US admiral at Nato fired in expanding national security purge

WASHINGTON - US Navy Vice Admiral Shoshana Chatfield, who holds a senior position in Nato, has been fired as part of what appears to be an expanding national security purge of top officials by the Trump administration, three sources told Reuters on April 7.

The information was not immediately confirmed by the Pentagon. However, the sources told Reuters that allies had been notified that Vice Adm Chatfield had been removed from her job.

Vice Adm Chatfield, the US military representative to the Nato Military Committee, is one of only a handful of female Navy three-star officers and was the first woman to lead the Naval War College, a job she held until 2023. The firing is the latest to rock the Pentagon after April 3’s removal of General Timothy Haugh, the head of the National Security Agency and US Cyber Command.

For the Navy, it follows the firing of its top officer, Admiral Lisa Franchetti, the first woman to become Chief of Naval Operations. President Donald Trump’s administration has taken a cool view of Nato, as well as European allies, since taking office in January. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth used his first trip to Nato headquarters in February to warn Europe against treating the United States like a “sucker” by making it responsible for its defence.

It was unclear if any official reason was given for Vice Adm Chatfield’s dismissal, or if it was related to any US policy direction on the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation. One source said the motive may have been related to the Pentagon’s crackdown on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.

The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In a recent Harvard Magazine interview, Vice Adm Chatfield sounded eager for a time when the qualifications of women in the military would not be held in suspicion.

The article cited one example when Vice Adm Chatfield, herself a helicopter pilot, led an MH-60S Sea Hawk expeditionary helicopter squadron in 2005-2006.

“A mid-grade sailor ... asked, ‘Ma’am, can you fly one of those helicopters?‘ And I chuckled and said, ‘Yes, actually it’s a prerequisite for this job!’“ she was quoted as saying, adding that at the time she had been wearing her wings that showed she was a naval aviator.

Mr Hegseth has made the elimination of DEI initiatives a priority, arguing they are divisive.

He has also ended observances of events such as Black History Month and Women’s History Month, issuing guidance to the US military that “efforts to divide the force – to put one group ahead of another – erode camaraderie and threaten mission execution.” In recent weeks, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General C.Q. Brown, as well as other admirals, generals and security staff have also been dismissed.

Many current and former government officials have said they worry that any national security official could be suspected of disloyalty by Mr Trump’s inner circle because of perceived links to those who have fallen out of favour or for having served key roles in the Biden administration.

Uniformed military officials are supposed to be loyal to the US Constitution and independent of any party or political movement. REUTERS