WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ousted the Army鈥檚 top uniformed officer and two other generals, the Pentagon said Thursday without giving a reason for the departures while the United States is waging a .
Gen. Randy George 鈥渨ill be retiring from his position as the 41st Chief of Staff of the Army effective immediately,鈥� said Sean Parnell, the Pentagon鈥檚 top spokesman. George has held the post of Army chief of staff, which typically runs for four years, since August 2023 under the Biden administration.
The ouster, reported earlier by CBS 91欧美激情, is just the latest of more than a dozen firings of top generals and admirals by Hegseth since he took office last year. Like many of those other firings, Pentagon officials are not offering a reason for George’s departure, which comes nearly five weeks into U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran and with from President Donald Trump on .
Hegseth also has ousted Army Gen. David Hodne and Army Maj. Gen. William Green, according to a Pentagon official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive leadership changes. A reason for their departures also was not given.
General who rose rapidly under Hegseth will fill in
Gen. Christopher LaNeve will be stepping in as acting Army chief of staff, the Pentagon official said. LaNeve was serving as Hegseth鈥檚 top military aide when Trump to be the Army’s vice chief of staff last October. It is a meteoric rise for an officer who was only a two-star general two years ago.
He would take over for George, who is a graduate of West Point Military Academy and an infantry officer who served in the first Gulf War as well as Iraq and Afghanistan. He also served as Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin鈥檚 top military aide from 2021 to 2022 during the Biden administration before taking on top leadership roles in the Army.
George made it through the initial round of firings under the Trump administration in February 2025, when Hegseth removed top military leaders, including Adm. Lisa Franchetti, the Navy鈥檚 top uniformed officer, and Gen. Jim Slife, the No. 2 leader at the Air Force. Trump also as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Since then, more than a dozen other and admirals have either retired early or been .
Among those departures was George鈥檚 deputy, Gen. James Mingus, who was vice chief of staff of the Army for less than two years. LaNeve was nominated to that post after earlier being plucked from commanding the Eighth Army in South Korea after less than a year in the job to be Hegseth鈥檚 top military aide.
A spokesman for George could not be reached for comment.
Two other Army generals are fired
Of the other generals who were fired, Hodne had been head of the Army Transformation and Training Command, a unit that was only stood up in December as part of George鈥檚 effort to modernize the Army and amid Hegseth鈥檚 push to in the military.
Green had been the Army鈥檚 chief of chaplains. Hegseth announced two a little over a week ago.
In a video message last week, Hegseth said he wanted chaplains to focus more on God and less on therapeutic 鈥渟elf-help and self-care.鈥� In recent years, the military has become increasingly dependent on chaplains to help address the growing numbers of troops in mental health distress. Hegseth also said chaplains would no longer wear their rank on their uniform but instead would be identified by religious insignia.
The changes come as Iran war grinds on
The leadership shakeup comes as Army paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne division are along with thousands of Marines and other assets. The Trump administration has avoided questions about whether or not the U.S. military will deploy ground troops against Iran.
In a prime-time address Wednesday about the war, Trump offered and few details on his strategy going forward but did forecast .
鈥淲e are going to hit them extremely hard over the next two to three weeks,鈥� of Iran, before adding that 鈥渨e鈥檙e going to bring them back to the Stone Ages where they belong.鈥�
Hegseth echoed that sentiment after the speech, with a post on social media that simply read, 鈥淏ack to the Stone Age.鈥�
Iran鈥檚 mission to the United Nations said on X that Trump鈥檚 comment 鈥渞eflects ignorance, not strength,鈥� noting that Iran鈥檚 civilization spans over 7,000 years.
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This story has been corrected to show that Gen. Jim Slife鈥檚 name was misspelled Silfe.
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