OAN Staff Blake Wolf
11:04 AM – Tuesday, January 21, 2025
Trump administration officials fired Coast Guard Commander Linda Fagan, citing a failure to address border security concerns, a focus on DEI initiatives, and a consistent “lack of leadership.”
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The former Coast Guard commander was personally fired by Benjamin Huffman, the acting secretary of Homeland Security, according to reports. fox news.
The newspaper spoke to a senior official at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) who acknowledged that Fagan's leadership has led to a “deterioration of trust” within the Coast Guard.
The decline in trust was largely due to the cover-up of Operation Fouled Anchor, an internal investigation into sexual assault cases at the Coast Guard Academy.
Mr. Fagan had previously been questioned by senators about why he withheld documents requested during hearings on Operation Fouled Anchor and failed to hold those involved accountable.
The DHS official, who requested anonymity, said the investigation shows the branch's “leadership culture” and reluctance to protect service members and ensure full transparency.
Mr. Fagan was specifically accused of improperly managing Coast Guard assets to effectively support border patrol operations, including the seizure of fentanyl and other illegal drugs. It also reportedly failed to recruit the necessary number of Coast Guard personnel, and the branch's overall operational readiness “weakened.”
Fagan's firing comes after the Trump administration had previously vowed to purge all “woke” generals and military personnel who aren't doing their jobs well and who have prioritized DEI efforts over skills, intelligence, and performance. The Trump administration's decision to do so suggests more to come. .
“I got to know real generals. There is no 'woke' thing in the military. There are “woke people'' at the top,'' President Trump said last summer.
“They want to be woke, but they are not meant to be woke. I would fire them. You can't have a woke army,” he added.
President Trump's nominee for Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, similarly echoed Trump's sentiments.
“I spoke to dozens of active duty men and women, junior enlisted and high ranking officers, and they all said the same thing,” Hegseth said. “We are walking on eggshells. There is no accountability. Standards are being lowered and gradually eroded to conform to the woke Marxist ideology that Democratic politicians have forced into the Pentagon.” The Department of Defense should be the world's largest meritocracy. Rather, it's a social experiment.”
“We all wore green together. We all bleed red together. It doesn't matter who you slept with…The question is how well you can work.” And are you getting promoted because you're the best rifleman, or because you're the best pilot, or because you're the best tank commander? Are you not the first to do this, or are you the first to do this? ?And that's a story I tell over and over again,” he added.
Fagan was the first woman to lead a branch of the U.S. military, serving as commander of the 27th Army.th Appointed as Director General of the Japan Coast Guard June 1stcent2022.
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