In order to track down the leak of secrets, the US military conducted polygraph tests on about 50 people in the Joint Chiefs of Staff in August.

In order to track down leaks of military secrets, the U.S. government conducted polygraph tests on about 50 members of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff in August, including military officers and civilian personnel. Investigators want to find out who disclosed to the media secrets such as the decline in the U.S. military's critical ammunition inventory caused by the war in Iran.

The New York Times reported on the 4th that in addition to asking whether confidential information had been provided to the media, investigators also directly sought whether it had disclosed information on the reduction of key ammunition stocks such as long-range missiles and Patriot interceptors in the US military.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) is responsible for coordinating global operations, defense policy and war plans of the US military, and has approximately 1,500 to 2,000 officers and officials. The core military leadership of the Joint Chiefs of Staff includes the Chairman, Vice Chairman, as well as senior military officials such as the Chief of Staff of the Army, Chief of Naval Operations, Chief of Air Force, Commander of the Marine Corps, Chief of Space Force Operations, and Director of the National Guard Bureau (NGB).

This time, about 50 members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff underwent polygraph testing, and the investigation went directly into the senior US military staff system. The New York Times quoted retired Rear Admiral Donald J. Guter, a former U.S. Navy Judge Advocate General, as saying that he had never seen polygraph detection used so extensively on such high-level U.S. military personnel, describing this operation as unprecedented.

The investigation comes as the U.S. media intensively reports on the pressure the war in Iran has put on the U.S. military’s weapons inventory, with many reports mentioning important munitions such as long-range missiles and Patriot interceptors. Investigators are also tracing the source of this information.

Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said that the Department of Defense does not comment on internal personnel or investigation matters, but will seriously investigate leaks involving national security secrets. The protection of confidential information is critical to the security of the United States and American troops overseas.

Trump demands arrest of leaker, Hegseth questioned by Congress

U.S. President Trump has previously asked the government to actively pursue leakers and described reports criticizing the U.S.'s handling of the war in Iran and ammunition shortages as "treason." The Pentagon has also continued to conduct leak investigations into news reports recently.

The New York Times pointed out that at least 80 generals, admirals and other officials were replaced, blocked from promotion, or left their posts during the tenure of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Recently, Republican congressmen have also publicly criticized the Pentagon's management methods and asked Trump to re-examine Hegseth's leadership.