Washington (TDI): President Donald Trump on Friday fired the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Air Force General CQ Brown, and pushed out five other admirals and generals in an unprecedented shake-up of US military leadership.
Trump said that he would pick former Lieutenant General Dan “Razin” Caine to replace Brown, breaking with tradition by pulling someone out of retirement for the first time to become the top military officer.
He will also replace the chief of the US Navy, a post held by Admiral Lisa Franchetti, the first female to lead a military service, as well as the air force vice chief of staff, according to Pentagon said.
Trump is also removing the judge advocates general for the Army, Navy and Air Force, key positions that ensure enforcement of military justice.
Trump’s decision begins a period of upheaval at the Pentagon, which was already bracing for mass removals of civilian staff, a dramatic overhaul of its budget and a shift in military deployments under the president’s new America First foreign policy.
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While the Pentagon’s civilian leadership changes from one administration to the next, the members of the US armed forces are meant to be apolitical, carrying out the policies of Democratic and Republican administrations.
Brown, the second Black officer to become the president’s top uniformed military adviser, had been anticipated to complete his 4-year term in September 2027.
A US official said Brown was sacked with immediate effect, before the Senate confirms his successor.
Democratic lawmakers criticized the decision by Trump, a Republican.
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Firing uniformed leaders as a type of political loyalty test, or for causes relating to diversity and gender that have nothing to do with performance, erodes the trust and professionalism that our servicemembers need to achieve their missions, said Democrat Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island.
Massachusetts Democrat Representative Seth Moulton said the removals were “un-American, unpatriotic, and dangerous for our forces and our national security”.
