SOFREP Saturday Cartoon: ‘A Little Off The Top’ (Leadership Positions)

The Cleaver’s Coming for the Brass

Pete Hegseth has strolled into the Pentagon with a butcher’s grin and a red pen labeled “20% Cuts,” and today’s heads on the chopping block aren’t some bloated procurement programs or DEI consultants—he’s eyeing the stars. Literally. Up to one-fifth of America’s general and flag officers may soon find themselves retired early or reassigned to the plush purgatory of advisory roles, far from the action. It’s a bureaucratic guillotine aimed at the top-heavy, slow-moving blob that military brass has morphed into over decades of unchecked expansion.

Hegseth’s gambit is already sending nervous shivers down oak-paneled corridors where ribbons outnumber rifles. Whether you love him or loathe him, the man is swinging hard—and telling the generals he’s “just taking a little off the top” while standing next to a corpulent four-star. 

Welcome to the new era of warfighter lean—and leadership light.

Enjoy this latest offering by award-winning editorial and political cartoonist Bob Lang.