Friday evening, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth began the process of reshaping the corps of general and flag officers who command and, on odd Tuesdays, even attempt to lead our Armed Forces. The first tranche of firings carried away the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Air Force General CQ Brown Jr., Chief of Naval Operation Admiral Lisa Franchetti, and the Air Force Vice Chief of Staff Lieutenant General James Slife; see You're Fired: Trump Cans Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman, Presumably Over Emphasis on DEI – RedState. The Judge Advocates General of the Army, Navy, and Air Force were surprising additions. They are Army Lieutenant General Joseph B. Berger III, Navy Rear Admiral Lia M. Reynolds, and Air Force Lieutenant General Charles L. Plummer.
No one thinks this is the end of it, but a total decapitation strike would be a bad look, particularly to a Congress that is already getting a bad case of fecal incontinence because they are seeing program cuts being made on principle, not on the politics of how many jobs are in each congressional district.
There are a couple of surprising things in the unfolding drama. I think everyone had expected CQ Brown and Franchetti to be fired. They were two of the most highly visible proponents of the DEI culture Obama and Biden attempted to implant in the military. Brown, in fact, could be mistaken for a stone-cold racist in the right lighting. Here is the infamous memo where he signs on to limiting the percentage of White pilots in the Air Force.
In recent days, though, it began to look like Brown might dodge the bullet.
Brown was ousted despite support among key members of Congress and a seemingly positive meeting with Trump in mid-December, when the two sat next to each other for a while at the Army-Navy football game. Brown had been meeting regularly with Hegseth at the Pentagon.
LTG Slife was an alumnus of the USAF Special Operations community, but he was widely loathed, at least on social media, by USAF personnel and veterans. He was also the Air Force's most prominent voice bleating about "institutional racism" during the George Floyd celebratory rioting. The Federalist has all the details in Biden Nominee Claimed 'Institutional Racism' Affects The Military.
The military JAGs seem to have been targeted over the suspicion that they were leading the effort to move DEI programs and policies underground.
That may or may not be a fair assessment.
Equally interesting was Trump's message announcing Brown's firing.
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.
Today, I am honored to announce that I am nominating Air Force Lieutenant General Dan “Razin” Caine to be the next Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. General Caine is an accomplished pilot, national security expert, successful entrepreneur, and a “warfighter” with significant interagency and special operations experience.
During my first term, Razin was instrumental in the complete annihilation of the ISIS caliphate. It was done in record setting time, a matter of weeks. Many so-called military “geniuses” said it would take years to defeat ISIS. General Caine, on the other hand, said it could be done quickly, and he delivered.
Despite being highly qualified and respected to serve on the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the previous administration, General Caine was passed over for promotion by Sleepy Joe Biden. But not anymore! Alongside Secretary Pete Hegseth, General Caine and our military will restore peace through strength, put America First, and rebuild our military. Finally, I have also directed Secretary Hegseth to solicit nominations for five additional high level positions, which will be announced soon. Thank you for your attention to this matter!
Nothing in ALL CAPS. No insults.
The initial targeted strikes, plus the lack of smack talk, indicate to me that Hegseth and Trump are, for the moment, sending the message that they are willing to work with the existing military bureaucracy.
The real shocker is the selection of a general on the retired list to be the next Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, especially a retired general with the crooked career path traveled by Caine.
Caine is a VMI graduate and rated F-15 pilot. He affiliated with the National Guard in 2009 and remained an Air Guardsman until his retirement in 2024, though with several extended periods of active duty. Since then, he has worked for CIA as Associate Director for Military Affairs. He has never served on the Air Staff in the Pentagon. He has never served with the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He has never worked in the procurement community or for a Defense contractor. In short, there is nothing about him that would make him stand out as a choice other than he is untainted by the uncontrolled coercive medical experimentation that masqueraded as the COVID-19 vaccination program and also by any contact with the Air Force's DEI program. You can read his full bio at JOHN D. CAINE > Air Force > Biography Display.
Another plus for him is that retired Lieutenant Colonel Alexander "Krispy Kreme" Vindman disapproves.
There is a lot in Caine's selection that recalls General George C. Marshall's decimation of pre-World War Il Army leadership and dipping deep to find lieutenant colonels, like George S. Patton, Jr., to catapult into the general officer corps. It is hard to believe he will not be the only top military leader with a non-traditional background.