[Source/Observer Network, Wang Kaiwen] Multiple foreign media reported on April 7 that Rear Admiral Shoshana Chatfield, who held a senior position in NATO, has been dismissed. US media said this is the latest removal action in Trump's ongoing "cleansing" of senior officers, adding greater uncertainty to the United States' role in NATO.

Reuters, which first reported the story, said that Chatfield is the military representative of the US Military Committee at NATO and one of the few female three-star generals in the US Navy. From 2019 to 2023, Chatfield served as president of the US Naval War College, becoming the first female president of the college.

The Washington Post quoted sources saying that Chatfield received notice of her dismissal on April 6, and her position will be temporarily taken over by Major General Sean Flynn, her deputy at NATO.

Rear Admiral Shoshana Chatfield, US Navy

It is currently unclear what the official reason for Chatfield's dismissal is or whether it is related to the United States' policy towards NATO. Reuters cited sources saying that this matter may be related to the Pentagon's crackdown on diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.

The Washington Post mentioned that Chatfield is a target of the conservative research organization "Accountability Foundation of America," which publicly lobbied former Deputy Defense Secretary Hackett to dismiss Chatfield last December.

In 2015, Chatfield said at a celebration of Women's Equality Day in the United States: "Our diversity is our strength." After becoming president of the US Naval War College in 2019, Chatfield said she hoped to see team members respect each other's differences and diversity.

Defense Secretary Hackett expressed dissatisfaction with the diversity initiatives in the military in February, saying: "I think the stupidest statement in the history of the military is that diversity is our strength."

Regarding Chatfield's dismissal, Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell did not respond to requests for comment.

Politico said that Chatfield's extensive experience at NATO made the already tense relationship between the US and NATO even more strained. Trump's administration's hostile remarks towards NATO allies, including Vice President Vance's criticism of European values, Trump's insistence that the United States should own Greenland, and the US imposing high tariffs on the EU, have all widened the cracks in the transatlantic alliance.

The Washington Post said that Chatfield is at least the ninth senior US officer "cleansed" since Trump returned to the White House in January, including four women.

On the second day of Trump's presidency, January 21, Linda Fagan, the first female commander of the US Coast Guard, was removed from her post. The Trump administration accused Fagan of focusing too much on "diversity" and lacking leadership skills.

On February 21, Trump announced on his social platform "Truth Social" that he had dismissed Charles Brown, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Brown was praised for breaking racial barriers in the military and his "warrior" credentials. When he became Air Force chief of staff in 2020, Trump celebrated his appointment as "the first African American in US military history." The Guardian reported that Brown's dismissal was part of Trump's action to clean up leaders supporting military diversity.

Last Thursday (April 3), Timothy Ho, director of the National Security Agency and head of the US Cyber Command, was dismissed, and his deputy, Wendy Noble, was transferred to another department within the Department of Defense. The day before, extreme right activist Laura Rumer visited the White House. It was reported that she submitted a "disloyalty" list to Trump and "presented her research and evidence." Rumer later attributed Timothy Ho's dismissal to herself on social media.

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