Hegseth Fires Navy’s Top Officer
Adm. Lisa Franchetti spent roughly half of her 40-year career at sea, commanding a destroyer, two 
carrier strike groups and the U.S. Sixth Fleet.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Friday that he was firing Adm. Lisa Franchetti, the first female officer to rise to the Navy’s top job of chief of naval operations, and would be looking for her replacement.
The announcement came in a statement emailed to reporters Friday night, shortly after President Trump said he was firing Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Mr. Hegseth said in his statement that he would also replace Gen. James C. Slife, the Air Force’s vice chief of staff, as well as the top uniformed lawyers for the Army, Navy and Air Force.
Both Admiral Franchetti and General Slife “have had distinguished careers,” Mr. Hegseth said, adding “We thank them for their service and dedication to our country.”
“Under President Trump, we are putting in place new leadership that will focus our military on its core mission of deterring, fighting and winning wars,” he added.
According to her official biography, Admiral Franchetti received her commission in 1985 through the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps program at Northwestern University, just seven years after the Navy ended its prohibition on women serving on ships at sea.
She became a surface warfare officer at a time when women joining the fleet in that role were typically limited to serving on auxiliary ships — noncombat vessels that carry cargo, fuel, ammunition or specialized equipment to repair submarines.
The prohibition against women serving on warships ended in 1993, opening the door for officers like Admiral Franchetti to compete equally with their male counterparts. Women were not allowed on submarines, however, until 2010.
She spent roughly half of her 40-year career at sea, rising to command the destroyer U.S.S. Ross, and later a destroyer squadron, two aircraft carrier strike groups, all naval forces in Korea and the Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean Sea.
