So is the rumor that the Army Chief was removed for refusing to

[malaise]

obey illegal orders?

[leftstreet]

1. Illegal, or just stupid

Rumors I like:

Last week or so Trump was rambling in a press conference about going into Iran and taking their "nuclear dust," which meant enriched uranium.

Hegseth probably put together a "plan" to do it. A bunch of generals and officers get fired, probably because they said HELL NO to the plan. Trump/Hegseth go ahead with it

And this current fantasy story about "the rescue mission" was most likely the failure of that plan, and Trump's just gaslighting to cover it up

[malaise]

3. I saw rumors about

Ground troops.
Both could be right.

[leftstreet]

4. Yep

Just enough ground troops to go get Trump's nuclear fairy dust

What a trainwreck

[Strelnikov_]

9. '. . . most likely the failure of that plan'

Hmm . . that's some food for thought.

Two C-130's, etc., with compliment, seemed a bit much for a extraction which is usually done with a 'light' footprint.

[H2O Man]

2. Recommended.

He was indeed removed for his opposition to the war plans.

[Dan]

5. I read that

He refused to take the two females and two black officers off the list for promotion to 1 star general.

You know the racism and misogyny is strong in this administration.

[malaise]

6. Yes I did hear that a few days ago

Could be all of the above

[wnylib]

23. I read the same thing about refusing to take

qualified people off of the promotion list on the basis of race and gender.

Disagreement with the war plan might also have bern a factor. A general with the integrity to refuse to discriminate could also have the integrity to disagree with unlawful orders.

[Ruby the Liberal]

35. Refusing a direct order vs refusing an illegal one

Good point - that is a great cover story.

Does a military coup require that leadership be actively serving? Asking for a friend.

[Kaleva]

7. Army Ch of Staff doesn't have direct operational control of units

[malaise]

8. Please explain

I am quite ignorant on these matters

[AverageOldGuy]

13. Here is the organization

The military services each have a senior flag officer -- general (Army, Air Force, Marine Corps) or admiral (Navy). They are known as: Chief of Staff of the Army, Chief of Staff of the AF, Chief of Naval Operations, Commandant of Marine Corps. Together they are the JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF. They are responsible for recruiting; training; organizing; supplying; maintaining readiness. They ADVISE the civilian leadership -- that is Secretaries of the Army, Navy (including the Marine Corps), and Air Force. THEY DO NOT COMMAND UNITS. General Randy George was Army Chief of Staff.

COMMAND OF UNITS IN COMBAT is the job of the COMBATANT COMMANDERS. A combatant commander (CCDR) is a four-star general or admiral in charge of a Unified Combatant Command (COCOM).

A COCOM is responsible for conducting U.S. military operations in a specific geographic region or for a global mission. The Combatant Commanders report directly to the President and Secretary of Defense and they exercise command over all service forces (Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Space Force) in their area. A COCOM has units from Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps assigned to it to conduct combat in their geographic area (and other non-combat missions -- for example, earthquake and disaster relief; training of indigenous forces in their area).

For example: PACOM -- US Indo-Pacific Command -- is responsible for all military operations from the West Coast of the US into the Indian Ocean. The Army's 25th Infantry Division (based in Hawaii) and the 11th Airborne Division (based in Alaska) belong to PACOM -- CINCPAC (Commander-in-Chief Pacific Command) sends them to war, controls all their combat operations. Because that area is mostly water, CINCPAC is an admiral. The Chief of Staff of the Army is responsible to ensure that the Army divisions are trained, equipped, etc. (When John McCain -- a Navy pilot -- was shot down over North Vietnam, his father, Admiral McCain, was CINCPAC -- commander of all forces in and around Vietnam. The Vietnamese referred to McCain as "a crown prince" and, in deference to his father, they offered to release McCain. McCain refused to be released unless all US prisoners were released; his father refused to accept his release. McCain remained in captivity for over 6 years, came home only when all others were released.)


Geographic Combatant Commands
These commands are responsible for specific areas of responsibility (AOR):
U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM): Stuttgart, Germany.
U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM): MacDill Air Force Base, Florida (Middle East, Central/South Asia).
U.S. European Command (EUCOM): Stuttgart, Germany.
U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM): Camp H.M. Smith, Hawaii.U.S.
Northern Command (NORTHCOM): Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado (Homeland defense).
U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM): Doral, Florida (Central/South America).

Functional Combatant Commands -- Global Missions
These commands manage global specialized operations:
U.S. Cyber Command (CYBERCOM): Fort Meade, Maryland.
U.S. Space Command (SPACECOM): Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado.
U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM): MacDill Air Force Base, Florida.
U.S. Strategic Command (STRATCOM): Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska (Strategic deterrence).
U.S. Transportation Command (TRANSCOM): Scott Air Force Base, Illinois.


So -- the command of troops on the ground, at sea, or in the air goes from: President to Secretary of Defense to Combatant Command. The Chiefs of Staff are welcome to -- and they do -- advise, comment on, critique plans and actions by the Combatant Commanders although they have no authority to, say, issue orders to the 25th Infantry Division -- CINPAC alone does that, CINCPAC's orders come from the President through the SECDEF.

In the end it is the President's decision. Wise presidents listen to the Chiefs of Staff, to the Combatant Commands, and the civilian leadership. Shit-for-brains presidents watch John Wayne movies.

[malaise]

14. Thank you my friend

A great presentation.
I learn so much here at DU.

[Prof. Toru Tanaka]

20. AverageOldGuy, thanks for the post.

It’s been decades since my USAF service ended so this was not only a refresher course for information but it also taught me some new information.

[RetiredParatrooper]

21. Mostly correct

Using your example, the 25th ID and 11th Airborne:

They are home-based in INDOPACOM. If they deploy to say, Iran, they are OPCON to CENTCOM - that is who they will answer to until they redeploy.

[malaise]

38. Thanks

Rec

[AverageOldGuy]

22. And read the Old Paratrooper's comment

[druidity33]

34. That was a Very informative post. Thank you. nt, K&R.

[malaise]

37. Thanks to you I can now follow the discussion on Nicole with

with Rep Chrissy Houlahan about illegal orders.
Thanks again 😀

[Kaleva]

15. I'm no expert either but AverageOkdGuy gave an excellent explanation

[malaise]

18. Yes indeed - that was excellent

Rec

[SergeStorms]

25. And I'm quite certain....

he's far from an "AverageOldGuy." Call it a hunch. 😉

[malaise]

27. Had the same thought

😀

[popsdenver]

10. Just as the Plethera of

Top Generals and Admirals that he has already obliterated.............Getting ready for a military coup, so he has the U.S. Military to back him up when he institutes the Insurrection Act, and has the entire U.S. Military to establish Martial Law.....
That is how Dictators/Tyrants do it........

[flamingdem]

11. That sounds right. He's using the opportunity to ferret out

anyone that won't follow his orders.

Yikes!

[calimary]

26. Yep.

It has me wondering when, and how (and how soon) all of this is finally going to go kablooey. And on whom? Trump WILL throw everybody and everything out of the lifeboat, one by one, until he runs out of people to throw out.

At the end, all the shit and all the chicanery, and all the wheeling and dealing, and all the MANY kinds of violations he needs to answer for. He may be dead by then. But that doesn’t end his story, his lies, his cheating, his sins, his manipulations and tricks, his vindictiveness, or anything else he doesn’t want in the history books about him.

[popsdenver]

31. People keep saying Trump

when in all reality, it is the Republicans in the House and Senate, as well as the USSC that have enabled him every day last term, and every day this term.......and they don't need to go the 25th Amendment, They could do the articles of impeachment in the Morning, and vote on it that afternoon?
Even if Trump goes away, the group that is giving him his marching orders most of the time, (Stephen Miller/2025), will still be in power and put someone in that will follow orders with out all the drama and fan fair. The Republican Party will use Trump as a scapegoat for all that has happened............and claim their innocence and their MAGAots will swallow it.......

[flamingdem]

33. That's a nasty scenario

Never thought of how Trump could be the scapegoat.

Miller is probably plotting this. Or Thiel.

[returnee]

36. TSF is a patsy...

…now seeing how he has allowed himself to be used by way brighter sociopaths, drowning in the mire of his own greed. The irony is (with a complacent military) he could blow the world to hell. How they all forget: ultimately we’re all in the same boat.

[AverageOldGuy]

16. Well, let's talk about that

The Generals and Admirals who have been shit-canned by Trump could get together and decide to remove him from office by force. Which raises a few questions:

1. When they announce their intention, what do the acitve, Reserve, and National Guard units do? Do they line up with the generals and admirals who declared the coup and march on the White House, or, do they respond to orders from Pete Hogsbreath and Trump and stay in the barracks?

2. What does Trump's private army -- ICE -- do?

3. Secret Service?

In my dreams, the officers that Hogsbreath and Trump fired would declare a coup, everyone in uniform would declare their allegiance to them. The Army's 3d Infantry Regiment would march from Ft. Myer in DC and surround the White House where the Secret Service would already have thrown in with the coup leaders and arrested Trump, Vance, Miller and Hogsbreath, who would be hanged on the National Mall while the Trump family flees to Saudi Arabia in their 757 only to be shot down by a couple of pissed off F-15 crews. The coup leaders would install Hillary as President and AOC as VP. Mar-A-Lago becomes a homeless shelter. But then I wake up and it's the same bunch of incompetent assholes in charge.

[popsdenver]

32. That is why Trump has made DC

an armed fortress with Military, National Guard, FBI, ATF, ICE, Border Patrol, etc.........

[wnylib]

24. Timothy Snyder, author of On Tyranny, is saying the same thing.

[malaise]

39. He will try but everyone knows what's up

I’m betting he will fail at this too. He is a natural born loser.

[red dog 1]

12. Kick!

In the meantime, can we just lock the unhinged orange bastard up?

— Ernie (@erniepf.bsky.social) 2026-04-06T20:07:04.167Z

[evilhime]

17. I believe it

"In a farewell email to the Pentagon, outgoing Army Chief of Staff General Randy George urged that US soldiers deserve nothing short of "courageous leaders of character," those willing to speak truth to power, even when it is uncomfortable.” I think the secdrunk gave as his excuse the Gen. George and others he got rid of did not carry out trump’s vision - translation to me is that they refused to carry out what they considered illegal (war crimes) orders.

[SSJVegeta]

19. This is dangerous territory when considering the military but: Illegal orders

Can and should be refused. Even if it is an illegal firing? Or no...?

[Kid Berwyn]

28. Not a rumor.

Based on racism and mysogyny, Trump prevented the Congressionally mandated promotions of four qualified US Army colonels to brigadier general. The Secretary of the Army and the Army Chief of Staff said they should be promoted. Secretary of War Crimes Kegsbreath, however, intervened, illegally.

ETA: ID Whiskey Pete w/all DU respeck.

[malaise]

29. From the Guardian - Trump threats cause dilemma for US officers: disobey orders or commit war crimes

https://www.theguardian.com/law/2026/apr/06/trump-threats-dilemma-for-officers-disobey-orders-or-commit-war-crimes

Donald Trump’s threats to carry out mass bombing of civilian infrastructure in Iran present US military officers with a dilemma: disobey orders or help commit war crimes.

It is an urgent matter for the US chain of command. In an expletive-laden threat, Trump set a Tuesday 8pm Washington time deadline for the Iranian government to open the strait of Hormuz or face “Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one”.

He wrote on his Truth Social platform on Sunday: “There will be nothing like it!!! Open the Fuckin’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell.”

Three days earlier, the president had made clear what he meant by “Power Day”.

[usonian]

30. IIRC, Refused to "pass over" officers due for promotion.

IIRC, many of these below were outright shitcanned from the start.



An officer being passed over for promotion is like a pink slip.