Hegseth Fires Army Chief of Staff, Two Generals Amid Iran War

Five weeks into an active war against Iran, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth forced out Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George, along with two other generals, in a move military analysts described as nearly without precedent in wartime.

George, the 41st Chief of Staff of the Army, was asked to step down and retire immediately on April 2. Hegseth also fired Gen. David Hodne, commanding general of the Army Transformation and Training Command, and Maj. Gen. William Green Jr., the Army's Chief of Chaplains, removing three senior officers in a single day.

Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell confirmed the ouster on X, writing that George would retire "effective immediately" and that "The Department of War is grateful for General George's decades of service to our nation." A senior Defense Department official was more direct: "We are grateful for his service, but it was time for a leadership change in the Army."

Gen. Christopher LaNeve, 58, Hegseth's former military aide and current Army vice chief of staff, will serve as acting Army chief of staff. LaNeve previously commanded the 82nd Airborne Division from 2022 to 2023. Two officials said Hegseth had pushed to install LaNeve as vice chief specifically to position him to eventually take over as chief. Any permanent appointment requires Senate confirmation.

George was nominated by then-President Biden in 2023 for what is typically a four-year term, meaning he still had more than a year remaining. A West Point graduate commissioned as an infantry officer in 1988, George accumulated more than four decades of service, deploying across Desert Shield, Desert Storm, Operation Iraqi Freedom, and Operation Enduring Freedom. His removal reportedly stemmed from a troubled relationship with Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, Hegseth's drive to install leaders aligned with President Donald Trump's vision, and George's own plans to formally raise concerns about Hegseth "interfering unnecessarily" with Army personnel decisions.

That interference reportedly included blocking or delaying promotions for more than a dozen Black and female senior officers across all four military branches, including two Black and two female Army officers selected by peers for one-star promotion. Parnell disputed charges of discrimination, asserting that "military promotions are given to those who have earned them."

The removal of Hodne also carries structural consequences. The Army Transformation and Training Command he led was only established in December 2025 as part of George's modernization effort. Its potential disbanding aligns with Hegseth's stated goal of reducing the number of general officer positions. Maj. Gen. Green's firing followed Hegseth's announcement, just days earlier, that he wanted chaplains refocused on God and away from "self-help and self-care."

George had survived Hegseth's initial purge in February 2025, when the defense secretary removed Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. C.Q. Brown, only the second Black officer to hold that title, and Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti. With George gone, only Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Eric M. Smith and Space Force Chief Gen. B. Chance Saltzman remain from the Joint Chiefs in place when Hegseth took office. Hegseth has now fired more than a dozen senior military officers in total, including Air Force Vice Chief Gen. James Slife, Defense Intelligence Agency director Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Kruse, and Southern Command commander Adm. Alvin Holsey.

The cumulative effect, playing out during active hostilities, is a senior Army leadership structure in flux. LaNeve's position as acting chief is temporary, a modernization command created just four months ago has been upended, and allies watching the steady removal of experienced commanders face sharper questions about continuity of command at the top of the U.S. military.