Hegseth orders Army Secretary to remove Col Butler from public affairs role

Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth has ordered Military Secretary Dan Driscoll to fireplace Col. Dave Butler from his present job as head of Military public affairs and chief adviser to Driscoll, who’s at the moment in Geneva on the negotiating staff to finish the struggle in Ukraine, Fox Information has discovered.

Butler was head of public affairs for the Joint Chiefs when Gen. Mark Milley was chairman, and he would obtain his first star. His identify appeared two years in a row on an Military record of 34 officers chosen for promotion.

That record has been maintained by Hegseth for nearly 4 months as a result of he’s reportedly involved about 4 to 5 officers chosen by the military administration, however he can’t legally take away them from the record. Based on an Military official, Butler volunteered to take his identify off the promotion record if it will assist unlock the opposite promotions.

Hegseth pressured the Military to fireplace Col. Dave Butler, pictured right here with CNN host Pamela Brown, Fox has discovered. (Paul Morigi/Getty Photos for Normal Catalyst Institute)

Driscoll, an Military veteran and shut ally of Vice President J.D. Vance — he studied with the vice chairman at Yale Regulation Faculty — had for months resisted Hegseth’s push to fireplace Butler due to his continued contributions to reworking the navy.

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“We enormously recognize COL Dave Butler’s lifetime of service to the U.S. Military and to our nation,” Driscoll mentioned in a press release. “Dave has been an integral a part of the Military’s transformation efforts and I sincerely want him large success in his upcoming retirement after 28 years of service.”

Butler traveled to Ukraine with Driscoll in November 2025 to kick-start the negotiations.

Hegseth’s demand got here Thursday, Fox Information has discovered.

Fox Information has discovered that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth has ordered Military Secretary Dan Driscoll to fireplace Col. Dave Butler from his present place as chief of public affairs for the Military and chief adviser to Driscoll. (Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP)

Hegseth went to the Pentagon in 2025 and instantly started firing high officers or forcing them into early retirement with out clarification or motive: Admiral Lisa Franchetti, who served as chief of naval operations; Normal CQ Brown, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Workers; Gen. James Mingus, who served as vice chief of workers; Gen. Douglas A. Sims, director of the Joint Workers; Chief of Workers of the Air Pressure Gen. David Allvin; Gen. James Slife, vice chief of the Air Pressure; and Gen. Timothy Haugh, director of the Nationwide Safety Company, amongst others.

The unexplained dismissals have created concern, uncertainty and reluctance to talk out amongst senior navy leaders.

Driscoll, an Military veteran and shut ally of Vice President J.D. Vance, had resisted strain from Hegseth for months to fireplace Butler due to his contributions to reworking the navy. (Cheriss Could/Getty Photos)

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One of many Military’s high communicators, Butler served with the nation’s particular operations models on quite a few abroad missions from 2010 to 2014, hooked up to the Military’s Delta Pressure.

From 2015 to 2018, he served as a public affairs officer on the Joint Particular Operations Command (JSOC) at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. He labored as a public affairs officer for Gen. Scott Miller when he was commander of the Joint Particular Operations Command from 2016 to 2018. He then served in Afghanistan, at Miller’s request, when Miller was deployed there from 2018 to 2019.

Butler was chief spokesperson and director of communications for all U.S. and NATO forces through the time Miller was the highest four-star normal in Afghanistan.

Driscoll is at the moment in Geneva and a part of the negotiating staff to finish the struggle in Ukraine. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Service by way of AP)

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A former four-star commander who as soon as commanded U.S. Particular Operations mentioned Butler was “the consummate skilled, probably the most competent Public Affairs officer I’ve ever labored with and a gifted practitioner of strategic communications.”

Throughout the 2025 celebration of the Military’s 250th anniversary, President Donald Trump acknowledged Butler by identify for serving to the Military chief arrange the parade in Washington, DC.