Pete Hegseth, Arguably the Worst Secretary of Defense in the past 76 Years, Is Busy Replacing Our Military’s Most Competent Leaders with Clearly Inferior Replacements

GEN Christopher Donahue; Commanding General, US Army Europe & Africa and Commander, Allied Land Command; became unequivocally the best and most experienced

senior Military officer on active duty after Secretary of Defense Hegseth forced Army Chief of Staff GEN Randy George who had been unequivocally the best and most experienced senior Military officer on active duty, to retire in April 2026. Now Hegseth is forcing GEN Donahue to retire. At the rate Hegseth is removing our most competent senior leaders, he will have our military commanded by the third team and lower before the mid-term election but with Caine and LaNeve he’s already reached down to the JV.  It’s actually an honor to be fired by Hegseth, a cashiered National Guard Major and arguably the most incompetent Secretary of Defense since Secretary Louis Johnson inadvertently started the Korean War because it means you were effective and showing up Hegseth. Hegseth’s departure will be reflected as a gain on the DOD manning roster. Here are two of the recent Washington Post (WaPo) Articles describing the chaos Hegseth is wrecking on our Military with his indiscriminate removal of our most competent leaders and replacing them with clearly less qualified replacements.  And I haven't even begun to address the damage Hegseth has done to the Civilian leadership.  First he got rid of the Secretary of the Navy John Phelan and now he has driven out the Secretary of the Army Daniel Driscoll. If President Trump had any sense, he would NOT accept Secretary Driscoll's resignation.

Hegseth thwarted internal efforts to extend key Army general’s career

Gen. Christopher Donahue, seen as a top warfighter, is the latest apparent casualty in a purge of senior military leaders by the Trump administration.

By Dan Lamothe  WaPo 24 June 2026

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2026/06/24/effort-extend-army-generals-career-falls-flat-with-hegseth/

Top Army general who was last US soldier to leave Afghanistan is suddenly leaving his post 

The Army’s commander of its forces in Europe and Africa is unexpectedly stepping down after just 18 months in the job

By Konstantin Toropin | AP. WaPo  24 June 2026

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2026/06/23/trump-pentagon-hegseth-christopher-donahue-afghanistan/10406074-6f7d-11f1-8730-e7fd0e2a6404_story.html

The New York Times

Opportunities Narrow for Women as Hegseth Blocks More Promotions

Published 14 July 2026 

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth blocked promotions for seven senior Navy officers, mostly women or people of color.

The initial list consisted of 22 officers who were chosen by a promotion board made up of senior admirals. The board determined that the two-star nominees were among the Navy’s highest performers over careers spanning more than 25 years.

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Since taking office, Defense Secretary Hegseth has conducted unprecedented meddling into the assignments and promotion systems of the US military. Over two dozen of the Military's BEST flag and general officers have been fired, sidelined, or forced into early retirement, and dozens of high-level promotions have been personally blocked or delayed by Hegseth for no good reason. 

Here are the primary senior military officers publicly identified as removed, forced to retire, or struck from general/flag promotion lists:

Ø  Fired or Forced into Early Retirement: Joint Chiefs & Service Chiefs: Gen Charles Q. Brown Jr. (Chairman), ADM Lisa Franchetti (CNO), GEN Randy George (Army Chief of Staff), Gen David Allvin (AF Chief of Staff), GEN James Mingus (Army Vice Chief of Staff), Gen James Slife (Vice Chief, Air Force), LTG Douglas Sims (Joint Staff Director), and LTG Joseph McGee (Joint Staff Strategy, Plans and Policy Director).

Ø  Combatant Commanders & Senior Staff: GEN Christopher "C.D." Donahue (Europe/Africa), ADM Linda Fagan (Coast Guard Commandant), Gen Timothy Haugh (Cyber Command/NSA),  GEN Bryan Fenton (SOCOM), Gen Thomas Bussiere (Global Strike), ADM Alvin Holsey (Central & South America), GEN David Hodne (Army Transformation & Training Command)

Ø  Legal/Specialized Leadership: Lt Gen Jeffrey Kruse (DIA Director), VADM Nancy Lacore (Chief of the Navy Reserve), MG William Green (Chaplain Corps), and top JAG officers LTG Joseph B. Berger III (Army) and Lt Gen Charles Plummer (Air Force), along with VADM Shoshana Chatfield (US Military Representative to the NATO Military Committee).

Ø  Intervened, Stalled, or Blocked from Promotion Lists Hegseth personally intervened in promotion boards, resulting in significant changes to candidate lists:

o   Navy & Army: Removed nine Navy officers (including women and Black officers) from the rear admiral list, resulting in an all-male slate. Additionally, blocked four Army colonels (two Black men, two women) from BG promotion, overriding objections from service leaders.

o   Air Force & Command Roles: Blocked or delayed the promotions of nine senior Air Force officers and challenged the promotion of Maj Gen Antoinette Gant.

Update Breaking News 14 July 2026

Hegseth recently blocked the promotions of seven senior Navy officers, five of whom are women or people of color, to two-star admiral rank, current and former defense officials said.

The initial list consisted of 22 officers who were chosen by a promotion board made up of senior admirals. The board determined that the two-star nominees were among the Navy’s highest performers over careers spanning more than 25 years.

The only woman where Hegseth has favorably influence their career is VADM Yvette Davids. Hegseth moved her from Naval Academy superintendent, a dead end job she would have had to retire from, to being the first woman Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Operations, Plans & Strategy; the Navy Staff third most important and influential position. Since 2004 TEN (10) former DCNO N3/N5/N7’s have been promoted to 4-Star Admiral while NO Naval Academy Superintendents has been promoted and ALL have had to immediately retired from the position as Vice Admirals.

Not sure why Hegseth got personally involved in VADM Yvette Davids’ career but it could be because of her husband. He is RADM (Retired) Keith B. Davids, a Navy special warfare SEAL who commanded the Naval Special Warfare Command from 2022 to 2024 and the U.S. Special Operations Command South, United States Southern Command from 2020 to 2022. He was Trump’s White House Military Office Director during his first term and Trump even promoted him to Rear Admiral. He is still extremely close with Trump which is why Biden shuffled him off when he became president and retired him before he left office. It could be a payoff to her husband.