The United States is in the middle of a major war, but that didn’t stop Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth from firing shots Thursday. General Randy Georgea senior officer of the United States Army. George was the Chief of Staff, and he was entrusted with the money along with another four-star general, David Hodne, and Major General William Green, Jr., the Army’s chaplain, in what has been done by Hegseth of senior officers—especially those close to the Secretary of the Army, Dan Driscoll.
Why were these people fired while American forces were fighting abroad? The Department of Defense has not given an official reason for their dismissal, but they are likely the latest victims of Hegseth’s vendetta against the Army, which he feels treated him badly – the service. “spit me” he said in his book 2024—as he struggles in a job for which he remains unqualified.
Hegseth began his tenure by acting against what he sees as a Pentagon full of DEI recruits. He pushed for the removal of the then Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, CQ Brown, who is Black, and fired female military leaders, replacing them with men. But dumping the Chief of Staff in the middle of a battle, without explanation, is a reckless move even by Hegseth’s standards. George is a decorated military veteran who was scheduled to remain on duty until 2027, and has never publicly argued with Hegseth—despite having good reason to.
Trump and Hegseth have been on a clear mission to politicize the US military, turning it into a weaponized extension of the MAGA movement. Hegseth frequently convertsfor Trump and for his right-wing evangelical beliefs, from the Pentagon platform. He has ever intervening to raise ranks in the Armyrecently removing four colonels—two Black men and two women—from the list for promotion to brigadier general. (This may be the tip of the iceberg: NBC now reports that Hegseth has also canceled the promotions, in most services, of at least a dozen minority officers and women.) When two Army helicopters crashed into a political rally and then flew into the home of MAGA favorite Kid Rock, Hegseth cut short the Army’s suspension of the pilots and prevented an investigation into their actions. In keeping with America’s best civilian military culture, George and other senior military leaders have been disciplined for keeping their thinking out of the public eye.
In fact, the tone in the Pentagon was set by the commander in chief. Last June, Trump spoke in Ft. Brag about yourselfwhere he tried to turn his appearance into a political rally. Again, George (and Driscoll) said nothing, at least publicly, about this shocking violation of civilian military regulations. Trump, after all, is the commander in chief and his behavior can only be limited by the Senate or the American people.
Even in less dangerous times, the public would still have a right to respond to such a purge of the top ranks of the US military. All these officers are people with long and distinguished records of service; none of them have been charged with any crime, and none of them have been accused of any kind of negligence or dishonesty. They all seem to have just made the mistake of being part of a military establishment that Hegseth—who is still clearly bitter about his undisclosed and ultimately shortened military career—wants to volunteer with MAGA followers.
That dismissal cannot even be defended as the result of a high-minded strategic reform. Instead, as Pentagon officials told New York Times, they are “the result of Mr. Hegseth’s longstanding grievances with the Army, a battle over personnel and his strained relationship” with Driscoll. Hegseth’s beef with Driscoll may have been the result of insecurity: As Hegseth stepped on the rake after SignalgateDriscoll was the obvious choice to replace him. The Secretary of the Army also took on important duties that Hegseth could not—or would not—do. last summer, Driscoll, not Hegsethhe was part of a high-level Pentagon delegation that traveled to Geneva in an attempt to end the war between Russia and Ukraine.)
Maybe that was just as well. Hegseth—now harshly called “Stupid McNamara” and some Pentagon personnel—has preoccupied himself with the absurdities of cultural warfare rather than the larger issues of defense and security. But Hegseth apparently needn’t have worried: Driscoll, according to reporting from colleagues Ashley Parker and Sarah Fitzpatrickhe is now said to be one of the top picks facing possible dismissal. (Hegseth may not know much about strategy or leadership, but he does know how to fight a war of attrition.)
Smaller issues of voter revenge did not matter until the war in Iran, a conflict that may be escalating beyond US control and is now weighing on Trump’s popularity and the global economy. Pentagon fights are the stuff of legends and George is not the first general to receive an unwanted retirement invitation from an angry civilian leader. But the United States is now embroiled in its biggest conflict in decades, with thousands of troops headed for a potential skirmish off the coast of a country the size of Alaska with more than three times the population of North Korea—and a president whose only official speech on the war so far consisted of 19 minutes of jumbled thoughts. The American people deserve to know why so many of their top officials are being fired.
Pete Hegseth has never shown an interest in public speaking, nor has he shown the character necessary to take on that kind of responsibility. But now Randy George, along with other senior officers Hegseth has been fired or push to resignthey are about to become citizens, maybe they can step forward and tell their fellow citizens what on Earth is going on in Hegseth’s Pentagon.
