Pete Hegseth is hollowing out the US Army at the worst possible time

Washington : A series of firings and feuds initiated by Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has left the US Army essentially rudderless as it struggles to deal with the threat posed by cheap, deadly drones and missiles that have pounded US bases in the Middle East.

The army has not had a chief of staff, the service’s top officer, since Hegseth fired General Randy George without explanation in April, and there are no signs that he is close to filling the position, said current and former officials speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive personnel matters.

Hegseth has forced out at least three senior officers who had been viewed as potential successors to George.

Army secretary Daniel Driscoll, the service’s top civilian leader, is also expected to leave the administration in the next few months and has already moved out of the large family house that he was renting in Fort Myer, outside Washington, DC, officials said.

The turmoil comes as the army, the military’s largest service, faces its busiest period since the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Army air defence soldiers are playing the leading role in defending US troops in the Middle East from increasingly sophisticated Iranian missile attacks. The army’s command in Europe is providing critical intelligence and other support to Ukraine as it fights to hold off a larger Russian force.

Until recently, Driscoll was widely seen as a potential candidate to replace Hegseth if he decided to step down or fell out of favour with President Donald Trump.

Driscoll and George had worked together to prepare the army for a battlefield teeming with drones. Late last year, the White House asked Driscoll to play a lead role in its push to secure a peace deal that would end the war in Ukraine.

Those peace efforts have largely stalled, the rapid modernisation push is being scaled back and Driscoll is barely on speaking terms with Hegseth, officials said. His impending departure was reported earlier by The Wall Street Journal.

Beyond George, Hegseth has fired or forced out a half-dozen senior officers – a generation of the army’s most combat-hardened leaders – thinning the service’s top ranks for the next several years, officials said.

“Hollowing out the most battle-tested and most lethal, proven leaders in a time of war means troops are less safe and we’re less likely to win,” said Democratic representative Pat Ryan, a former army intelligence officer.

A long-term worry is that the firings send a message that officers who provide frank military advice or fail ideological litmus tests have no place in a force that is supposed to be nonpartisan, military and congressional officials said.

“We’re doing generational damage to the sense that the military is an apolitical trusted organisation that swears an oath to the Constitution, not to a president,” Ryan added.

Hegseth’s office referred questions about the firings and lack of senior leadership to the army. The army declined to comment on Driscoll’s status, saying it does not speculate on “leadership changes.”

“Army leaders exemplify the highest standards of duty, selflessness, and professional excellence,” said Cynthia O.