Hegseth Orders Massive Restructure of Pentagon Weapons Testing Office to Cut Costs and Speed Up Combat Readiness

In a sweeping move that underscores his commitment to military efficiency and fiscal discipline, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has directed a major restructuring of the Pentagon’s key weapons testing office, aiming to streamline operations, eliminate redundancies, and accelerate the delivery of advanced systems to warfighters.

This reorganization will dramatically shrink the Office of the Director of Operational Test and Evaluation (ODOT&E), cutting its staff and contractor presence by more than half, while narrowing its mission to core statutory oversight duties.

The initiative is part of the Trump administration’s broader campaign to slash what it considers wasteful government spending and rebuild the Department of Defense into a leaner, more combat-focused institution.

Hegseth laid out the changes in a memorandum sent to senior Pentagon leaders on Tuesday, followed by a short video published online Wednesday in which he described the decision as a necessary and overdue response to inefficiency in one of the Defense Department’s most critical bureaucracies.

According to the memo, ODOT&E is being ordered to eliminate all “redundant, nonessential, non-statutory functions” immediately and operate henceforth with a dramatically reduced workforce.

The restructured office will consist of just 30 civilian personnel — down from 82 — alongside no more than 15 military members. Only one of the civilian roles will be at the Senior Executive Service (SES) level.

Civilian employees who are not retained as part of this streamlined team will be notified within seven days of the memo’s release. Those employed by military departments will be returned to their respective service organizations, while others will receive formal Reduction-in-Force (RIF) notices.

The scope of the downsizing is unprecedented. According to defense officials, the office currently employs 94 personnel — 82 civilians and 12 military. Once the transition is complete, the new structure will represent a cut of more than 60 percent of the staff, with contractors being removed entirely.

The guidance from Hegseth explicitly orders all contract support for ODOT&E to cease within seven days of the memo's publication.

In addition to the personnel changes, Hegseth has appointed Carroll Quade, formerly the Navy’s deputy for test and evaluation, to lead ODOT&E during this transition.

Quade, a respected figure in the defense testing community, will oversee the shift from a broad testing entity to a more narrowly focused oversight body.

The rationale behind the move, Hegseth explained, stems from a comprehensive internal review that identified overlapping functions, unnecessary bureaucracy, and mission creep that have diluted the office’s original intent.

“This decision eliminates redundancy in the defense acquisition system, returns DOT&E to its statutory intent as an oversight body, and empowers the Services and Combatant Commands with greater trust to ensure the warfighter is efficiently equipped to address emerging challenges and preserve our decisive advantage,” Pentagon Chief Spokesman Sean Parnell wrote in a statement.

This restructuring also aligns with Hegseth’s broader goal of promoting efficiency within all branches of the military and reducing the bureaucratic barriers that often slow down the deployment of cutting-edge weapons systems.

In his online video, Hegseth emphasized that the military must be able to deliver the best technology into the hands of warfighters without delay or excessive oversight that does not add operational value.

He characterized the changes at ODOT&E as part of a “disruptive campaign” to deliver more speed and agility in the procurement and deployment process, especially for systems that are urgently needed to meet evolving threats.

The estimated savings from this downsizing and contractor elimination, according to Hegseth’s memo, will exceed $300 million annually.

These funds, he suggested, could be redirected toward battlefield priorities, technology acceleration, and warfighter training — areas that he has consistently emphasized during his tenure as Defense Secretary.

But not everyone within the defense community is fully on board. One former senior official, speaking on condition of anonymity, voiced concerns about the speed and scope of the cuts.

They questioned the lack of transparency around the internal review that formed the basis for the decision, including who conducted the study and how the final figures — the 30 retained positions and the $300 million in projected savings — were determined.

This same former official also expressed unease about the potential ripple effects the cuts could have on future weapons programs, especially in emerging domains like artificial intelligence and autonomous systems.

These areas are increasingly central to the U.S. military’s future capabilities, and critics worry that removing a substantial portion of independent oversight could lead to shortcuts in testing, or conversely, to bureaucratic confusion that slows down program approval timelines.

“There’s the risk of the services taking T&E shortcuts, and then there’s the other risk of this slowing down ongoing and future programs,” the official warned. “It’s not quite as bad as skipping critical testing, but not far behind either.”

Despite these concerns, Hegseth appears undeterred. His team insists that the reforms will not weaken the Pentagon’s ability to test new systems. Instead, they argue, the changes will return testing to its intended role — an oversight function, not an operational bottleneck.

Under the new model, primary responsibility for validating systems will shift toward the individual service branches and combatant commands, with ODOT&E serving as a streamlined supervisory body rather than an all-consuming approval gatekeeper.

Supporters of the move point out that the Department of Defense has long struggled with overlapping authorities, redundant reviews, and siloed management across its acquisition landscape.

By reducing the size and scope of ODOT&E, Hegseth is cutting through layers of bureaucracy that many insiders believe have impeded the rapid fielding of technologies such as hypersonic missiles, next-gen communications platforms, and AI-enhanced targeting systems.

The reforms also reflect Hegseth’s consistent effort to realign the Pentagon’s internal structure with President Trump’s broader anti-waste agenda.

As part of the Department of Government Efficiency initiative, which also involved Elon Musk in an advisory capacity, Hegseth has been systematically targeting legacy systems, outdated protocols, and inefficient staffing patterns across the Department of Defense.

The ODOT&E shakeup is simply the latest — and perhaps most high-profile — example of that campaign in action.

In this sense, the decision also carries political weight. It reinforces the Trump administration’s message that the federal government must become leaner, more results-driven, and less beholden to legacy systems that no longer serve a strategic purpose.

In the past, Hegseth has spoken candidly about the need to challenge sacred cows within the Pentagon bureaucracy. This move suggests he is willing to back that rhetoric with action — even if it means stepping into controversy.

Whether or not the reform will deliver the long-term results promised remains to be seen. Much will depend on how smoothly the transition is implemented, how well service branches assume greater testing responsibilities, and whether key systems continue to meet performance standards without unnecessary delays or risks.

But there’s little question that Hegseth has taken a definitive step in his broader push to reshape the Department of Defense.

At a time when America’s adversaries are accelerating their technological advances and deploying new capabilities at unprecedented speed, the message from the Pentagon is clear: bureaucracy must no longer be allowed to stand in the way of battlefield dominance.

By overhauling the Defense Department’s weapons testing office, Pete Hegseth is betting that smaller, faster, and sharper will win the day — and he’s staking his leadership on that belief.