Here are the military officials who've been fired or resigned under Hegseth — CBS News — Top

RESOLVING THE LEDGER

At least 20 generals, admirals and civilian defense leaders have been fired or have departed their jobs since Pete Hegseth became defense secretary at the beginning of the second Trump administration.\u00a0Some of the military\u0027s most decorated leaders have either been fired by Hegseth and President Trump or have retired with little explanation, including the Army, Navy and Air Force\u0027s highest-ranking officers and the leaders of key units. The Army and Navy\u0027s top civilian leaders have also either been forced out or resigned.Before becoming defense secretary, Hegseth had criticized military officers, accusing them of being too focused on diversity initiatives and insufficiently supportive of frontline service members. Before he was nominated, he said on a podcast that "any general that was involved \u2014 general, admiral, whatever \u2014 that was involved in any of the DEI woke s*** has got to go." \u00a0The Trump administration has pushed out top female and Black officers, and Black and female officers have been disproportionately removed from promotion lists, a source familiar with the lists told CBS News. There are currently no active four-star women generals or admirals in the military. Many of those who failed to secure promotions have left the military.Others were ousted by Hegseth over suspected leaking to the media. And in some cases, Hegseth has clashed with top officials like Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, who handed in his resignation this week.A source familiar with Driscoll\u0027s resignation said he had expressed concerns that many of the generals who had been leading efforts to transform the Army for the next generation of warfare had been pushed out by Hegseth.Here are the top military and civilian leaders who have left the Defense Department during Hegseth\u0027s tenure as defense secretary:Military LeadersAir Force General Charles Q. Brown, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of StaffMr. Trump abruptly fired Brown in a February 2025 social media post thanking him for his service, 16 months into Brown\u0027s four-year term as the top-ranking military officer.Brown is a former fighter pilot with more than 3,100 flight hours, and was only the second Black general to serve as chairman in the history of the military. All Hegseth told Fox News about the ouster was that the president should be able to pick his adviser. He said Brown is "an honorable man, not the right man for the moment."Mr. Trump replaced him as chairman with Air Force Gen. Dan Caine.Navy Admiral Lisa Franchetti, chief of naval operationsFranchetti was the first woman to be part of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the second to be promoted to four-star admiral. Biden nominated her to be chief of naval operations in 2023, after she headed the 6th Fleet and U.S. Naval Forces Korea, and was commander of a naval destroyer and an aircraft carrier strike group.\u00a0Hegseth relieved Franchetti of her duties without explanation on the same day that Brown was fired.General James Slife, Air Force vice chief of staffAfter Mr. Trump announced Brown\u0027s departure in February of last year, Hegseth put out a statement pushing out Franchetti and Slife. In his statement, Hegseth said both officers had "distinguished careers" and thanked them for their service.\u00a0Slife, who was the second-highest-ranking officer in the Air Force, previously commanded the Air Force Special Operations Command and also was vice commander of Special Operations Command. He spent most of his career in special operations aviation assignments, with more than 3,100 flight hours, including 280 in combat.\u00a0General Randy George, Army chief of staffHegseth asked George, the Army\u0027s top uniformed officer, to take immediate retirement in April. A career infantry officer, George served in the first Gulf War and the more recent Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts, and was senior military assistant to Biden-era Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.\u00a0General David Allvin, Air Force chief of staffAllvin retired last November, just over halfway into his two-year term as the Air Force\u0027s top general. He did not give a reason for his early departure. An Air Force spokesperson said Hegseth\u0027s office was not involved in the decision.A command pilot, Allvin was nominated to the role by Biden, after serving as vice chief of staff and as commanding general of NATO Air Training Command - Afghanistan, among other roles.Army Lieutenant General Joseph B. Berger III, judge advocate general of the ArmyAir Force Lieutenant General Charles Plummer, judge advocate general of the Air ForceSoon after Hegseth took office, he cleared out the top ranks of the military\u0027s lawyers, terminating the judge advocates general of the Army and Air Force. The Navy JAG had already retired. In a February 2025 statement, he issued a call for nominations for the posts and also fired Berger and Plummer, though he did not identify them by name.At the time, he told Fox News that he wanted lawyers who aren\u0027t "roadblocks," and he referred to the JAG leadership as a "small group of insulated officers who perpetuate the status quo."\u00a0"The status quo hasn\u0027t worked very well at the Pentagon," he added. "It\u0027s time for fresh blood."Hegseth\u0027s criticism of the JAG corps predates his tenure as defense secretary. He derided some military lawyers as "Jagoffs" in his 2024 book "The War on Warriors," and accused them of "tying the hands of warfighters."Earlier this year, Hegseth called for a "hard reset" on the military\u0027s legal department, calling on military lawyers to sharpen their focus on "aspects of warfighting," including military justice, intelligence law, cyberspace and the law of armed conflict.He also said military lawyers should hand off concerns outside military channels, like those involving civilian responsibilities and military installation environmental concerns, to civilian lawyers.Admiral Alvin Holsey, head of U.S. Southern CommandThe U.S. milit...

Here are the military officials who've been fired or resigned under Hegseth — CBS News — Top | AIPROPX