(TJV NEWS) Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has abruptly pushed the U.S. Army’s top officer, Gen. Randy George, into immediate retirement, part of a sweeping shake‑up of senior military leadership, CBS News reports.

According to CBS, Hegseth asked George to step down and retire “effective immediately,” saying the Army needs leadership that will carry out both his and President Donald Trump’s vision for the service. A Pentagon spokesperson stated the Department is “grateful for General George’s decades of service,” but insisted it was “time for a leadership change.”

George, a West Point graduate and career infantry officer who served in Desert Shield, Desert Storm, Iraq and Afghanistan, had been confirmed as Army chief in 2023 and would normally have remained in the role until 2027.

In addition to George’s abrupt ouster, CBS News says two other senior Army officers were removed from their posts:

• Gen. David Hodne, commander of the Army’s Transformation and Training Command, and
• Maj. Gen. William Green Jr., head of the Army Chaplain Corps.

The Army’s vice chief of staff, Gen. Christopher LaNeve, a former aide to Hegseth, will serve as acting chief of staff. The shake‑up comes amid broader changes at the Pentagon under Hegseth, who has already fired or forced out more than a dozen senior military leaders, including the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and top service chiefs from the Air Force, Navy and intelligence ranks.

Hegseth’s decision follows controversy earlier in the week after he overruled Army leadership to lift punishments against aviators involved in a high‑profile helicopter incident, though sources told CBS News that George’s removal was unrelated to that episode