Hegseth Fired Army Chief Randy George After Bid to Halt Kid Rock Flyby Probe

3 articles · Updated · The Daily Beast · Aug 26

Days before Gen. Randy George was forced out in April, Vice Chief Gen. Christopher LaNeve told him Pete Hegseth wanted an Army review of a March Kid Rock flyby shelved, according to the Washington Post.
That review centered on two AH-64 Apache helicopters seen hovering outside Kid Rock’s Tennessee home; George wanted to check protocol and safety compliance after the singer posted video on March 28.
Hegseth had already moved publicly to kill the case, posting on March 31 that there would be “no punishment” and “no investigation,” while the pilots had initially been grounded pending the probe.
George was retired effective immediately on April 2 despite a typical four-year term running to 2027, and LaNeve has since served as acting Army chief while facing a potentially difficult Senate confirmation path.
The episode adds to scrutiny of Hegseth, who has fired more than two dozen senior military officers and did not address the reported LaNeve-George conversation as Pentagon aides dismissed the story as manufactured drama.