When Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll leaves his role, his departure will also deprive Army leadership of a champion for modernization and innovation — with consequences that could extend far beyond the tenure of his rival, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.
Prior to submitting his resignation to the president, Driscoll spoke to Donald Trump about the current state of the Army, according to a U.S. official. The secretary brought his concerns to the administration about “Army transformation and readiness and Hegseth’s blocking those efforts specifically by firing the generals who were responsible,” said a second source familiar with Driscoll’s decision.
On Monday, Hegseth had a late-afternoon meeting at the White House, right before news broke of Driscoll’s departure, according to a third source granted anonymity to discuss the secretary’s schedule.
Trump has yet to publicly comment on Driscoll’s resignation. The White House did not respond to MS NOW’s repeated requests for confirmation, though spokesperson Anna Kelly said in a statement that Driscoll “has been highly effective in advancing President Trump’s agenda to Make America Strong Again,” commending his “outstanding leadership during historic military operations, restoring an emphasis on readiness and lethality, assisting with negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, and more.”
For Driscoll, readiness meant innovating the Army, particularly drone modernization.
One of his last meetings as Army secretary was with leaders of the Mexican army last month “focused on advancing cooperation in the unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) marketplace.”
“These partnerships will expand access to unmanned aircraft systems and help get capabilities to our forces faster,” he wrote on X. “By learning from one another and working together, we can accelerate innovation.”
In January, the Army established a futuristic drone unit in Europe to study lessons from ground robots and unmanned aerial systems in the Ukraine-Russia war. The special Unmanned Assault Battalion, championed by multiple top Army officials who were later ousted by Hegseth, began last month to transition from a focus on modern drone warfare back to a regular infantry battalion.
Hegseth and now-acting Army Chief of Staff Gen. Christopher LaNeve personally directed that the drone unit be dismantled, according to a U.S. official familiar with the decision. “When you deliberately roll back a modernization effort to strengthen your force, it is unconscionable to do that to get back at someone you viewed as a political threat,” the official said.
MS NOW spoke to one former and three current U.S. officials for this article, all of whom were granted anonymity to discuss internal Army decision-making and out of a concern for reprisals. Many of those officials expressed concern that unlike many of the Army leaders ousted by Hegseth, LaNeve is not focused on the future or innovation.
An Army spokesperson said the battalion had absorbed lessons from Ukrainian forces to provide feedback to the Army to accelerate U.S. military drone dominance, and is scheduled to participate in joint exercises with NATO allies next month.
“It will deliver what it learned there, together with the past year’s findings, to the Army to inform force design and future experimentation,” the spokesperson said.
LaNeve’s aversion to Driscoll’s efforts to modernize and transform the Army has been a primary point of tension. “It felt like watching a nasty divorce of two parents who were forced to live together but neither trusted the other,” said a defense official of Driscoll’s and LaNeve’s out-of-sync relationship, adding the latter had been “extremely divisive.”
LaNeve even went so far as to publish his strategic direction for the U.S. Army focused on warfighting — in which he acknowledged a need to “master an operational environment that looks fundamentally different from the battlefields of yesterday” — while Driscoll was on vacation.
“The work of change continues,” LaNeve wrote as he emphasised a back-to-basics approach. “Today we emphasize the fundamentals of Soldiering, ensuring a strong grounding in warrior ethos, individual Soldier readiness, and small unit tactical skills.”
A second Army official said criticism of LaNeve is “ill informed.”
“He is focused on ensuring the Army is prepared to field lethal units ready to win against rapidly evolving threats,” the Army official told MS NOW, noting the Army would be having conversations in the coming weeks about how to build its forces under LaNeve’s guidance.
LaNeve has pushed to implement a more strict Army with tighter grooming standards, uniform changes and physical fitness test updates. In an unusual move, he has also required his staff to sign nondisclosure agreements, adding to a lack of transparency and communication within the Army, according to two U.S. officials. The Army official said NDAs are common when handling classified national security information.
“Driscoll was leaning toward building a lethal, ready, modern force, and it seems like he’s resigned in protest over some of the other folks’ attempts to undermine that and to stop that from happening,” said one source.
Hegseth’s Pentagon purge has spanned multiple branches of the military, but has been felt deeply in the senior ranks of the Army.
In one instance, Hegseth gave Driscoll the option of firing either then-Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George or then-Vice Chief of Staff Gen. James Mingus to make way for LaNeve, a Hegseth ally, according to a defense official. While Mingus’ firing bought more time for George, both were ultimately forced out of their roles.
As for Driscoll’s replacement, Under Secretary of the Army Mike Obadal — described by one U.S. official as “very smart, very capable, very polished” — is, by law, expected to perform the duties of secretary until a replacement is confirmed by the Senate. But two U.S. officials said Department of Defense chief spokesperson Sean Parnell has made it clear Hegseth had promised him the role once Driscoll departed.
While Driscoll’s ouster could lead to further departures among senior Army leaders, current and former defense officials are worried the appointment of Parnell would accelerate the resignations.
“There’s already a ‘them versus us’ [mentality] with LaNeve, and that divide would only grow deeper if Parnell takes the seat,” a U.S. official said.
A third source familiar with Driscoll’s decision to resign said the lasting effects may not be fully felt for a generation.
“The history books might look back and say this was that point where the Army was no longer prepared: It lost its advocates for modernization and its ability to achieve these goals and pursue these things, which is what we needed,” the source told MS NOW. “Because in the Army, if you get into conflict and you’re not as prepared as you need to be, the cost is American lives.”
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