US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has asked Army Chief of Staff General Randy George to step down and retire immediately, the Pentagon said on Thursday, without giving a reason for the departure as the United States wages a war against Iran.ย The decision marks a significant leadership transition as the administration seeks a commander who “will implement President Donald Trump and Hegseth’s vision for the Army.”
‘George will be retiring from his position’
Chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell confirmed the departure in a statement, noting that George “will be retiring from his position as the 41st Chief of Staff of the Army, effective immediately.”ย
Parnell expressed the Department of War’s gratitude for the General’s “decades of service to our nation” and offered well wishes for his future.
Gen George has been serving as the Army Chief of Staff since August 2023 under the Joe Biden administration, a position that typically carries a four-year tenure.
The ouster, reported earlier by CBS News, is just the latest of more than a dozen firings of top generals and admirals by Hegseth since he took office last year. Like many of those other firings, Pentagon officials are not offering a reason for George’s departure, which comes nearly five weeks into US-Israel attacks on Iran and with no clear timeline from President Trump on when the war may end.
Who is Genย Randy George?
Gen George, a graduate of the United States Military Academy, is an infantry officer who has served in the Gulf War as well as in Iraq and Afghanistan. He also worked as a senior military aide to Lloyd Austin from 2021 to 2022 during the Joe Biden administration before assuming top leadership roles in the Army.
George survived the initial round of military leadership reshuffles under the Donald Trump administration in February 2025, when Pete Hegseth removed several senior officers. Those dismissed included Lisa Franchetti, the Navyโs top uniformed officer, and Jim Slife, the Air Forceโs vice chief. Trump also removed Charles Q. Brown Jr. as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
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, Gen James Mingus, who was in the post of vice chief of staff of the Army 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 Eighth Army in South Korea after less than a year in the job.
Lt Gen LaNeveย to be acting Army chiefย
LaNeve will be stepping in as acting Army chief of staff, according to a Pentagon official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the move before it has been announced. It is a meteoric rise for an officer who was only a two-star general two years ago.
The shakeup comes as Army paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division are heading to the Middle East along with thousands of Marines and other assets. The Trump administration has avoided questions about whether or not the US military will deploy ground troops against Iran.
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