Context

Sylvia is the second person to be forced out of the J5 job under Hegseth. His predecessor was forced to retire in October last year. Before joining the Joint Staff, Sylvia commanded the US Army's 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, until May 2025. His awards include six Bronze Star Medals, one for valour, and a Purple Heart, which means he was wounded in combat.

The firing is part of a wider hunt for leakers inside the Pentagon. Hegseth set up a task force to find the source of leaks, and senior officials have faced polygraph tests as part of the inquiries. Last year he brought in a media policy that raised legal concerns among press groups, and he took away the press passes of journalists who refused to sign it.

Three aides from Hegseth's own inner circle were put on leave last year and later fired in the same leak hunt: Dan Caldwell, a former senior adviser; Darin Selnick, his deputy chief of staff; and Colin Carroll, the former chief of staff to Deputy Defence Secretary Stephen Feinberg.

Reactions and Statements

Sean Parnell, assistant to the defence secretary for public affairs, said in a post on X that the Department of War had "zero tolerance for the intentional, unauthorized disclosure of classified information". He did not name Sylvia in that post.

A Pentagon official tried to play down Sylvia's role in the Iran war itself, saying he was the department's chief military planner but "was not a central planner for the Iran war". That job, the official said, sits with Central Command and its commander, Admiral Brad Cooper.

Trump, who has promised to "finish the job" in Iran after the US midterm elections on Tuesday, said his team was "very much looking for leakers". The firing comes as reports say the US has warned allies of a possible renewal of strikes against Iran, a point Al Jazeera noted in its report.

Why This News Matters: Pentagon Fires General Over Leaks

For readers in Pakistan, this story matters because it opens a window on how the Iran war is being run, and how tense the mood is inside the US military as the war enters its ninth month. The blog has already reported the Pentagon's own figure of $47.1 billion for the war so far, and Iran's claim of shooting down a US MQ-1 drone near the Strait of Hormuz. A leak inquiry at the very top of the planning staff shows how much pressure that war is putting on Washington.

• Who was fired: Lieutenant General Brett Sylvia, director of the J5 planning directorate on the Joint Staff.
• Why, per the Pentagon: severe misconduct, leaking classified information on the Iran and Ukraine wars, and failing three polygraph tests.
• What happens next: the case has been sent to the Justice Department, and the inquiry is still open.
• What Sylvia says: nothing yet in public; he could not be reached for comment.
• The wider pattern: second J5 chief forced out under Hegseth, after three of his own aides were fired in the same leak hunt last year.

Two cautions matter here. First, the leak claims are the Pentagon's account, not a court finding, and Sylvia has not had a public chance to answer them yet. Second, the details of what was supposedly leaked have not been made public, so readers should treat the "critical" scale of the leaking as the Pentagon's claim, not as proven fact.

Future Developments

Three things are worth watching next. First, whether the Justice Department brings charges, or closes the case without action. Second, who Hegseth names to replace Sylvia, and whether the new planner changes how the Iran war is planned. Third, whether more names follow, since the Pentagon says the leak hunt is still going and Trump has said his team is "very much looking for leakers".

The timing also matters. With the US midterm elections on Tuesday and talk of renewed strikes on Iran after them, as covered in Iran's rejection of Qatar's peace ideas, any shake up at the top of US military planning will be watched closely in Tehran, in the Gulf, and in Islamabad. The blog will follow any charges, any replacement, and any Pentagon statement as they come.

Sources

• Reuters: Senior US general fired, accused of leaking classified information
• Al Jazeera: Pentagon fires general it says leaked classified information to media

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