Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will downgrade the senior military officer assigned to the U.S. Embassy in the United Kingdom, America’s closest ally, and similar positions at embassies in Egypt, Turkey, Pakistan and Kuwait. The position of Senior Defense Official/Defense Attache (SDO/DATT) will be downgraded from a general/admiral billet to, at most, a captain in the Navy or colonel in the other services, according to an Aug. 8 Pentagon memorandum obtained by the website Breaking Defense. (https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2022/aug/11/lloyd-austin-downgrades-us-military-attache-uk-and/) The downgrades will allow the Defense Department to meet congressionally mandated reductions in the number of generals and admirals in the military under the National Defense Authorization Act of 2017. The defense attache represents the Pentagon and acts as the senior military adviser to the U.S. ambassador.