By Phil Stewart and Idrees Ali
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Donald Trump on Friday fired the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Air Force General C.Q. Brown, and announced he would replace five other high level positions in an unprecedented shake-up of U.S. military leadership.
Trump, in a post on Truth Social, said he would nominate retired Lieutenant General Dan “Razin” Caine to succeed Brown. A former F-16 pilot, Caine was the most recently associate director of military affairs for the Central Intelligence Agency.
Trump will also replace the head of the U.S. Navy, a position held by Admiral Lisa Franchetti, as well as the air force vice chief of staff and judge advocates general for the Army, Navy and Air Force, the Pentagon said.
The decision sets off a period of upheaval at the Pentagon, which is already bracing for firings of civilian staff, a dramatic overhaul of its budget and a shift in U.S. military deployments under Trump’s new America First foreign policy.
While the Pentagon’s civilian leadership changes from one administration to the next, the uniformed members of U.S. armed forces are apolitical, serving the policies of Democratic and Republican administrations.
Brown, who became the highest ranking military officer in October 2023, had been expected to serve through September 2027.
Trump did not explain his decision to replace Brown or say whether he would remain in the job until his successor is confirmed by the Senate.
“I want to thank General Charles ‘CQ’ Brown for his over 40 years of service to our country, including as our current Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He is a fine gentleman and an outstanding leader, and I wish a great future for him and his family,” Trump wrote.
Reuters was first to report planning by the incoming Trump administration in November to carry out the sweeping firings, including Brown.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had been skeptical of Brown before taking the helm of the Defense Department with a broad agenda that includes eliminating diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in the military.
In his most recent book, Hegseth asked whether Brown would have gotten the job if he were not Black.
“Was it because of his skin color? Or his skill? We’ll never know, but always doubt – which on its face seems unfair to CQ. But since he has made the race card one of his biggest calling cards, it doesn’t really much matter,” he wrote in his 2024 book “The War on Warriors: Behind the Betrayal of the Men Who Keep Us Free.”
Brown, a former fighter pilot who was only the second Black officer to become chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, recounted his experiences in an emotional video posted online after the 2020 killing of George Floyd.
He was on official travel when Trump made the announcement. Hours before Trump’s post, Brown’s official X account had posted images of him meeting troops on the U.S. border with Mexico.
“Border Security has always been critical to the defense of our homeland. As we navigate unprecedented security challenges… we will ensure our troops at the border have everything they need,” he said in a post on X.
A spokesperson for Brown did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
(Reporting by Phil Stewart and Idrees Ali; Editing by Sandra Maler and William Mallard)
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