Without reason. The American Defense Minister, Pete Hegseth, has obtained the immediate departure of the Chief of Staff of the Army, General Randy George, as communicated by a US official. This dismissal comes in the midst of the war against Iran. This very high-ranking officer will step down from his position as the 41st Chief of Staff of the Army, with immediate effect,” Sean Parnell, the Pentagon spokesman, wrote on the X platform, wishing him “a beautiful retirement.” He did not give a reason for this sudden departure.
CBS News, which revealed the information, quotes an anonymous American official stating that Pete Hegseth wants to appoint someone in his place who can implement the vision of Donald Trump and his minister for the Army. General Randy George, a graduate of the prestigious military academy West Point who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, was appointed to this position in 2023, during the tenure of the Democratic President, Joe Biden. This is another forced departure among the highest ranks of the US military since Donald Trump returned to power.
Many rank-and-file officers dismissed
The American President had, without explanation, dismissed at the beginning of 2025 Charles “CQ” Brown, the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces, to replace him with Dan Caine. Since then, the chiefs of the Navy, the Coast Guard, the NSA spy agency, as well as many others, have been pushed out by the government of Donald Trump. According to the Washington Post and CBS, two other generals, David Hodne, in charge of Army Transformation and Training Command, and William Green Jr, at the head of the military chaplains’ corps, were also sidelined at the same time as General George.
Pete Hegseth, heading a ministry that he renamed “Ministry of War,” assured that he simply chooses the leaders he wants to lead the world’s largest military budget. Opposition Democratic lawmakers have expressed concerns about the potential politicization of the military, traditionally more isolated from political battles than the rest of the US government apparatus. Pete Hegseth also decided last year to reduce the number of top-ranking officers across the entire military.
