WASHINGTON: Presi­dent Donald Trump has fired the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Air Force General C.Q. Brown, and pushed out five other admirals and generals in an unprecedented shake-up of US military leadership.

Trump said in a post on Truth Social on Friday that he would nominate former Lt Gen Dan “Razin” Caine to succeed Brown, breaking with tradition by pulling someone out of retirement for the first time to become the top military officer.

The president will also replace the head of the US Navy, a position held by Admiral Lisa Franchetti, the first woman to lead a military service, as well as the air force vice chief of staff, the Pentagon said. He is also removing the judge advocates general for the Army, Navy and Air Force.

Trump’s decision sets off a period of upheaval at the Pentagon, which was bracing for mass firings of civilian staff. Brown, the second Black officer to become the president’s top uniformed military adviser, had been exp­e­cted to complete his four-year term in Septem­ber 2027.

Democratic lawmakers condemned the decision by Trump, a Republican.

“Firing uniformed leaders as a type of political loyalty test, or for reasons relating to diversity and gender that have nothing to do with performance, erodes the trust and professionalism that our servicemembers require to achieve their missions,” said Senator Jack Reed, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Published in Dawn, February 23rd, 2025