Trump administration fires admiral Shoshana Chatfield amid purge of senior military officers
Defense secretary Pete Hegseth has derided diversity efforts and has fired senior officers linked to them.
- Vice Adm. Shoshana Chatfield, the U.S. military’s representative to NATO, the latest to be fired in an ongoing purge of senior officers.
- Sen. Jack Reed, the senior Democrat on the Armed Services Committee from Rhode Island, called Chatfield’s firing “disgraceful.”
- “In less than three months, President Trump has fired 10 generals and admirals without explanation, including our most experienced combat leaders," Reed said.
WASHINGTON − Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has fired Vice Adm. Shoshana Chatfield, the U.S. military’s representative to NATO, the latest in a purge of senior officers.
Hegesth dismissed Chatfield, former president of the Naval War College and a Navy pilot, “due to a loss of confidence in her ability to lead," Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement Tuesday. "The Defense Department is grateful for her many years of military service.”
Last Thursday, the Trump administration fired the director of the National Security Agency, Air Force Gen. Timothy Haugh. Hegseth, who has derided diversity efforts because he says they weaken the military, has fired a series of senior officers, including the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. C.Q. Brown.
Brown, who is Black, had been outspoken about his career challenges and the need for racial reconciliation after the police murder of George Floyd in 2020. Like Chatfield’s firing, Brown’s dismissal and others came without explanation from the Pentagon.
Sen. Jack Reed, the senior Democrat on the Armed Services Committee from Rhode Island, called Chatfield’s firing “disgraceful” and castigated his Republican colleagues for their complicity.
“The silence from my Republican colleagues is deeply troubling,” Reed said in a statement. “In less than three months, President Trump has fired 10 generals and admirals without explanation, including our most experienced combat leaders. I cannot fathom how anyone could stand silently by while the President causes great harm to our military and our nation."
The Senate confirmed Chatfield to the NATO post in a unanimous vote in December 2023. Reuters first reported her firing. The Trump administration has fired two other female admirals: the commandant of the Coast Guard, Linda Fagan, and the chief of naval operations, Lisa Franchetti.
In a memo Jan. 29, Hegseth directed a task force to identify and eliminate Biden administration-era diversity programs in the military. At a Pentagon town hall this year, Hegseth told a civilian and military audience that diversity programs divided the military rather than unite it.
“I think the single dumbest phrase in military history is 'Our diversity is our strength,'” Hegseth said. “I think our strength is our unity. I think our strength is our shared history.”
About 32% of the Pentagon’s 1.2 million troops on active duty identify with a racial minority group. More than 17% are women.