Adm. Daryl Caudle saw an opening to land the Navy\u2019s top job last year, and he seized it.<\/p>\n
Before Pete Hegseth had even been sworn in as defense secretary, Admiral Caudle, then the head of a major Navy training command, offered to help Mr. Hegseth prepare for his politically contentious Senate confirmation hearing, according to current and former defense officials.<\/p>\n
The outreach was a breach of military ethics, the officials said. Senior military officers are supposed to avoid any hint of partisan bias or political activity.<\/p>\n
Nothing came of the offer. But soon after Mr. Hegseth took office, he fired the first woman to lead the Navy: Admiral Caudle\u2019s boss. Days later, a senior officer on Admiral Caudle\u2019s staff contacted Mr. Hegseth\u2019s team in another breach of protocol.<\/p>\n
His pitch: Mr. Hegseth should choose Admiral Caudle to be the next chief of naval operations, the current and former officials said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive personnel matters.<\/p>\n
The officer described Admiral Caudle in terms that matched Mr. Hegseth\u2019s view of the values that military officers should embody. There was \u201cno one more in line\u201d with Mr. Hegseth\u2019s vision for remaking the military, he said, according to an official familiar with the exchange. The officer cast Admiral Caudle as a \u201cwarfighter\u201d who wanted to remove \u201cwoke barriers\u201d that he claimed were weakening the force, the official said.<\/p>\n
Even though Admiral Caudle was not on a list of candidates recommended by senior Navy officials, Mr. Hegseth chose him for the job.<\/p>\n
But before the promotion could be finalized, the admiral needed to address another problem. There was an unresolved inspector general investigation into comments he had made to sailors about the Pentagon\u2019s Sexual Assault Prevent and Response program, officials said. Some interpreted his remarks as blaming victims.<\/p>\n
To help resolve the inquiry, Admiral Caudle hired Timothy Parlatore, a Navy Reservist and well-known lawyer who had represented Mr. Hegseth and President Trump. Mr. Parlatore had recently been tapped by Mr. Hegseth to serve as his \u201cspecial adviser\u201d in the Pentagon. Before Admiral Caudle was a client, Mr. Parlatore had recommended him to Mr. Hegseth as a strong candidate to lead the Navy, officials said.<\/p>\n
The inspector general found the allegations of wrongdoing to be unsubstantiated, and Admiral Caudle took over as the 34th chief of naval operations last summer.<\/p>\n
His path to that position is a case study in how the military promotion process at the Pentagon under Mr. Hegseth has deviated from tradition, leaving it susceptible in the view of critics to politicization and favoritism.<\/p>\n
Since taking office nearly 18 months ago, Mr. Hegseth has fired or sidelined more than two dozen senior officers, including Admiral Lisa Franchetti, who held the top Navy job before Admiral Caudle. He has also removed from promotion lists about 40 senior officers who had been selected by boards made up of their peers.<\/p>\n
Mr. Hegseth has insisted that his actions were necessary to root out those he has described as radical ideologues. \u201cThe left captured the military quickly, and we must reclaim it at a faster pace,\u201d he wrote in his 2024 book, \u201cThe War on Warriors.\u201d \u201cWe must wage a frontal assault, a swift counterattack, in broad daylight.\u201d<\/p>\n
Admiral Caudle\u2019s promotion is a view into the flip side of Mr. Hegseth\u2019s purge.<\/p>\n
Before the defense secretary had even taken office, he had publicly singled out Admiral Franchetti as someone he believed had been promoted solely because of her gender. She knew that if Mr. Hegseth was confirmed, she would likely be fired.<\/p>\n
In December 2024, Admiral Franchetti called together the Navy\u2019s four-star admirals to discuss potential replacements, officials said.<\/p>\n
She reminded them that their most important job in the coming weeks was to put the Navy\u2019s integrity and its reputation as an apolitical institution ahead of their ambitions, according to people familiar with the meeting.<\/p>\n
Admiral Caudle was in the room that day, and around the same time was also privately offering to help Mr. Hegseth prepare for his confirmation hearing, defense officials said.<\/p>\n
Capt. Dave Hecht, a spokesman for Admiral Caudle, said in a statement to The New York Times that the admiral planned to limit his discussion with Mr. Hegseth to \u201cfactual, operational matters.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said that Admiral Caudle\u2019s interactions with Mr. Hegseth always focused on military, not political, issues. \u201cAdm. Caudle has consistently conducted himself in a professional, nonpartisan manner throughout his career,\u201d Captain Hecht\u2019s statement added.<\/p>\n
A Pentagon directive<\/a> counsels active-duty troops to avoid \u201cpartisan political activity.\u201d<\/p>\n After Mr. Hegseth fired Admiral Franchetti, senior Navy officials, led by the service\u2019s acting secretary, assembled a list of the three officers they believed were best qualified to fill her position. Admiral Caudle was not on it. Navy leaders thought he was better suited to lead the U.S. Strategic Command, which oversees the country\u2019s nuclear arsenal, the officials said.<\/p>\n Updated\u00a0<\/p>\n July 27, 2026, 6:41 p.m. ET<\/p>\n Mr. Hegseth reviewed the Navy\u2019s list in a meeting with senior staff members.<\/p>\n \u201cWhere\u2019s Caudle?\u201d he asked, according to officials with knowledge of the meeting.<\/p>\n Mr. Hegseth\u2019s chief of staff said he was not familiar with the admiral. Mr. Hegseth instructed him to discuss the matter with Mr. Parlatore, officials said.<\/p>\n Mr. Parlatore, who had left the Navy a decade earlier, had recently been commissioned by Mr. Hegseth as a Navy reservist and member of the Navy\u2019s Judge Advocate General\u2019s Corps.<\/p>\n As a civilian attorney, he had represented naval officers and sailors in a series of high-profile cases. His clients included Chief Petty Officer Edward Gallagher, a Navy SEAL who in 2019 was charged with killing a wounded prisoner in Iraq. Chief Gallagher was ultimately acquitted of nearly all the charges<\/a> against him.<\/p>\n