Pentagon Pete Accused of Ousting Hero Who Was First Female in SEAL Team Six

A Navy captain who was the first woman to serve with the elite SEAL Team Six as a troop commander is being pushed out of the military.

The officer, whose identity has not been revealed, was supposed to take over a new role that would have made her the first woman in a Naval Special Warfare command overseeing Navy SEALS, CNN reported.

But just two weeks before the command was supposed to begin, the Pentagon abruptly revoked her orders, suggesting that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had killed the command because he didn’t want a woman in the role, sources told CNN.

The circumstances under which the decision was made and the way it was communicated—through a series of phone calls instead of through the usual channels—seemed designed to avoid leaving a paper trail.

US President Donald Trump, flanked by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth (L) and Attorney General Pam Bondi — Pete Hegseth, who was working as a Fox News host when President Donald Trump tapped him to run the world’s most sophisticated military, has vowed to weed out unqualified “DEI hires.” JIM WATSON/JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images

Under the Navy’s “up or out” policy, the officer’s two-decade career is ending as a result.

“It’s f—in’ bulls–t. That’s horse s–t,” said a retired senior enlisted Navy SEAL who served with the officer at SEAL Team Six.

The retired SEAL told CNN that he had voted for President Donald Trump, but that Hegseth—who has been on a crusade to root out what he calls unqualified diversity hires—was failing to retain top talent at the expense of elite soldiers.

“She was the best man for the job,” he said. “There is absolutely no DEI.”

The Daily Beast has reached out to the Pentagon for comment.

Hegseth, who was working as a Fox News weekend host when he was tapped by Trump to lead the world’s most sophisticated military, has used his position to supposedly restore “warrior ethos” to the Department of Defense.

Before taking over the Department of Defense, he wrote in a 2024 book that women shouldn’t hold combat roles and that former Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti was a “DEI hire.” After being appointed defense secretary, he fired Franchetti.

In late September, he flew in almost 800 generals, admirals, and their senior enlisted leaders from around the world to lecture them in person about grooming and physical fitness standards.

“It all starts with physical fitness and appearance,” Hegseth told the gathered generals. “If the Secretary of War can do regular, hard PT, so can every member of our joint force.”

During the speech, he also called for a “return” to “male” fitness standards for combat roles, even though there have never been lower standards for women in combat.

Members of the military attend a meeting convened by U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, at Marine Corps Base Quantico, in Quantico, Virginia, U.S., September 30, 2025. — Pete Hegseth told hundreds of military leaders there would be a “return” to male fitness standards for combat roles — even though there have never been a lower standard for women in those roles. Kevin Lamarque/Reuters

The Navy captain whose command orders were revoked had met every physical standard, including being able to perform 25-pound weighted pull-ups, and competed in IRONMAN races in her spare time, according to CNN.

She was ranked the top officer for promotion in her cohort, received a Purple Heart after being injured by an IED during a combat tour in Iraq, and had worked as a diver and bomb disposal technician.

Her new command would have involved overseeing bomb disposal technicians, divers, and Navy SEALS, and would have been closely aligned with recruiting for elite operations roles.

One Defense official told CNN that her command was pulled as part of a broader consideration about whether the role was necessary.

Another said it was pulled because the Navy captain was not herself a SEAL—she held a senior position within the squadron but hadn’t completed Navy SEAL training—and that Hegseth was not involved.

Admiral Lisa M. Franchetti, U.S. Navy, testifies during the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing. — Pete Hegseth called Admiral Lisa M. Franchetti a “DEI hire” in a 2024 book he wrote and fired her earlier this year. Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

Other CNN sources, however, scoffed at those explanations. A broad panel of the most elite Navy SEAL leaders had selected the Navy captain for her new command, and if the military had just been restructuring, it wouldn’t have axed an incoming officer days before she was set to lead.

“It pisses me off because it is clearly someone who is capable and has done extraordinary things and is being punished because of — and I hate that I have to say it this way — weak-a– men,” a special operations source told CNN.

The post Pentagon Pete Accused of Ousting Hero Who Was First Female in SEAL Team Six appeared first on The Daily Beast.