Donald Trump has replaced the Trump-appointed chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff/ General CQ Brown Jr. the US Joint Chiefs of Staff leadership is now in tumult. The new commander of U.S. Central Command will replace Brown, a 16-month-old appointee who was the second Black general to hold that job.
It adds to Trump’s campaign to reinvent military leadership, sweeping in officials who were staunch supporters of diversity and inclusion projects.
Brown was foundational to U.S. military planning, especially in the battles of Ukraine and West Asia. 
This has led to worries in the Pentagon, and on Capitol Hill by top congressional members.
President Trump named Air Force Lt. Gen. Dan “Razin” Caine in a tweet as the top commander on Tuesday thanks to Gen. Brown for his 25 years of service. Caine is air force pilot with experience in Iraq and special ops, yet lacks several of the qualifications needed for that role but Trump can get around these obstacles with an executive waiver.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, an ardent critic of diversity programs within the armed forces also dismissed Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti and Air Force Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Jim Slife. The administration’s moves were a clear escalatory step in military policy and leadership.
Brown’s departure is a sign that something has shifted at the Pentagon, with warnings from critics of growing instability within the U.S. defense establishment. Trump has gone all in to take hold of the military hierarchy as he tries and molds an administration for terms two.
