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Army
Chief of
Staff
Gen.
Randy
George |
Gen.
David
Hodne,
General
of Army |
Maj.
Gen.
William
Green
Jr. |
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Hegseth
Fires
Army
Chief of
Staff
and Two
Generals
Amid
Iran War
Marc
Kennedy
-
National-Politics
Tell Us
USA News
Network
WASHINGTON
—
Defense
Secretary
Pete
Hegseth
ousted
the U.S.
Army's
top
general
and two
other
senior
officers
Thursday
in a
sweeping
wartime
shakeup,
the
latest
in a
series
of
high-profile
military
dismissals
since
President
Donald
Trump
returned
to the
White
House.
Hegseth
asked
Army
Chief of
Staff
Gen.
Randy
George
to
retire
immediately,
with
Pentagon
spokesman
Sean
Parnell
confirming
the
departure
in a
statement
on X.
"General
Randy A.
George
will be
retiring
from his
position
as the
41st
Chief of
Staff of
the Army
effective
immediately,"
Parnell
wrote.
"The
Department
of War
is
grateful
for
General
George's
decades
of
service
to our
nation."
Also
fired
were
Gen.
David
Hodne,
commanding
general
of the
Army's
Transformation
and
Training
Command,
and Maj.
Gen.
William
Green
Jr., the
Army's
chief of
chaplains
— a
first in
the
history
of that
role.
The
firings
came
just one
day
after
Trump
delivered
a
prime-time
address
on the
Iran
war,
which
began on
February
28,
signaling
that the
U.S.
would
intensify
strikes
on the
country
while
claiming
that
core
objectives
were
"nearing
completion."
George,
a West
Point
graduate
commissioned
in 1988,
had
served
as Army
chief of
staff
since
September
2023 and
was
expected
to
remain
in the
role
through
summer
2027. He
learned
of his
firing
through
a phone
call
from
Hegseth
while in
a
meeting.
Senior
Army
leadership
was
reportedly
caught
off
guard,
learning
of
George's
ouster
at the
same
time the
public
did,
when it
was
announced
publicly.
Officials
familiar
with the
matter
told NBC
News
that the
firing
stemmed
in part
from
Hegseth's
long-running
tensions
with
Army
leadership
and a
strained
relationship
with
Army
Secretary
Dan
Driscoll,
who had
been a
close
ally of
George's.
George's
prior
service
as
senior
military
assistant
to
Biden-era
Defense
Secretary
Lloyd
Austin
was also
said to
have
been
viewed
unfavorably
by
Hegseth's
inner
circle.
George
will be
replaced
by Gen.
Christopher
LaNeve,
who had
served
as
Hegseth's
senior
military
assistant
since
April
2025.
The
dismissals
drew
immediate
criticism
on
Capitol
Hill.
Democratic
Senator
Chris
Murphy,
a member
of the
Senate
Foreign
Relations
Committee,
wrote on
X that
"experienced
generals
are
likely
telling
Hegseth
his Iran
war
plans
are
unworkable,
disastrous,
and
deadly."
Questions
of
racial
and
gender
bias
have
also
shadowed
Hegseth's
tenure.
Nine
U.S.
officials
told
reporters
that
Hegseth
had
blocked
or
delayed
promotions
for more
than a
dozen
Black
and
female
senior
officers
across
all
branches
of the
military.
"There
is not a
single
service
that has
been
immune
to this
level of
involvement
by
Hegseth,"
one
official
said.
Thursday's
firings
are the
latest
chapter
in a
dramatic
reshaping
of U.S.
military
leadership.
Since
taking
office,
Hegseth
has also
removed
Joint
Chiefs
Chairman
Gen. CQ
Brown
Jr., NSA
and
Cyber
Command
head
Gen.
Timothy
Haugh,
Chief of
Naval
Operations
Adm.
Lisa
Franchetti,
and
Coast
Guard
Commandant
Adm.
Linda
Fagan.
The
Pentagon
has not
given
official
reasons
for the
removal
of Hodne
or
Green.
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