Head of Pentagon Intelligence Agency Dismissed Along with Other Senior Officials

Reuters

U.S. Air Force Lt. General and Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) Jeffrey Kruse.

United States Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth on Friday dismissed Lt Gen Jeffrey Kruse, the head of the Pentagon’s Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA), according to White House and Pentagon officials. He is the latest in a string of senior officers to be removed under Hegseth’s tenure.

The dismissal follows a preliminary assessment by the agency in June, which concluded that strikes against Iran’s nuclear facilities had only a limited impact — apparently contradicting President Donald Trump’s claim at the time that the sites had been “obliterated”.

Pentagon and White House officials issued brief statements offering no explanation for the decision, merely confirming that Kruse “will no longer serve as DIA Director”. A DIA spokesperson told NBC News that “Deputy Director Christine Bordine assumes the role of Acting Director of DIA with immediate effect”.

No official reason has been given for Kruse’s removal. He had taken up the post in February 2024 and would ordinarily have been expected to serve until 2027. Congressional officials, however, confirmed the dismissal and said they had been informed it was due to a “loss of confidence” — a vague phrase frequently used in the military to justify such actions. The Washington Post was first to report the news.

Separately, a defence official confirmed to NBC News late on Friday that Vice Admiral Nancy Lacore, chief of the Navy Reserve, and Rear Admiral Milton Sands, a Navy SEAL officer who leads the Naval Special Warfare Command, had also been dismissed. Their departures were likewise first reported by The Washington Post.

Kruse is the latest in a growing list of senior generals and admirals removed under Hegseth, including the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the head of the National Security Agency and U.S. Cyber Command, the Navy’s top admiral and the Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard. Earlier this week, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen David Allvin announced he would retire in November — roughly two years earlier than the customary four-year term for a service chief.

Immediately after June’s strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities, the DIA produced an initial classified assessment of the damage. Marked as “low confidence” — because it was compiled barely 24 hours after the attacks — the report suggested Iran’s nuclear programme had been set back several months, according to three individuals familiar with the findings, as reported by NBC News at the time. This was at odds with Trump’s assertion that the facilities had been “totally obliterated”.

Disclosure of the DIA’s assessment prompted a fierce backlash from Trump’s White House, with officials complaining that the document had been leaked. Days later, Hegseth sought to play down its significance.

“It was preliminary, produced barely a day and a half after the strike,” Hegseth told journalists at the Pentagon. “It admits in writing that weeks are required to gather the necessary data to reach a sound conclusion. It makes clear it has not been coordinated with the wider intelligence community. There is little confidence in this particular report.”

Sources: NBC, The Washington Post



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