WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has asked the Army’s top uniformed officer, Gen. Randy George, to step down, the Pentagon said Thursday, as the United States wages a war against Iran.
A Pentagon official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive matter, confirmed that George has been asked to take early retirement from the post of Army chief of staff, which he has held since August 2023.
The ouster is just the latest of more than a dozen firings of top generals and admirals by Hegseth since he took office last year.
CBS News was first to report the ouster.
George is a graduate of West Point Military Academy and an infantry officer who served in the 1991 Persian Gulf War and in Iraq and Afghanistan. He also served as Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III’s top military aide from 2021 to 2022 during the Biden administration, before taking on top leadership roles in the Army.
George survived the initial round of firings in February 2025, which saw the removal of top military leaders, including Adm. Lisa Franchetti, the Navy’s top uniformed officer, and Gen. Jim Silfe, the No. 2 leader in the Air Force, by Hegseth. President Trump also fired Gen. Charles “C.Q.” Brown, then chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, at the same time.
Since then, more than a dozen other top military generals and admirals have either retired early or been removed from their posts.
Among these departures was George’s deputy, the vice chief of staff of the Army, Gen. James Mingus, who was in the post for less than two years when Trump suddenly nominated Lt. Gen. Christopher LaNeve for the position. LaNeve was then serving as Hegseth’s top military aide, having been plucked for that post from commanding the 8th Army in South Korea after less than a year in the job.
Toropin writes for the Associated Press.
