The Pentagon on Tuesday confirmed Vice Admiral Shoshana Chatfield has been removed from her position as the U.S. military representative to NATO’s military committee, making her at least the ninth senior military officer forced out by the Trump administration.
“Secretary [Pete] 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,” Pentagon chief spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement. “The Defense Department is grateful for her many years of military service.”
The military committee at NATO is made up of senior military officers, usually three-star admirals or generals, from NATO member countries who represent their chiefs of defense.
Chatfield had been targeted in the past for comments she made about diversity, equity and inclusion. During Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s monthslong hold on general officer nominations in 2023, he reposted on social media a list from the conservative group American Accountability Foundation singling out officers who espoused what the group alleged as “woke” values.
Chatfield was singled out in part because of a presentation she gave on Women’s Equality Day in 2015 that included a slide that said “investing in gender equality and women’s empowerment can unlock human potential on a transformational scale.”
Chatfield’s firing marks at least the ninth firing of a senior military officer and the fourth female senior officer forced out by the Trump administration.
Others already fired include Adm. Linda Fagan, the commandant of the Coast Guard; Gen. C.Q. Brown Jr, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs; Admiral Lisa Franchetti, the Chief of Naval Operations; Gen. James Slife, the Vice Chief of Staff of the Air Force; Lt. Gen. Joseph B. Berger III, Judge Advocate General of the Army; Lt. Gen. Charles Plummer, Judge Advocate General of the Air Force; Lt Gen. Jennifer Short, Senior Military Assistant to the Secretary of Defense; Gen. Timothy Haugh, Director of the National Security Agency and head of U.S. Cyber Command.
Democratic Sen. Mark Warner posted on social media that he is “deeply disturbed” by Chatfield’s firing.
“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,” Warner said.
Hegseth, even before he was President Trump’s pick to lead the Pentagon, had advocated for firing any officers involved in diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.
“First of all, you’ve got to fire the chairman of the Joint Chiefs,” Hegseth said on ‘The Shawn Ryan Show’ last November. “But any general that was involved — general, admiral, whatever — that was involved in any of the DEI woke s*** has got to go.”
Chatfield, according to her biography from the Navy, graduated from Boston University in 1987 and went on to become a helicopter pilot, flying SH-3, CH-46D, and MH-60S. She later commanded the Helicopter Combat Support Squadron HC-5 and Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron HSC-25 as well as led a joint provincial reconstruction team in Farah Province, Afghanistan, in 2008.
Her most recent assignment, before heading to NATO, was president of the Naval War College, where she was the first woman to hold the position.
Chatfield’s firing also comes as the Trump administration weighs plans about the footprint of U.S. forces in Europe and is pressuring members of NATO to spend more on their own defense.
“We have not said in any way that we’re abandoning our allies in Europe,” Hegseth said in February during a visit to Europe, adding that there had been no decisions on troop levels.
“But there is a recognition that the ambitions of the communist Chinese are a threat to free people everywhere, to include America’s interests in the Pacific,” Hegseth said in February.
