Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has asked the Army's top uniformed officer, General Randy George, to step down, the Pentagon said, as the United States wages a war against Iran.

A Pentagon official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive matter, confirmed that George has been asked to take early retirement from the post of Army chief of staff, which he has held since August 2023.

Later, the Pentagon announced George will retire from his role as the 41st Chief of Staff of the Army "effective immediately."

In a brief statement, the Department of Defense expressed appreciation for George’s decades of military service.

The department "is grateful for General George's decades of service to our nation. We wish him well in his retirement," said Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell in a statement.

The ouster of George is just the latest of more than a dozen firings of top generals and admirals by Hegseth since he first took office last year.