Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ousts Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George
Hegseth asked him to retire immediately, according to sources.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has asked Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George, the service's top uniformed officer, to step down from his position and retire immediately, the Pentagon said Thursday.
"General Randy A. George will be retiring from his position as the 41st Chief of Staff of the Army effective immediately," Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement. "The Department of War is grateful for General George's decades of service to our nation. We wish him well in his retirement."
The Army chief of staff normally serves a four-year term. George took the role in 2023, nominated by then-President Joe Biden,and would have been in the position until 2027.
His departure marks another change by Hegseth of the senior officers who served as members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff when he became Defense Secretary. Hegseth has fired or sidelined more than a dozen admirals or generals.
Hegseth had previously removed Gen. CQ Brown as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Adm. Lisa Franchetti as the Chief of Naval Operations.
George had previously served as then-Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin's senior military aide and had been rumored to be on the chopping block for more than a year, U.S. officials said.
A defense official told ABC News that Vice Chief of Staff of the Army Gen. Christopher LaNeve will transition to acting chief of staff, which is the normal succession of command and the reason why there are two four-star generals serving in the Army's top two jobs. That succession is triggered when the chief of staff is incapacitated or removed from their position.
"The vice chief of staff assuming that role is the expected and appropriate action" said the defense official.
LaNeve was previously Hegseth's senior military aide.
George is an infantry officer, originally enlisting in the Army in 1982 before earning his commission at West Point in 1988. He has held command positions in some of the Army's premier ground combat units, including the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team and the 4th Infantry Division.
During his tenure as Army chief of staff, he oversaw efforts to transition the Army from the Global War on Terrorism era to a force built to fight in large scale conflicts, such as against China, and investing heavily in drone technology, long range weapon systems and the Army's manufacturing arteries.
He also consolidated various parts of the Army, trimmed staff and shrunk how many generals the service has, with the idea of creating a more nimble force.
George was admonished, which is effectively a public censure in the Army, while serving as a brigade commander in Afghanistan in 2009 for his role overseeing Combat Post Keating -- a small remote American base which was nearly overrun by the Taliban and destroyed by the U.S.
Eight Americans were killed in the attack and two soldiers were awarded the Medal of Honor. The battle was portrayed in the movie "The Outpost."
