Trump abruptly sacks top US military general CQ Brown
The US president said he would nominate Dan ‘Razin’ Caine to be the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
US President Donald Trump abruptly fired Air Force General CQ Brown as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on Friday, sidelining a history-making fighter pilot and respected officer as part of a campaign to rid the military of leaders who support diversity and equity in the ranks.
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The ouster of Brown, only the second black general to serve as chairman, is sure to send shock waves through the Pentagon. His 16 months in the job had been consumed with the war in Ukraine and the expanded conflict in the Middle East.
“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 posted on social media.
Trump said he was nominating Air Force Lieutenant General Dan “Razin” Caine to be the next chairman. Caine is a career F-16 pilot who served on active duty and in the National Guard, and had most recently served as the associate director for military affairs at the CIA, according to his official military biography.
Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, in a statement praising both Caine and Brown, announced the firings of two additional senior officers: Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Lisa Franchetti and Vice-Chief of Staff of the Air Force General Jim Slife.
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Brown had spent the day at the US-Mexico border, assessing the military’s rapid build-up of forces to meet Trump’s executive order on countering illegal immigration.
Trump acted despite support for Brown among key members of Congress and a seemingly friendly meeting with him in mid-December, when the two were seated next to each other for a time at the army-navy football game. Brown had been meeting regularly with Hegseth, who took over the top Pentagon job just four weeks ago.