Another one bites the dust?
February 23, 2025
Following the dismissals of General CQ Brown, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General James Slife, Air Force vice chief of staff, and Admiral Lisa Franchetti, Chief of Naval Operations, as well as the three service Judge Advocate Generals. This level of turbulence in the military’s top ranks is unprecedented.
This is not normal or routine – and while these appointments are naturally approved by the President, they are not political appointments, and are explicitly intended to bridge across administrations rather than changing with each incoming president. This is in order to prevent the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs (like the director of the FBI) does not become a partisan political appointment.
President Trump is accused of ignoring conventions in order to ensure that every senior official should be a personal appointee.
Lieutenant General Short, a former C-130E navigator and then an A-10 pilot, squadron and wing commader was appointed as the Senior Military Assistant to the Secretary of Defense, in September 2024.
The Senior Military Assistant to the Secretary of Defense acts as the principal military point of contact for the Secretary of Defense and is also the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff’s representative with the Office of the Secretary of Defense. The Senior Military Assistant implements the decisions of the SecDef and is responsible for providing advice, counsel and support on all uniformed military matters.
With the premature dismissal of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, many believe that it would have seemed sensible to retain the Senior Military Assistant to ensure a measure of continuity.
Some have pointed out that the 55 year old Lieutenant General Short’s CV is rather fuller and more impressive than that of the nominated new Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff – the 58 year old, retired Lieutenant General John D (Dan) Caine, who, some say, looks positively ‘pale, male and stale’ by comparison. They suspect that Short has fallen victim to the ‘war on woke and DEI’ that is now supposedly being waged by the Trump administration.
Perhaps that’s the point in what many say is an increasingly misogynistic Hegseth Pentagon?
Our coverage on changes at the Pentagon can be found at:
Trump replaces senior military leadership in politically-motivated ‘purge’
