General Randy George stepped down with “immediate effect” as chief of staff of the U.S. Army late Thursday night, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell announced.
Parnell used social media site X – formerly Twitter – to confirm the departure of Gen. George that comes after he has held the post for two years. No further details were offered.
General Randy A. George will be retiring from his position as the 41st Chief of Staff of the Army effective immediately. The Department of War is grateful for General George’s decades of service to our nation. We wish him well in his retirement.
Gen. George took his post in September 2023 on the nomination of then-President Joe Biden. The term of service usually carries a fixed four-year period.
AFP reports that during a nearly four-decade military career, George deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan multiple times and also served in positions including vice chief of staff of the Army and senior military assistant to Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin during Joe Biden’s term as president.
Last year, the Pentagon chief additionally ordered at least a 20 percent cut in the number of active-duty four-star generals and admirals in the US military, as well as a 10 percent cut in the overall number of general and flag officers, the AFP report further notes.
UPI reports Gen. Randy George will be replaced by Gen. Christopher LaNeve, who is currently the Army’s vice chief of staff, as acting chief until an official replacement is confirmed by the Senate.
Parnell said LaNeve, who was the Vice Chief of Staff, is “a battle-tested leader with decades of operational experience and is completely trusted by Secretary Hegseth to carry out the vision of this administration without fault”.
The BBC notes over his 36 years of service, LaNeve has led several teams, including the Eighth Army in South Korea and the 82nd Airborne Division.
He has also served in multiple deployment combat missions, including in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Follow Simon Kent on Twitter: Follow @SunSimonKent or e-mail to: [email protected]
Read the full article here