By Lucia I. Suarez Sang
April 4, 2026
Ousted Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George sent an outgoing message to senior Army leaders saying U.S. soldiers deserve “courageous leaders of character” after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth asked him to retire immediately. CBS News obtained and verified the email, which began circulating after George’s removal.
According to a U.S. official, George addressed the note to the undersecretary and assistant secretary of the Army and to three- and four-star generals and other senior officers on his staff. He called it the “greatest privilege” to serve alongside and lead Soldiers, urged them to stay focused on the mission, continue innovating, and push through bureaucracy so warfighters get what they need for the modern battlefield.
George also praised Soldiers as the best in the world and said they deserve tough training and leaders who lead with courage, character and grit. He expressed confidence that his successors and the Army’s leaders would keep those standards.
George was the senior military assistant to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin from 2021 to 2022 and became Army chief of staff in 2023, a post that is typically held for four years. Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said George “will be retiring from his position as the 41st Chief of Staff of the Army effective immediately,” and that the Department of Defense is grateful for his decades of service.
Gen. Christopher LaNeve, the current vice chief of staff of the Army and a former military aide to Hegseth, will serve as acting chief of staff.
Hegseth has removed more than a dozen senior officers in recent weeks, including Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. C.Q. Brown, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti, Air Force Vice Chief of Staff Gen. James Slife and Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Kruse.
Jennifer Jacobs, Eleanor Watson and James LaPorta contributed to this report.