U.S. Navy Vice Admiral Shoshana Chatfield, the only woman on the NATO military committee, was fired over the weekend by the Trump administration.
Although no reason was given, officials said the incident was apparently related to comments she made in support of diversity in law enforcement.
Some officials familiar with the facts, who preferred to remain anonymous, said they believed the decision was made last week by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. It is unclear, however, whether the Pentagon leader received any guidance from President Trump.
Chatfield is the third highest-ranking woman to be fired since Trump returned to the White House, following Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Lisa Franchetti and Coast Guard Commander Admiral Linda Fagan.
Chatfield, a former Navy helicopter pilot who also commanded a joint reconstruction team in Afghanistan, was one of 32 representatives to NATO’s military committee. For the past few months, she had come into the crosshairs of conservatives for her support of DEI programs within the ranks of law enforcement and beyond.
Some groups such as American Accountability Foundation had by then labeled her as “woke,” calling on Hegseth to remove her from office as soon as possible.
The group also claimed that the 59-year-old had posted supportive comments on LinkedIn about a diversity summit and had given a speech in 2015 at Women’s Equality Day.
The firing of the U.S. official was not applauded by all, Senator Mark Warner, Democrat of Virginia, in particular, spoke out on the affair, saying he was deeply troubled by the episode, adding: “Trump’s relentless attacks on our alliances and his careless dismissal of decorated military officials make us less safe and weaken our position across the world.”
