Top NATO officer Trump's latest 'DEI' firing: Meet 5 ousted top brass

President Trump has fired a top U.S. military officer at NATO, Navy Vice Adm. Shoshana Chatfield, a termination that caused swift rebuke from Democrats in Congress.

Chatfield was the country’s top representative to NATO’s military committee. Her firing marks the latest casualty of Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's purge of military officials seen as part of past diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts.

That campaign against "woke" culture in the military has led to the ouster of three barrier-breaking women in top military roles, as well as the removal of Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. C.Q. Brown and top lawyers in multiple branches of the armed services.

Hegseth, an ex-Minnesota National Guard officer who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, has long railed against DEI efforts in books and on Fox News, where he was a longtime weekend host.

During an appearance on “Shawn Ryan Show” podcast shortly before his nomination to lead the Pentagon, Hegseth said any “general, admiral, whatever — that was involved in any of the DEI woke s‑‑‑ has got to go."

Here are five top brass who have been ousted since Trump's return to the Oval Office: 

Navy Vice Adm. Shoshana Chatfield, U.S. representative to NATO’s military committee

Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said Chatfield, who is a combat veteran, helicopter pilot and the first female president of the Naval War College, was removed from her post “due to a loss of confidence in her ability to lead.”

“The Defense Department is grateful for her many years of military service,” Parnell said in a statement on Tuesday.

Senate Armed Services Committee ranking member Jack Reed (D-R.I) characterized Chatfield’s firing as “disgraceful” and “unjustified.” 

“Admiral Chatfield’s record of selfless service is unblemished by President Trump’s behavior,” Reed said in a statement. 

Chatfield has been in the conservatives’ crosshairs for some time, with critics calling her “woke” for her remarks when beginning as the president of the Naval War College in 2019.

“I want to see members of this team offer each other respect for differences, for diversity, for the dialogue from which ideas and collaboration emerge,” she said at the time.

Chatfield was also one of 20 military leaders featured in the letter that the American Accountability Foundation (AAF), a conservative watchdog group, sent to Hegseth in December. The organization argued that those mentioned in the 10-page letter were overly focused on DEI and other similar left-wing efforts and were, therefore, hampering the military’s readiness. 

“Purging the woke from the military is imperative, but just revering woke policies would not be enough to bring our military to peak preparedness,” AAF’s President Thomas Jones wrote in the letter. “Those who were responsible for these policies being instituted in the first place must be dismissed.” 

Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti 

Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa M. Franchetti, the first woman on the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was fired in late February. 

Her dismissal was announced in an email from Hegseth. It came hours after Trump announced in a post on Truth Social that he would be terminating Air Force Gen. CQ Brown Jr. and naming Air Force Lt. Gen. Dan “Razin” Caine to be the U.S.’s next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

“I am also requesting nominations for the positions of Chief of Naval Operations and Air Force Vice Chief of Staff,” Hegseth said at the time, thanking Franchetti for her "distinguished career" and " dedication to our country."

Franchetti is a 1985 graduate of Northwestern University, where she got her commission through the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps Program, according to her biography. 

She became a service warfare officer in 1989. At the time, women in those roles mostly served on noncombat vessels, a mandate that was terminated in 1993. 

Franchetti was also mentioned in AAF’s letter. The conservative group pointed to her 2023 video address at the Naval Surface Forces Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Summit, where she talked about the importance of “connectedness” as a military value. 

Air Force Lt. Gen. Jennifer Short

Hegseth fired his top female military staffer, Air Force Lt. Gen. Jennifer Short, in late February. 

Short acted as the main military point of contact for Hegseth and is the Joint Chiefs of Staff’s representative, interacting with “Joint Staff, combatant commands, and with agencies outside of the Defense Department for policy matters and related subjects,” according to her biography. 

She graduated with a bachelor's degree in marketing from Arizona State University in 1993. Short completed Officer Training School at Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala., in 1995. She accumulated over 1,800 flight hours. 

Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair Gen. C.Q. Brown

Brown, a four-star general and former fighter pilot, was only the second African American to hold the position of chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Trump announced his termination in a post on Truth Social in February, when he also named his successor, Air Force Lt. Gen. Caine. 

“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,” Trump wrote at the time. “He is a fine gentleman and an outstanding leader, and I wish a great future for him and his family.”

Hegseth said on the “Shawn Ryan Show” that Brown should be ousted from his post along with other generals “involved” in DEI initiatives. 

Brown said in January that he planned to remain in his position despite Trump threatening to fire him once he got back to the White House. 

The chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff normally serves a four-year term. Brown began his tenure on Oct. 1, 2023. 

Brown drew scrutiny from the right over a video in 2020 where he addressed the protests around the country that were sparked by the death of George Floyd. 

“I’m thinking about how full I am with emotion, not just for George Floyd, but for the many African Americans that have suffered the same fate as George Floyd,” he said. “I’m thinking about our two sons and how we had to prepare them to live in two worlds.” 

“I’m thinking about my Air Force career where I was often the only African American in my squadron or, as a senior officer, the only African American in the room,” he added. 

U.S. Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Linda Fagan

U.S. Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Linda Fagan, who was the first female uniformed leader of a U.S. military branch, was fired by the administration less than 24 hours into Trump’s second term. The Coast Guard is under the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) umbrella. 

DHS later said that Fagan, who was the first top military officer to be ousted during Trump’s second term, got axed “because of her leadership deficiencies, operational failures, and inability to advance the strategic objectives of the U.S. Coast Guard.” 

The senior DHS official said that Fagan, who assumed her duties in June 2021, did not effectively deploy Coast Guard resources in border efforts, "especially in interdicting fentanyl and other illicit substances."

The official also criticized Fagan for "botching high-ticket purchases" such as ice breakers in the Arctic, and mishandling the fallout of "coverup" around sexual misconduct in the Coast Guard.

Upon assuming the role, Fagan inherited major recruiting challenges, which she helped reverse, meeting goals for new recruits in 2024.

Democrats said Fagan should be rewarded for how she dealt with the branch's historic lack of transparency around cases of sexual assault and misconduct.  

“The Commandant who stood up to clean up this mess instead of burying it should be rewarded, not dismissed,” Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) said on social media.

“Firing a Commandant at will by a new President also sets a bad precedent. The complexity of the Coast Guard’s diverse missions require continuity to protect lives and American interests.”