This article, authored by Hailey Gomez is republished under the Creative Commons “CC BY-NC-ND” license with permission from The Daily Caller News Foundation.
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth fired Navy Chief of Staff Jon Harrison on Friday, the Department of War said.
Harrison was appointed in January to lead as the Navy’s chief of staff, working alongside Navy Secretary John Phelan to implement organizational changes under Hegseth’s new leadership. A War Department official confirmed Harrison’s removal to the Daily Caller News Foundation, thanking the former chief of staff for his service.
Pete Hegseth just fired Navy Chief of Staff Jon Harrison, and that’s not a small move.
— TheCommonVoice (@MaxRumbleX) October 4, 2025
Harrison wasn’t some mid-level name, he was one of the most entrenched power players in the Pentagon, constantly clashing with new leadership.
Hegseth’s message is crystal clear: the… pic.twitter.com/rCGtD1pnam
“He will no longer serve as Chief of Staff to the Secretary of the Navy,” the statement read. “We are grateful for his service to the Department.”
According to two defense officials and a former defense official, sources told Politico that Harrison’s firing was “sudden,” coming after he and Phelan worked to implement sweeping changes in policy and budgeting offices.
The removal comes just days after retired Navy Captain and former Republican Senate candidate in Virginia Hung Cao was confirmed as Undersecretary of the Navy on Wednesday.
In July, Phelan and Harrison reportedly reassigned the top two aides who were to assist Cao as he awaited confirmation, Politico reported. The officials also planned to interview all future military assistants assigned to work with Cao, allegedly aiming to limit the influence of the role.
During his confirmation hearing in June, Cao said that “years of neglect and mismanagement” had caused issues with ships, aircraft, and submarines, adding that the department “cannot solve the problems of tomorrow with the solutions of yesterday.”
The Department has seen major leadership shakeups, including Hegseth’s firing of Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Kruse from his role as director of the Defense Intelligence Agency in August, adding to a growing list of officials removed under the new leadership.
Harrison did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.
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Where’s Tom? lololololol
“Don’t feed the troll.”
We’re going to need a bigger chainsaw. Personally I would fire the lot and start over.
The American military ethos must be to deter war through strength, or end it as quickly as possible with the least number of casualties. That can only be done with upper echelon military personnel who are war ready (their job), diligently, and valiantly attuned to their oath.
The back door political players who since WWII have colluded with academia and corporate “research and development”, to embellish themselves upon their own political veneer of stolen valor is what creates distrust that starts wars that end with grunts enduring the freezing mud and hellish jungles on logistical maps of fat Generals with pointers.