Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ousted Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George, ordering him to step down and retire immediately, the Pentagon confirmed Thursday. Two additional Army generals were removed alongside George: Gen. David Hodne, who led the Army's Transformation and Training Command, and Maj. Gen. William Green Jr., who served as chief of the Army Chaplain Corps. The Pentagon offered no reason for any of the departures.

Gen. Christopher LaNeve, who had been serving as Army vice chief of staff and previously worked as Hegseth's personal military aide, will step in as acting Army chief of staff. Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said LaNeve is "a battle-tested leader with decades of operational experience and is completely trusted by Secretary Hegseth to carry out the vision of this administration without fault." A senior Defense Department official told CBS News that "it was time for a leadership change in the Army."

George, a West Point graduate and career infantry officer, was nominated to the Army's top post by President Joe Biden in 2023 and was nearly three years into what is typically a four-year term set to run through 2027. He deployed across multiple conflicts including Operation Desert Storm, Operation Iraqi Freedom, and Operation Enduring Freedom, and previously served as senior military assistant to former Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. He had survived Hegseth's initial wave of military firings in February 2025.

The dismissals mark the latest chapter in an unprecedented turnover at the highest levels of the U.S. armed forces since Hegseth took office. More than a dozen senior military leaders have now been removed or forced into early retirement, including Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti, and Air Force Vice Chief of Staff Gen. James Slife. Republican Rep. Rich McCormick of Georgia called George's removal "concerning," telling Newsmax he would "be very curious to hear why" and describing George as "a brilliant mind."

The firings come nearly five weeks into active U.S.-Israeli military operations against Iran, with no clear timeline from President Trump on when the conflict may end. Hodne's Army Transformation and Training Command had only been stood up in December as part of George's effort to modernize the service. LaNeve's rapid ascent — from two-star general just two years ago to acting Army chief of staff — underscores the degree to which Hegseth is reshaping the military's senior leadership with officers seen as aligned with the administration's priorities.