Trump fires senior Navy female officer at NATO

Navy Vice Adm. Shoshana Chatfield fired by Trump administration for supporting diversity in military leadership.

The United States Navy Vice Adm. Shoshana Chatfield, the only woman on NATO's military committee, was fired over the weekend by the Trump administration, U.S. officials said Monday (April 7, 2025).

Although no reason was given, officials said it was apparently tied to comments she has made that supported diversity in the force.

According to the officials, Ms. Chatfield got a call from Adm. Christopher Grady, the acting chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and was told the administration wanted to go in a different direction with the job.

The officials said they believe the decision was made last week by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, but it was unclear whether he received any direction from President Donald Trump. Three U.S. officials spoke about the firing on condition of anonymity to discuss personnel matters.

Ms. Chatfield is the third top female officer to be fired since Mr. Trump took office. Mr. Hegseth announced in February that he was firing the chief of naval operations, Adm. Lisa Franchetti. And Mr. Trump fired Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Linda Fagan just a day after he was sworn in.

Mr. Trump and Hegseth have been vocal in their insistence that so-called woke policies are dead. There has been a vigorous campaign to remove leaders who promoted diversity, equity and inclusion, and to erase DEI programs and online content.

Ms. Chatfield was on a list of senior military officers targeted as “woke” by the conservative American Accountability Foundation, which sent a letter to Hegseth saying that “purging the woke from the military is imperative.”