{"id":578480,"date":"2026-04-03T00:46:12","date_gmt":"2026-04-03T00:46:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/578480\/"},"modified":"2026-04-03T00:46:12","modified_gmt":"2026-04-03T00:46:12","slug":"u-s-armys-chief-of-staff-asked-to-step-down-by-hegseth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/578480\/","title":{"rendered":"U.S. Army\u2019s chief of staff asked to step down by Hegseth"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

U.S. Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George at the Pentagon in Washington in September, 2025.Julia Demaree Nikhinson\/The Associated Press<\/p>\n

U.S. Army Chief of Staff Randy George was fired on Thursday by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, two U.S. defence officials and a source familiar with the matter told Reuters, in the latest purge among the Pentagon\u2019s most senior ranks.<\/p>\n

Hegseth, a former Fox News host, has moved quickly to reshape the department, firing generals and admirals as he seeks to implement U.S. President Donald Trump\u2019s<\/a> national security agenda.<\/p>\n

The Pentagon confirmed that George, who had more than a year left in his term, \u201cwill be retiring from his position as the 41st Chief of Staff of the Army effective immediately.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Pentagon said in a statement it was grateful for George\u2019s decades of service. \u201cWe wish him well in his retirement,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n

The department did not give a reason for his departure, which comes as the U.S. military builds up its forces in the Middle East while carrying out operations against Iran<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The strikes in the region are largely being carried out by the Navy and Air Force, although U.S. Army soldiers have been dispatched to the Middle East for air defence systems. The Army is the largest branch of the U.S. military, with about 450,000 active-duty soldiers.<\/p>\n

Thousands of soldiers from the U.S. Army\u2019s elite 82nd Airborne Division have also started arriving in the Middle East, potentially for ground operations in Iran.<\/p>\n

Hopes fade for swift end to war with Iran after Trump says military operations would intensify<\/a><\/p>\n

There had been no public signs of friction between Hegseth and George, even as Hegseth pursued controversial moves such as firing the Army\u2019s top lawyer and arranging a massive military parade celebrating the Army\u2019s 250th birthday, which coincided with Trump\u2019s birthday.<\/p>\n

Earlier this week, however, Hegseth reversed an Army decision to investigate Army pilots who were flying attack helicopters near singer Kid Rock\u2019s house, in an apparent show of support for the vocal Trump backer.<\/p>\n

CBS News, which first reported George\u2019s dismissal, said his firing was not related to the Kid Rock incident. An official said Hegseth\u2019s former military aide and Army vice chief of staff, General Christopher LaNeve, will take over George\u2019s role in an acting capacity.<\/p>\n

George, an infantry officer who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, was confirmed to the top Army post in 2023. Terms in that role usually run for four years.<\/p>\n

Prior to holding the top job, George was the vice chief of the Army and, before that, the senior military adviser to then-Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.<\/p>\n

He was considered close to Army Secretary Dan Driscoll. The two worked together to take on large defence companies, in the Army\u2019s drive to speed up weapons development and drive down costs.<\/p>\n

George\u2019s removal adds to recent upheaval at all levels of leadership at the Pentagon, including the firing last year of the previous chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Air Force General C.Q. Brown, as well as the chief of naval operations and Air Force vice chief of staff.<\/p>\n

The office for George did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: U.S. Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George at the Pentagon in Washington…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":578481,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[901,888,902,879,877,903,48,876,895,896,891,878,875,46,549,295,894,887,914,880,881,893,43,889,890,884,904,885,909,910,44,912,907,911,905,908,882,898,899,714,897,906,865,61,41,39,42,40,900,892,886,883,913],"class_list":["post-578480","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-alberta","tag-arts-news","tag-bc","tag-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news-video","tag-british-columbia","tag-canada","tag-canada-news","tag-canada-sports","tag-canada-sports-news","tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","tag-canadian-breaking-news","tag-canadian-news","tag-economy","tag-education","tag-environment","tag-federal-government","tag-foreign-news","tag-globe-and-mail","tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","tag-government","tag-headlines","tag-life-news","tag-lifestyle","tag-local-news","tag-manitoba","tag-national-news","tag-new-brunswick","tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","tag-news","tag-northwest-territories","tag-nova-scotia","tag-nunavut","tag-ontario","tag-pei","tag-photos","tag-political-news","tag-political-opinion","tag-politics","tag-politics-news","tag-quebec","tag-sports-news","tag-technology","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-travel","tag-trudeau","tag-us-news","tag-world-news","tag-yukon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/578480","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=578480"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/578480\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/578481"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=578480"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=578480"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=578480"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}