In early-Nov 2024‚ Donald Trumpʼs transition team started work on a major Pentagon clean-up plan thats targeting top military brass (including plans to remove Joint Chiefs of Staff members)
The post-election shake-up focuses on officers linked to former chairman Mark Milley‚ whose comments in a recently-published book called “War“ sparked controversy. The book quoted Milleyʼs harsh words about Trump:
Trump is fascist to the core
Pete Hegseth‚ Trumps pick for defense secretary position; brings his own ideas for Pentagon re-organization. His book “The War on Warriors“ published this year points to needed changes in military leadership
The plans target current Joint Chiefs chairman General C.Q. Brown and other top-level officials. Current and ex-officials raise doubts about such wide-ranging changes during active conflicts in mid-east and ukraine. However‚ Trumpʼs team believes the militarys top structure needs down-sizing
One transition team member compares the situation to WW2: when younger officers got quick promotions based on skill. They argue that todays military can handle leadership turn-over just like back then - pointing out that many thirty-something generals helped win that war
The clean-up plans include:
- Removing all Joint Chiefs members
- Firing vice chiefs of each branch
- Getting rid of Milley-connected officers
- Re-structuring top command positions
While some view these plans as early-stage ideas that might change Trumpʼs team seems determined to move forward with their military leadership make-over