Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has removed the personnel who provided the protection and security clearance to former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley.
Mr. Hegseth has also ordered the Pentagon's inspector general to investigate Mr. Milley's actions in his role as the country's top military officer to determine whether he committed violations that could lead to his demotion.
The news was confirmed by two defense officials on Tuesday evening.
Pentagon spokesman John Ullyot said the inspector general is expected to investigate the facts and circumstances surrounding General Milley's conduct so that the defense secretary can determine whether a review of his rank is needed.
Mr. Ullyot said Mr. Hegseth had briefed General Milley on the decisions.
Mr. Milley served as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during President Donald Trump's first term.
Initially, relations between them were good, but they deteriorated deeply and rapidly, as General Milley attempted to advise and obstruct Mr. Trump's actions on a number of issues.
He opposed the president when the latter spoke of using force to quell the protests that swept the country following the death of African-American George Floyd at the hands of the police.
Mr. Milley, meanwhile, was at the center of a controversy in 2021, due to a phone call without the knowledge of the White House with his Chinese counterpart.
Mr. Trump called the call an act of treason, but at the time Mr. Milley said they were routine conversations and part of his job.
In his final days in office, which coincided with the arrival of the new Biden administration and while Mr. Trump was leaving office, Mr. Milley openly expressed his positions against former President Trump.
At the official ceremony on the occasion of his retirement, he said that "we do not swear before a king, queen, a tyrant or a dictator. We do not swear before someone who wants to become a dictator. We do not swear before an individual, but before the Constitution. We are willing to die to protect it," he said at the time.
Joe Kasper, chief of staff to Defense Secretary Hegseth, said the decision to strip General Milley of his personnel and security clearance was made because of what he called "an undermining of the chain of command that harms our national security."
The news about General Milley was first reported by the television network 'Fox News'. Part of the measures against him may also include the removal of his portrait as Chief of Staff of the Army Ground Forces.
His photo as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff was removed just hours after President Trump was sworn in.
Both portraits were paid for by the Army Association, not taxpayer money, and were a gift to General Milley, a tribute to his service./ VOA (A2 Televizion)
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