Trump admin ousts another female military leader
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Shoshana Chatfield speaks during the SMS Cormoran II 100 Years Memorial Ceremony at U.S Agana Navy Cemetery on April 7, 2017, in Guam. Photo: Matt Roberts/Getty Images for GUAM VISITORS BUREAU
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has fired U.S. Navy Vice Adm. Shoshana Chatfield, who served as the U.S. military representative to the NATO Military Committee, the Pentagon confirmed to Axios.
The big picture: Chatfield joins a growing list of women and people of color who served in top military roles who have been ousted as President Trump and top officials conduct a purge of so-called "wokeness" in the military.
- Adm. Lisa Franchetti, the first woman to serve as the highest-ranking officer of the U.S. Navy, and Adm. Linda Fagan, the first woman to lead the U.S. Coast Guard, were both fired earlier this year.
- Trump also booted former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Charles "CQ" Brown Jr.
- Brown was the first Black chief of staff of the Air Force and the second Black general to serve as chairman.
Driving the news: Chatfield was removed from her post "due to a loss of confidence in her ability to lead," Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement provided to Axios.
- He added, "[t]he Defense Department is grateful for her many years of military service."
What they're saying: "Vice Admiral Chatfield is extraordinarily well-qualified and there is no reasonable justification for her removal," Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) said in a statement provided to Axios.
- Gillibrand, one of several senators who grilled Hegseth about his comments that women should not serve in combat roles during his confirmation hearing, called on Republicans to "join with us to demand an explanation."
- Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.), the ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, slammed the lack of transparency behind her firing as "unacceptable," saying her ouster makes the country "less safe."
- Her former role with NATO, he said, "is key to our ability to work with allies and partners in the face of interconnected threats and challenges coming from China and Russia, and to a lesser extent Iran."
- Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), the top Democrat on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, said in a statement he was "deeply disturbed" by her firing.
Zoom out: Chatfield was included on a list of "woke" senior military officers compiled by the conservative American Accountability Foundation, a group that urged Hegseth in a letter to purge "the woke" from the military, the AP reported.
- The Navy helicopter pilot, who also commanded a joint reconstruction team in Afghanistan and taught at the United States Air Force Academy, was the only female representative on the 32-member NATO military committee.
Catch up quick: Hegseth's contention that women should not hold combat roles was one of several controversies that stirred deep concern among lawmakers about his fitness to lead the Pentagon but ultimately did not prevent his Senate confirmation.
- Generals and admirals "involved in any of the DEI woke s--t has got to go," he said in an interview last year.
- The former Fox News host has since declared that diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives are "dead."
- The administration's anti-DEI campaign has also seen military heroes erased from government websites and hundreds of books removed from a military academy library.
Go deeper: Scoop: Multiple firings on Trump's National Security Council after Loomer visit
