Hegseth ignored military officials when he slashed offices that limit risk to civilians

The Defense secretary’s decision to cut offices that mitigate civilian harm faces renewed attention as the Pentagon investigates a strike that killed hundreds of Iranian children.

Smoke and fire rise amid airstrikes at the Mehrabad International Airport in Tehran on March 7, 2026. | Sepehr-M /Middle East Images / AFP via Getty Images

Top military officials warned the Pentagon unsuccessfully last year not to gut oversight offices that limit risk to civilian casualties and investigate responsibility for their deaths, such as the recent strike on an Iranian girls’ school that killed hundreds of children.

Then-Central Command chief Erik Kurilla and Joint Chiefs Chair Gen. C.Q. Brown pushed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth not to slash the Civilian Protection Center of Excellence and other similar initiatives at American command posts, according to Wes Bryant, the Pentagon’s former chief of civilian harm assessments and two other people familiar with the matter.

Opponents of the move, which also included Adm. Christopher Grady — the former vice chair of the Joint Chiefs — argued that the staff were critical to preventing risks to civilian populations before U.S. strikes and to probing deadly Pentagon attacks, according to the people, and would ultimately save resources for military operations. Hegseth instead chose to reduce the number of employees working on the issue from 200 to less than 40.

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