Lt. Gen. Dan Caine, a relatively unknown figure, replaced Gen. C.Q. Brown as chairman of the Joint Chiefs in a Friday night upheaval at the Pentagon directed by Defense Sec. Pete Hegseth.

The retired Air Force general announced as the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff by President Donald Trump after the abrupt Friday night firing of his predecessor is a respected career F-16 pilot who is described by current and former officials who served with him as a professional with a “strong moral center.

In a historic and unprecedented move, the Trump administration on Friday night fired the Joint Chiefs chairman, the Navy's top officer, the Air Force vice chief of staff, and the judge advocates general of three service branches.

Pete Hegseth, secretary of defense and a 2025 Wash100 Award winner, has announced the intention of President Donald Trump to nominate retired Lt. Gen. Dan “Razin” Caine as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. In a press release published Friday, Hegseth also called for the nomination of key military positions.

In an unprecedented purge of the military’s senior leadership Friday night, President Donald Trump fired the top US general just moments before his defense secretary fired the chief of the US Navy and the vice chief of the Air Force.

President Donald Trump’s choice to be the top U.S. military officer, retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Dan Caine, endeared himself to the commander in chief through his military call sign, “Razin,” during a

President Donald Trump fired Air Force Gen. CQ Brown Jr. as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on Friday. The move sidelines only the second Black general to serve as chairman.

Caine, a retired F-16 pilot, will be promoted to four-star general, and then have to undergo a potentially grueling Senate confirmation process.

Caine, a three-star general whom Trump has praised since at least 2019, helped lead an operation in Iraq against the Islamic State during Trump’s first term.