United States Navy Vice Adm. Shoshana Chatfield, the U.S. representative to NATO’s Military Committee, was fired over the weekend, the Associated Press reported Monday.
Chatfield served as president of the U.S. Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island, from 2019 to 2023 and was the first woman to lead the college. Her promotion from rear admiral to vice admiral and assignment to NATO in Brussels, Belgium, had been held up for most of 2023 by Alabama’s Republican U.S. in protest of the Pentagon’s abortion policy.
The Pentagon did not confirm that Chatfield had been relieved of her duties. Her firing was first reported by Reuters, which confirmed that allies had been notified that Chatfield had been removed from her job.
Chatfield is the third top female officer to be fired since President Donald Trump took office amid a push to erase DEI programs and online content. Trump fired Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Linda Fagan the day after he was sworn in. In February, Department of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced he was firing the chief of naval operations, Adm. Lisa Franchetti.
“I want to see members of this team offer each other respect for differences, for diversity, for the dialogue from which ideas and collaboration emerge,” Chatfield told staff and faculty when she arrived at the War College in August 2019. “I want to see academic excellence. I want to see integrity in academics and in research.”
In a post on X, Sen. Mark Warner, a Democrat from Virginia, said he was “deeply disturbed” by the firing of Chatfield, who is a combat veteran and helicopter pilot.
“Trump’s relentless attacks on our alliances and his careless dismissal of decorated military officials make us less safe and weaken our position across the world,” Warner said.
The War College has removed a “small amount” of online content after conducting a review to comply with the Digital Content Refresh memorandum sent out by Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs Sean Parnell, said Lt. Cmdr. Pete Pagano, the college’s public affairs officer.
“Examples include social media posts about DoD monthly observances and videos of lectures focused on immutable characteristics such as race, ethnicity or sex,” Pagano said in an email. “None of the affected content was part of or related to our core curriculum.”
This story was originally published by the Rhode Island Current.
