On April 8, Sean Parnell, the Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs and Chief Pentagon Spokesman, announced that SecDef Pete Hegseth had removed U.S. Navy Vice Admiral Shoshana Chatfield as the U.S. representative to NATO’s Military Committee.
Parnell explained that her removal was due to a loss of confidence in her ability to lead but thanked her for many years of service.
“Secretary Hegseth has removed U.S. Navy Vice Admiral Shoshana Chatfield from her position as U.S. representative to NATO’s military committee due to a loss of confidence in her ability to lead. The Defense Department is grateful for her many years of military service.”
Texas Democrat congresswoman Jasmine Crockett attempted to spin the narrative, only to end up potentially justifying her termination. The far-left squad member claimed that Chatfield was removed for refusing to hang President Trump’s and Hegseth’s portraits.
“They fired Navy Vice Admiral Shoshana Chatfield—not because she couldn’t do the job, but because she wouldn’t hang up pictures of Trump and Hegseth. This ain’t about merit—it’s about ego.”
However, the Pentagon Spokesman did not hesitate to school her about the military’s code of conduct. Unlike the rudderless, leaderless, and lawless Democratic Party, the military has a strict policy on insubordination and refusal to follow lawful orders.
“Congresswoman, I realize this may be a foreign concept to you but here at the DoD if you disrespect the chain of command & don’t do your job, you will be replaced. Period.”
By virtue of Trump being elected as President, who is also the Commander in Chief, and Hegseth being confirmed by Congress as the Secretary of Defense, they both have the authority to issue non-negotiable orders. If Chatfield refused to hang the portraits as ordered, it surely does not make sense for her to continue serving an institution whose leaders she does not recognize.
While she may not approve of what Trump and Hegseth are doing with the military, she is obligated to obey lawful orders regardless of personal political beliefs. The military cannot tolerate rebellious officials as that undermines its readiness and warfighting capabilities, which Trump and Hegseth promised to restore.
Meanwhile, Chatfield’s firing might be related to the Trump administration’s ongoing efforts to de-Wokify the military. The president had promised to remove woke officials from top military positions, and Chatfield was likely hired under Biden’s DEI policies and was advocating for the same.
“I want to see members of this team offer each other respect for differences, for diversity, for the dialogue from which ideas and collaboration emerge,” Chatfield said in 2019.
The admiral was also the first female president of the Naval War College, which she joined in 2019, and she rose through the ranks rather too quickly. Her continued presence in the military was likely a relic of a bygone woke era.
Chatfield’s removal is the third seemingly woke-related termination of female officers. Earlier, Trump had fired Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti and Joint Chiefs Chair Gen. C.Q. Brown.
