Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth has ordered Army Secretary Dan Driscoll to remove Col. Dave Butler from his position as chief of Army public affairs and chief adviser to Driscoll, according to Fox News. Driscoll is currently in Geneva serving on the negotiating team working to end the war in Ukraine, Fox News reported.
Butler previously served as head of public affairs for the Joint Chiefs of Staff when Gen. Mark Milley was chairman. He had been slated to receive his first star. His name appeared for two consecutive years on an Army list of 34 officers selected for promotion. That promotion list has been on hold for nearly four months.
Hegseth reportedly has concerns about four to five officers selected by the Army board. By law, he cannot remove those officers from the list. According to an Army official, Butler volunteered to remove his own name from consideration if doing so would allow the remaining promotions to move forward.
Driscoll, an Army veteran and close ally of Vice President JD Vance who attended Yale Law School with him, had resisted pressure for months to remove Butler.
Driscoll cited Butler’s contributions to the Army’s transformation efforts.
“We greatly appreciate COL Dave Butler’s lifetime of service in America’s Army and to our nation,” Driscoll said in a statement.
“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 traveled with Driscoll to Ukraine in November 2025 to help restart negotiations. The demand from Hegseth came on Thursday, according to Fox News.
Since entering the Pentagon in 2025, Hegseth has removed or forced into early retirement several top military officers without publicly providing reasons.
Those officers include Adm. Lisa Franchetti, who was serving as chief of naval operations.
Gen. CQ Brown, who was chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was also removed.
Gen. James Mingus, who was vice chief of the Army, and Gen. Douglas A. Sims, director of the Joint Staff, were among those affected.
Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin and Gen. James Slife, vice chief of the Air Force, were also removed.
Gen. Timothy Haugh, who was serving as director of the National Security Agency, was also among those who departed.
The unexplained removals have created fear and uncertainty among some senior military leaders.
Butler has long been regarded as one of the Army’s most effective communicators.
He served alongside the nation’s special operations units during missions overseas and was attached to the Army’s Delta Force from 2010 to 2014.
He later served as public affairs officer to Joint Special Operations Command at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, from 2015 to 2018.
He worked as a public affairs officer for Gen. Scott Miller when Miller led Joint Special Operations Command from 2016 to 2018.
At Miller’s request, Butler deployed to Afghanistan when Miller was sent there from 2018 to 2019.
During that time, Butler served as chief spokesman and director of communications for all United States and NATO forces while Miller was the top four-star general in Afghanistan.
A former four-star commander who once led the United States Special Operations Command described Butler in strong terms.
“He was 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 celebration in 2025, President Donald Trump recognized Butler by name for helping organize the parade in Washington, D.C.
