Hegseth and the Purge of US Military Leadership: Long-Term Consequences

Earlier this week, US Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll resigned after reportedly attempting to directly appeal to President Donald Trump about how changes in military leadership were affecting the force's combat readiness.

Driscoll, a former law school classmate of Vice President JD Vance, was appointed last February to the highest civilian position in the Army, under Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Experts say he was particularly involved in planning the Army's transformation to participate in modern warfare, where the role of infantry is diminishing, giving way to drones and missiles.

Driscoll's resignation is the latest departure in a list of senior officials fired or forced to resign under Hegseth, including three- and four-star generals and members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff – the most senior military officials tasked with directly advising the president. Among them are many leaders who are African American and women, whom the Trump administration claims were unfairly promoted in recent years due to "diversity, equity, and inclusion" initiatives it is seeking to dismantle.

Technically, officials like Driscoll serve at the pleasure of the president, said Kelly Grieco, a senior fellow at the Stimson Center think tank. Therefore, Hegseth, appointed by Trump, has the authority to remove them. But for civilian leaders as well as the rest of the military, who have not been given precise reasons for these personnel changes, "the sheer number of firings and blocked promotions raises the question of whether the military's senior leadership is being hollowed out."

Ending 'Woke'

Hegseth was an infantry officer in the Army National Guard, then became a television personality on the conservative news channel Fox News before being chosen to lead the military in Trump's cabinet. Hegseth has been particularly vocal about modern military changes he claims have weakened the force, including policies that led to the acceptance and promotion of women and LGBTQ personnel. He says these minority groups have been promoted based on demographics rather than actual merit.

"Hegseth came to the Pentagon with a specific set of priorities," observed Jennifer Kavanagh, a senior fellow at Defense Priorities, "including increasing so-called 'lethality' and eliminating what he calls 'woke' ideology, which he and Trump believe is rampant throughout the Pentagon."

Under Hegseth, the Trump administration began using the name "Department of War" instead of "Department of Defense," and the military has reduced or in some cases removed memorials and other public recognitions for pioneering women and minorities in the force. Earlier this year, Hegseth announced the military would begin annual testosterone level checks for soldiers aged 30 and over, as part of an initiative to ensure they "have the biological foundation necessary to maintain combat readiness."

Fired or Forced into Early Retirement

According to experts, the result is that the merit-based promotion system – which shapes a military with a budget of about one trillion dollars and more than 1.3 million active-duty personnel – is being dismantled.

"It has taken too long for President Trump to realize the long-term damage Pete Hegseth is inflicting on the Department of Defense," said Senator Jack Reed, a former Army officer, in a statement before news of Driscoll's resignation. "Secretary Hegseth is fostering a culture where dissent is punished and competence is secondary to personal loyalty."

All members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff representing the Army, Navy, and Air Force have been fired, resigned, or replaced under Hegseth.

General Charles Q. Brown Jr., an African American fighter pilot who served as Air Force Chief of Staff and then Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was fired last February. Admiral Lisa Franchetti, who served as Chief of Naval Operations on the Joint Chiefs, was also fired that same month. General Randy A. George, Army Chief of Staff, was fired in April this year. General David Allvin, Air Force Chief of Staff, took early retirement last year.

Hegseth has also removed or forced out many senior civilian officials. Navy Secretary John Phelan resigned in April, and Driscoll's last day was this past Wednesday.

Leaders of intelligence agencies have also departed. Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse, head of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), was fired last year after the agency reported that US airstrikes on Iran's nuclear facilities were ineffective.

Other senior figures who have left under Hegseth include: General Chris Donahue, Commander of US Army Europe and Africa; General David Hodne, Commander of Army Training and Doctrine Command; General James Mingus, Vice Chief of Staff of the Army; Lieutenant General Joseph McGee, Director for Strategy, Plans, and Policy on the Joint Staff; Vice Admiral Shoshana Chatfield, US Navy representative to NATO; and Rear Admiral Milton Sands, Commander of Naval Special Warfare Command.

The removal of senior female and minority leaders will make those below them question whether they should devote decades to an institution that could remove them solely because of their identity.

"If you are in the military and you see these changes, even if you are not at the senior level, you have to ask yourself what message is being sent to the troops," Grieco said.

Ignoring Recommendations

Experts argue that the turmoil at the Pentagon also has urgent operational consequences, as well as long-term strategic losses from losing experienced leadership.

The war in Iran has shown how crucial drone and missile teams will be in any future conflict, Kavanagh assessed. Top leaders like Driscoll understood the need to shift the force in a new direction, a task that becomes much harder when the person in charge of long-term thinking is constantly replaced.

"This is what chiefs of staff and service secretaries are supposed to do," Kavanagh said. "They are not handling day-to-day operations, such as the situation in Iran. They deal with big issues of force modernization, and every time there is a new leader, that person may bring a new vision."