Americans Deserve Answers From Hegseth

By William H. McRaven

Thursday, June 25, 2026

 

In September 1862, General George B. McClellan, the general in chief of the Union Army, had just repelled the Confederate advance under Robert E. Lee at the Battle of Antietam. But, as Lee’s battered army retreated across the Potomac River, McClellan failed to pursue him—leaving Lee’s army mostly intact. Abraham Lincoln relieved McClellan that November for his failure to be aggressive on the battlefield. The president addressed this firing with members of his Cabinet, and made his rationale known in letters and telegrams to key leaders in Congress.

 

In 1951, after failing to follow direct orders from President Harry Truman and publicly criticizing the administration’s China policy, General Douglas MacArthur was relieved of his command and forced to retire. On April 11, 1951, Truman issued a public statement explaining exactly why he had fired MacArthur.

 

In June 2008, Secretary of Defense Bob Gates, with the approval of President George W. Bush, fired both the secretary of the Air Force, Michael Wynne, and the chief of staff of the Air Force, General Michael Mosely, for their failure to properly oversee the Air Force’s nuclear mission. On June 5, 2008, Gates held a press conference to explain his decision.

 

Every president and secretary of defense has the right and, moreover, the responsibility to remove officers who are failing to meet the high standards expected of senior leaders. But when crucial decisions regarding the professionalism, effectiveness, or morale of the military are made, the people and their duly elected representatives have a right to know why these decisions were made.

 

In recent months, President Trump, upon advice from Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, has relieved or forced the retirement of some of the finest officers that have ever served this nation. I have personally worked with most of them in combat. I can tell you from experience that Generals C. Q. Brown, Randy George, Jim Mingus, J. P. McGee, Dave Hodne, Jim Slife, and Joe Berger and Admirals Lisa Franchetti and Jamie Sands were war fighters through and through. And this week, in an egregious decision, the president forced General Chris Donahue to step down from his position in command of U.S. Army Europe. Donahue is without question one of the most brilliant officers I know. He is strategically focused, tactically aggressive, personally courageous, exceptionally thoughtful in his planning and execution, and compassionate with his troops. He has the respect of every man and woman who ever served with him—and you can put me at the top of that list.

 

What is particularly concerning about these firings is the effect the dismissals will have on the officer ranks. Throughout my time as a senior officer, I never hesitated to provide my best military advice to the secretary or the president even when that advice ran contrary to their stated position. Never once did I fear that by providing my advice I would be fired or asked to retire early. Not only was it my obligation to be forthcoming, but it was also the expectation of those leaders that I would be brutally candid. Hopefully, that level of honest engagement kept the secretary and the president from making poor military decisions. However, these recent firings raise a real risk that senior officers will be overly cautious about providing their best advice and, therefore, that the chance for military miscalculation will grow dramatically.

 

If Secretary Hegseth is trying to “revive the warrior ethos and restore trust in our military,” as he has said, then the unplanned departure of these senior leaders will do just the opposite and may leave the president and the secretary without the experienced voices they need to make the best military decisions. Members of Congress should demand answers. The American people should demand answers. The future of our national security depends on it.