US Military’s lieutenant normal Telita Crosland, the pinnacle of the navy’s well being company, retired on Friday, making her the newest senior officer to depart underneath President Donald Trump’s administration.
The retirement comes every week after Trump dismissed six senior navy officers, together with the chairman of the joint chiefs of workers and the US Navy’s first feminine chief.
Stephen Ferrara, the performing assistant secretary of protection for well being affairs, confirmed Crosland’s retirement. “I need to thank Crosland for her dedication to the nation, to the navy well being system, and to Military medication for the previous 32 years,” he mentioned in a press release.
Nevertheless, Crosland was informed she needed to retire. The officers mentioned no purpose was given for the choice, two former officers have been quoted as saying by the information company Reuters.
Crosland, who was the primary Black girl to guide the Protection Well being Company (DHA), graduated from West Level and joined the US Military as a Medical Corps officer in 1993. She beforehand served because the Military’s deputy surgeon normal, in keeping with her Protection fepartment biography.
The Pentagon, underneath protection secretary Pete Hegseth, has been shifting to eradicate range, fairness, and inclusion (DEI) applications. Hegseth has argued that these initiatives hurt unit cohesion.
“The one dumbest phrase in navy historical past is ‘our range is our energy,'” Hegseth mentioned earlier this month throughout a Pentagon city corridor. “From our perspective, why do you do away with one thing like DEI? As a result of from our perspective, it’s served a goal of dividing the power, versus uniting the power.”
Trump’s protection officers have additionally ordered an finish to id month celebrations similar to Black Historical past Month and Girls’s Historical past Month. They’ve directed the Pentagon to take away all DEI-related content material from its platforms.
The administration can also be shifting ahead with a coverage to take away all transgender service members from the navy.
