Here are the military officials who've been fired or resigned under Hegseth
CBS News · LC · trust 65/100
September 1, 2026 / 9:43 PM EDT / CBS News
At least 20 generals, admirals and civilian defense leaders have been fired or have departed their jobs since Pete Hegseth became defense secretary at the beginning of the second Trump administration.
Some of the military's most decorated leaders have either been fired by Hegseth and President Trump or have retired with little explanation, including the Army, Navy and Air Force's highest-ranking officers and the leaders of key units. The Army and Navy's top civilian leaders have also either been forced out or resigned.
Before becoming defense secretary, Hegseth had criticized military officers, accusing them of being too focused on diversity initiatives and insufficiently supportive of frontline service members. Before he was nominated, he said on a podcast that "any general that was involved — general, admiral, whatever — that was involved in any of the DEI woke s*** has got to go."
The Trump administration has pushed out top female and Black officers, and Black and female officers have been disproportionately removed from promotion lists, a source familiar with the lists told CBS News. There are currently no active four-star women generals or admirals in the military. Many of those who failed to secure promotions have left the military.
Others were ousted by Hegseth over suspected leaking to the media. And in some cases, Hegseth has clashed with top officials like Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, who handed in his resignation this week.
A source familiar with Driscoll's resignation said he had expressed concerns that many of the generals who had been leading efforts to transform the Army for the next generation of warfare had been pushed out by Hegseth.
Air Force General Charles Q. Brown, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Mr. Trump abruptly fired Brown in a February 2025 social media post thanking him for his service, 16 months into Brown's four-year term as the top-ranking military officer.
Brown is a former fighter pilot with more than 3,100 flight hours, and was only the second Black general to serve as chairman in the history of the military. All Hegseth told Fox News about the ouster was that the president should be able to pick his adviser. He said Brown is "an honorable man, not the right man for the moment."
Mr. Trump replaced him as chairman with Air Force Gen. Dan Caine.
Navy Admiral Lisa Franchetti, chief of naval operations
Franchetti was the first woman to be part of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the second to be promoted to four-star admiral. Biden nominated her to be chief of naval operations in 2023, after she headed the 6th Fleet and U.S. Naval Forces Korea, and was commander of a naval destroyer and an aircraft carrier strike group.
Hegseth relieved Franchetti of her duties without explanation on the same day that Brown was fired.
General James Slife, Air Force vice chief of staff
After Mr. Trump announced Brown's departure in February of last year, Hegseth put out a statement pushing out Franchetti and Slife. In his statement, Hegseth said both officers had "distinguished careers" and thanked them for their service.
Slife, who was the second-highest-ranking officer in the Air Force, previously commanded the Air Force Special Operations Command and also was vice commander of Special Operations Command. He spent most of his career in special operations aviation assignments, with more than 3,100 flight hours, including 280 in combat.
General Randy George, Army chief of staff
Hegseth asked George, the Army's top uniformed officer, to take immediate retirement in April. A career infantry officer, George served in the first Gulf War and the more recent Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts, and was senior military assistant to Biden-era Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.
General David Allvin, Air Force chief of staff
Allvin retired last November , just over halfway into his two-year term as the Air Force's top general. He did not give a reason for his early departure. An Air Force spokesperson said Hegseth's office was not involved in the decision.
A command pilot, Allvin was nominated to the role by Biden, after serving as vice chief of staff and as commanding general of NATO Air Training Command - Afghanistan, among other roles.
Army Lieutenant General Joseph B. Berger III, judge advocate general of the Army
Air Force Lieutenant General Charles Plummer, judge advocate general of the Air Force
Soon after Hegseth took office, he cleared out the top ranks of the military's lawyers, terminating the judge advocates general of the Army and Air Force. The Navy JAG had already retired. In a February 2025 statement, he issued a call for nominations for the posts and also fired Berger and Plummer, though he did not identify them by name.
At the time, he told Fox News that he wanted lawyers who aren't "roadblocks," and he referred to the JAG leadership as a "small group of insulated officers who perpetuate the status quo."
"The status quo hasn't worked very well at the Pentagon," he added. "It's time for fresh blood."
Hegseth's criticism of the JAG corps predates his tenure as defense secretary. He derided some military lawyers as "Jagoffs" in his 2024 book "The War on Warriors," and accused them of "tying the hands of warfighters."
Earlier this year, Hegseth called for a "hard reset" on the military's legal department, calling on military lawyers to sharpen their focus on "aspects of warfighting," including military justice, intelligence law, cyberspace and the law of armed conflict.
He also said military lawyers should hand off concerns outside military channels, like those involving civilian responsibilities and military installation environmental concerns, to civilian lawyers.
Admiral Alvin Holsey, head of U.S. Southern Command
The U.S. military's top officer in Central and South America retired late last year , a little over a year after he was promoted to the job. Hegseth praised Holsey, saying his…
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