The top of the Protection Well being Company (DHA), the well being system for hundreds of thousands of service members and their dependents, was pressured to abruptly retire Friday, Reuters reported.
Military Lt. Gen. Telita Crosland, one of the crucial senior Black feminine officers within the Military who has served in her position since January 2023, “is beginning her retirement” as of Friday morning, in accordance with an announcement from Stephen Ferrara, the performing assistant secretary of protection for well being affairs.
The assertion provided no reasoning for Crosland’s fast departure, however two officers informed Reuters that she was knowledgeable that she should retire and was not given a cause why.
The transfer comes precisely per week after President Trump fired six senior navy officers, together with the Joint Chiefs of Workers chairman and the primary feminine head of the Navy.
“I want to thank Crosland for her dedication to the nation, to the military health system, and to Army medicine for the past 32 years,” Ferrara mentioned within the assertion.
Crosland, the primary Black girl to steer the Protection Well being Company, graduated from the U.S. Army Academy West Level and entered the Military as a Medical Corps officer in 1993. Previous to her final position, the extremely embellished officer served because the Military’s deputy surgeon normal, in accordance with her official Protection Division biography.
Beneath Protection Secretary Pete Hegseth, the Pentagon has moved to rapidly oust range, fairness and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, arguing with out proof that they wreak havoc on unit cohesion.
“The single dumbest phrase in military history is ‘our diversity is our strength,’” Hegseth mentioned earlier this month throughout a city corridor assembly on the Pentagon. “From our perspective, why do you get rid of something like DEI? Because from our perspective, it’s served a purpose of dividing the force, as opposed to uniting the force.”
Trump administration protection officers have additionally ordered the top of commemorations of identification month celebrations together with Black Historical past Month and Girls’s Historical past Month, and directed the Pentagon to erase all DEI content material from its digital footprint.
That each one comes because the navy prepares to kick out all transgender service members.
In Crosland’s place, David Smith, the performing principal deputy assistant secretary of protection for well being affairs, will function the performing director of the DHA whereas the division works by the nomination course of for her substitute.
“Dr. Smith is a steady hand with decades of experience in the Military Health System in and out of uniform. I ask everyone to support Dr. Smith and the entire DHA team as we stabilize and strengthen our system serving the most lethal fighting force on the planet,” Ferrara mentioned.
Headquartered in Falls Church, Va., the DHA employs practically 130,000 civilians and navy personnel to serve 9.5 million service members and navy retirees and their households.
