War Secretary Pete Hegseth has directed Army Secretary Dan Driscoll to remove Col. Dave Butler from his post as the Army’s chief of public affairs and senior adviser to the secretary, sources familiar with the decision said.
The order came Thursday, marking the latest move in what has become a sweeping overhaul of senior leadership at the Pentagon.
Butler, a nearly 30-year Army veteran, had been serving as the service’s top spokesman and as a key adviser to Driscoll, who is currently in Geneva for negotiations to end the war in Ukraine.
A sudden exit
Butler’s removal follows months of reported tension between Hegseth and Driscoll over the colonel’s future.
Driscoll, an Army veteran and a close ally of Vice President JD Vance, is said to have resisted pressure from Hegseth to dismiss Butler. The two attended Yale Law School together. Driscoll has cited Butler’s role in the Army’s ongoing transformation efforts as a reason to keep him in his position.
In a statement, Driscoll praised Butler’s record.
“We greatly appreciate COL Dave Butler’s lifetime of service in America’s Army and to our nation,” Driscoll said. “Dave has been an integral part of the Army’s transformation efforts and I sincerely wish him tremendous success in his upcoming retirement after 28 years of service.”
Butler accompanied Driscoll to Ukraine in November 2025 as part of efforts to jump-start negotiations to end the war. He has been closely involved in shaping the Army’s messaging during the second Trump administration.
Promotion held up
Butler had been selected for promotion to brigadier general. His name appeared on a list of 34 officers chosen by an Army board for advancement for two consecutive years.
That list, however, has reportedly been held up by Hegseth for nearly four months. Sources say the defense secretary has concerns about four to five officers on the list, but cannot legally remove individual names once the board selects them.
According to an Army official, Butler offered to withdraw his own name if it would allow the remaining promotions to proceed.
The move underscores the broader friction surrounding personnel decisions at the Pentagon as Hegseth seeks to reshape the senior ranks.
Part of a broader overhaul
Since taking office in 2025, Hegseth has moved quickly to replace or remove several top military leaders. Shortly after his arrival, a series of high-profile officers were fired or forced into early retirement, with no detailed public explanations.
Those departures included Adm. Lisa Franchetti, then chief of naval operations; Gen. CQ Brown, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Gen. James Mingus, vice chief of the Army; Gen. Douglas A. Sims, director of the Joint Staff; Air Force Chief Gen. David Allvin; Gen. James Slife, vice chief of the Air Force; and Gen. Timothy Haugh, director of the National Security Agency.
The rapid turnover has reportedly created unease among some senior officers, who privately express concern about uncertainty at the top and hesitancy to speak candidly.
Supporters of Hegseth argue that presidents and their defense secretaries have broad authority to shape the military’s leadership team and that a change in direction sometimes requires new people in key roles.
Butler’s record
Within the Army, Butler is widely regarded as one of its most seasoned communicators.
From 2010 to 2014, he was attached to the Army’s Delta Force, serving alongside elite special operations units on overseas missions. He later served as public affairs officer for Joint Special Operations Command at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, from 2015 to 2018.
He worked closely with Gen. Scott Miller, first at Joint Special Operations Command and later in Afghanistan, where Miller deployed from 2018 to 2019. During that deployment, Butler served as chief spokesman and director of communications for all U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan.
A former four-star commander described him as “the consummate professional, the most competent Public Affairs officer I have ever worked with and a gifted practitioner of strategic communications.”
During the Army’s 250th birthday celebrations in 2025, President Donald Trump publicly recognized Butler for helping the Army chief organize the Washington parade.
For now, Butler’s removal adds another name to a growing list of senior officers caught up in a leadership reset that continues to reshape the Pentagon from the top down.
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Why?
Did Butler do something that was against Pres. Trump, or did he do something against our country?
Is he just inefficient, or is there another reason?
There may be a good reason for this action ( or not ), but we want to know WHY!