Hegseth fires US Army chief of staff in reported string of dismissals

(AlJazeera)- Pete Hegseth, the United States defence secretary, has asked Army Chief of Staff General Randy A George to step down with immediate effect, amid the US and Israel’s war on Iran.

In a statement posted on X late on Thursday, Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said George “will be retiring from his position”, but he did not give any reasons for the abrupt decision during wartime.

He added that the defence department was “grateful for General George’s decades of service to our nation”.

George’s firing, first reported by US broadcaster CBS, is only the latest in a string of high-profile dismissals in the US armed forces since Hegseth took office last January.

CBS quoted a source as saying Hegseth made the move because he wants someone in the post who will implement his and President Donald Trump’s vision for the army.

The general, 61, was first appointed to the position in 2023 under former US President Joe Biden. He was deployed in multiple postings outside the US, including in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. As chief of staff, he is credited with attempting to remove redundancies in the army and integrate new technologies like cheap missile interceptor drones and artificial intelligence-powered targeting systems.

In a report, The New York Times said the removal was related to clashes between George and Hegseth over the latter’s decision to single out and block the promotion of four army officers on a list of 29 personnel.

Most of the officers on the list are white men, while two blocked by Hegseth are Black, and the other two are women, the Times reported, citing unnamed military officials.

Hegseth’s decision led senior military officers to question whether racial or gender bias was at play. However, when George asked the defence secretary for a meeting to discuss the matter two weeks ago, Hegseth refused to meet, reports said.

Rumours about George’s possible firing swirled for weeks before Hegseth informed him during a phone call at about 4pm local time on Thursday, the Times reported.

Two other officials dismissed

The Joint Chiefs of Staff, the body of the most senior uniformed military leaders, paid the outgoing chief a tribute in a statement on social media.

“Since 1988, General George and his family have consistently answered the nation’s call with honor and dedication,” the statement read. “We are profoundly thankful to General George and his wife, Patty, for their many years of sacrifice and devotion to those who serve. As they graduate from this distinguished chapter of service and look toward the future, we wish them both continued happiness and success in all that lies ahead.”

Hegseth fired two other senior officials on Thursday, according to the Times and military publication Stars and Stripes: General David M Hodne, the head of the Army’s Transformation and Training Command, a unit concerned with modernising the army, and Major General William Green Jr, the army’s chief of chaplains, also appointed since 2023. The Pentagon has not confirmed their removal.

Army chaplains usually provide spiritual care, moral guidance and confidential counselling to soldiers and their families, regardless of religious background.

The US and Israeli officials have, since the start of the Iran war, suggested that the conflict is a religious undertaking.

A US army watchdog, the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF), said in March it received emailed complaints that US service members were told by senior commanders that the war with Iran is meant to “cause Armageddon”, or the biblical “end times”.

In October, the former army vice chief of staff, General James J Mingus, retired a year earlier than expected. No reasons were given.

Democratic Senator Chris Murphy, who is a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, offered his view on why he believes US generals are being dismissed by Hegseth.

“It’s likely that experienced generals are telling Hegseth his Iran war plans are unworkable, disastrous, and deadly,” Murphy said in a Friday post on X.

“Hegseth is firing a ton of experienced generals right now,” he added.