Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is denying promotions and pushing out officers who raise questions about his directives, according to insiders.
Two former officers told MS NOW they were pushed out of their jobs and forced to retire early after questioning command decisions. The officers spoke on the condition of anonymity due to concerns that the Pentagon would retaliate against them and try to strip them of their retirement pensions.
Over the past year-and-a-half, Hegseth has fired or sidelined nearly three dozen general officers and admirals and blocked the promotion of 40 senior colonels or Navy captains selected for flag rank, a pace widely described as unprecedented. Targets have included women, people of color, judge advocate generals and officers tied to events Hegseth believes were mishandled.
Most recently, Gen. Christopher Donahue, the top Army commander for Europe and Africa and a widely respected former Delta Force leader, abruptly relinquished his role. Donahue is best known as the last U.S. soldier to leave Afghanistan during the chaotic 2021 withdrawal, which Hegseth has repeatedly blasted as “chaotic,” “disastrous” and a “humiliating retreat.”
His exit follows a string of similar departures, including Navy Secretary John Phelan, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George, and Vice Adm. Shoshana Chatfield, the military’s representative to NATO, who was dismissed over what the Pentagon called “a loss of confidence in her ability to lead.”
The departures have become known as the “Pentagon purge,” which Hegseth outlined in a May 2025 memo ordering senior leadership to slash the number of flag and general officers across the forces, saying the goal was to “streamline leadership.”
Acting Pentagon Press Secretary Joel Valdez pushed back on the criticism, saying, “Not a single general officer or flag officer has been fired raising concerns about any issue. That charge is completely false. If they believe what they’re saying to be true, then they should put their names on their statements on the record.”
One of the former officers who spoke to MS NOW called it hypocritical for Hegseth to claim he wants to focus on warfighters while removing someone like Donahue, who commanded the Army’s Delta Force.
Hegseth “is intimidated by people who have real warfighting background and don’t just talk about the warrior ethos,” the officer said, adding, “I think he just can’t stand people around who will call him on his bulls--t.”
Hegseth served as an Army National Guard infantry officer.
Another former officer said the firings aren’t about reform at all, but about consolidating power, pointing to a September speech at Marine Corps Base Quantico where Hegseth issued a 10-point list of reforms aimed at “restoring a warrior ethos.”
“What he was trying to do was establish primacy over the armed forces in a public way,” the officer said. “‘We can get the most senior people in the military to do exactly what we’re going to tell them to do.’”
It comes after Hegseth effectively declared a war on women in the Armed Forces. The New York Times reported earlier this month that Hegseth, in a “highly unusual move,” defied the recommendation of a promotion board comprised of senior admirals to block seven people from achieving two-star admiral rank.
Five were women or people of color, The New York Times reported, citing Pentagon sources. This is the first time in a decade that no active-duty female Navy officers are likely to be promoted to admiral.
