Dan Caldwell

Dan Caldwell

The Pentagon has had a busy time of late, personnel-wise, with three top officials abruptly escorted out the door earlier this month and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s chief of staff also suddenly departing for a different Department of Defense (DOD) position.

The three terminated employees were serving in the following positions:

• Marine Corps veteran Dan Caldwell: senior policy adviser to Secretary Hegseth
• Retired Air Force officer Darin Selnick: deputy chief of staff
• Former Marine Corps intelligence officer and combat veteran Colin Carroll: chief of staff to Deputy Defense Secretary Feinberg

The media have been trying to spin the events as having to do with unsubstantiated “leaks” and “office politics.” However, in a 90-minute interview on the Tucker Carlson Show on April 21, Caldwell concurred with Carlson’s ventured opinion that the ouster could instead have had something to do with Caldwell’s frankly expressed opposition to a war with Iran and his desire to “right-size America’s defense priorities.” Caldwell sensibly told Carlson:

“I think it is fair to say that a war with Iran risks being incredibly costly in terms of lives and dollars and instability in the Middle East…. [T]hat is very obvious to anybody who’s been watching the region for a while…. [P]eople recognize it’s in no one’s interest to have a major war in the Middle East.”

To explain the push for a war that makes no sense, Caldwell suggested that it is easier for many at DOD to keep doing what they’ve been doing rather than try something new. Caldwell clearly has studied history, however, and recognizes that “decisions that we make in a certain moment, very focused on one thing, have second- and third-order consequences.”

We look forward to seeing where Caldwell and his two colleagues next decide to apply their talents and integrity.