Story by Michael R. Gordon
Retired Gen. CQ Brown© Andrew Harnik/Associated Press
CQ Brown, the retired general forced out of his post as the nation’s top military officer last year, has provided his most direct critique of the Trump administration’s handling of the U.S. military, questioning the deployment of troops in U.S. cities and warning against tainting the armed forces’ service with politics.
In an essay published Friday with two co-authors, Brown cautioned that sending the military into American cities for “politically contentious missions” like fighting crime risked compromising its traditionally apolitical role and diverting it from its combat mission.
His essay in Foreign Affairs magazine followed an appearance the previous week when he voiced concerns about the Pentagon’s moves to strike officers from military promotion lists and push high-ranking personnel into retirement.
“What is starting to happen now, it is not about merit,” Brown said at a discussion of civil-military relations hosted by the Aspen Institute. “All of these people who are being removed are very well experienced.”
His comments came as panelists at the discussion addressed efforts by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and his aides to remove officers from promotion lists and push others toward retirement, such as Gen. Chris Donahue, who officially relinquished his post Thursday as the top Army officer in Europe after the Pentagon downgraded his command.