Key takeaways:
- Sylvia was removed as director of the Joint Staff’s Strategy, Plans and Policy Directorate, known as J5.
- The Pentagon referred the leak investigation to the Justice Department; two Pentagon sources disputed accusations linked to Sylvia’s polygraph tests.
- No replacement has been named, and Sylvia is the second general to leave the J5 post during Hegseth’s tenure.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has fired Army Lt. Gen. Brett Sylvia, the Pentagon’s top military planner, amid an investigation into allegations that he leaked classified information about the Iran war and the Russia-Ukraine war to journalists. The case has been referred to the Justice Department, and the investigation remains ongoing, according to the Pentagon.
A Defense Department official told Al Jazeera that Sylvia had been “meeting with journalists outside the Pentagon in order to leak classified information.” The official said Sylvia failed three polygraph tests concerning disclosures to the press. A Pentagon official gave CBS News the same account of the tests, but two other Pentagon sources told CBS News that the accusations were not true. The sources did not elaborate in the accounts provided.
Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell did not name Sylvia in a public statement, but said the department had taken “necessary personnel action to protect sensitive information” after an Air Force Office of Special Investigations investigation. He said the matter, along with others, had been referred to the Justice Department for potential further legal action.
“Classified information is not personal property,” Parnell said. “Leaking it for personal, political or professional gain is a betrayal of the trust placed in those responsible for keeping it.” He said the department would not comment further on the individual or circumstances in order to protect the investigation.
Sylvia led the Strategy, Plans and Policy Directorate on the Joint Staff, a position known as J5. CBS News reported that he had been coordinating the Iran battle plan. A Defense Department official told Al Jazeera, however, that Sylvia “was not a central planner for the Iran war,” saying that responsibility belonged to Central Command and its commander, Adm. Brad Cooper. The official described Sylvia as the department’s chief military planner.
No replacement for Sylvia has been named. He is the second general to leave the J5 post during Hegseth’s tenure. His predecessor, Lt. Gen. Joseph McGee, was forced to retire in October 2025.
The dismissal comes as President Donald Trump weighs further military action against Iran after the November midterm elections. Trump has said he would “finish the job” in Iran after the elections, Al Jazeera reported.
Hegseth has made the search for Pentagon leakers a priority. CBS News reported last month that high-ranking military officials were being subjected to polygraph tests. Three staffers from Hegseth’s office were escorted out last year during a leak investigation, though the Pentagon did not release its findings.
After Sylvia’s removal, a Joint Staff spokesperson initially issued a statement expressing “the deepest gratitude” for his 32 years of service, CBS News reported. The spokesperson withdrew it, saying it did not “appropriately reflect the full circumstances.”
Sylvia previously commanded the 101st Airborne Division and served in Afghanistan and Iraq. His awards include a Bronze Star for Valor and a Purple Heart for wounds sustained in combat.
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