Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has fired or blocked promotions for roughly 65-70 senior military officers—about 10% of the general officer corps—in 18 months, replacing them with ideologically aligned commanders. His dismissal of Admiral Lisa Franchetti, the Navy's first female chief, and promotion of Admiral Daryl Caudill, who signaled loyalty to Hegseth's anti-DEI agenda, reveals how political ideology is displacing merit-based advancement in the military. Admiral Lisa Franchetti, confirmed 95-1 by the Senate as the Navy's first female chief, was fired by Hegseth within a month because he viewed her selection by Biden as prioritizing diversity over merit, despite her 40-year decorated career commanding destroyers and carrier strike groups.