Hegseth ousts Gen. George as Army chief of staff
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has asked Gen. Randy George, the chief of staff of the Army, to step down and retire, according to a defense official who confirmed a Thursday CBS News report on the four-star’s ouster as accurate and the Pentagon’s chief spokesperson.
George’s removal as the Army’s top officer comes amid the war with Iran, which has surpassed its first month, and follows a string of senior military official firings by Hegseth since the beginning of the second Trump administration. The service’s chief of staff typically serves a four-year term, cutting George’s tenure short by more than a year.
“General Randy A. George will be retiring from his position as the 41st Chief of Staff of the Army effective immediately,” Sean Parnell, Pentagon spokesperson, said in a statement Thursday.
“The Department of War is grateful for General George’s decades of service to our nation,” he added, using the Trump administration’s preferred name for the Defense Department. “We wish him well in his retirement.”
A Pentagon official told DefenseScoop “we can confirm the CBS report is true. Nothing further to provide at the moment.” A spokesperson for George did not immediately respond to DefenseScoop’s request for comment.
Since last May, the Army has embarked on sweeping organizational reforms ushered in by service secretary Dan Driscoll and George. The Army Transformation Initiative has wrought job cuts and personnel changes as the service looks to shed outdated systems for new tech, including an expansive embrace of AI.
It was unclear why Hegseth ousted George now, after speculation swirled early last year that he would be removed amid other senior official firings, including multiple members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff such as Gen. Charles “CQ” Brown as chairman and Adm. Lisa Franchetti as chief of naval operations. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin was also asked last year to retire early.
Gen. Christopher LaNeve, who served as the senior military assistant to Hegseth and commanded the 82nd Airborne Division, is the vice chief of staff for the Army and could take George’s place. CBS News reported that LaNeve will be acting chief of staff.
CBS also reported that George’s firing was not related to Hegseth overruling the Army’s decision to investigate and suspend aviators involved in Apache helicopters flying by Kid Rock’s home in Tennessee last weekend, citing an anonymous source.
The Senate confirmed George as Army chief in 2023 under President Joe Biden, who nominated the four-star for the role. His nomination came amid GOP Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s wide-spread hold on nearly 200 Pentagon picks at the time.
George was commissioned in 1988 as an infantry officer, according to his official biography. He deployed multiple times overseas and served in numerous leadership positions over his more than 40-year military career.
This story is breaking and may be updated as it develops.
