A retired Navy admiral sharply criticized the Trump administration in a new piece for MS NOW, saying its treatment of certain officers is undermining recruitment at a time when the military can least afford it.

John Kirby, a national security analyst for MS NOW, built a long defense career before joining the network. He served nearly three decades in the Navy, retired as a rear admiral, and later worked as a senior spokesman for the Defense Department, State Department and National Security Council in the Obama and Biden administrations.

In an op-ed published Sunday, Kirby urged readers not to let the recent departure of Army Secretary Dan Driscoll distract from what he said were the broader and more consequential changes being driven by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Hegseth, a former Army National Guard officer and Fox News host, has framed many of his personnel moves as part of an effort to eliminate what he calls "DEI" practices and refocus the Pentagon on what he describes as warfighting and merit.

"The resignation of Army Secretary Dan Driscoll should not overshadow some disturbing facts: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has fired or blocked the promotions of more than 80 generals and admirals, or about 10 percent of our nation’s top military officers," Kirby wrote. "His personnel and policy decisions are threatening our long-term national security."

Kirby argued that the most troubling aspect of those decisions is Hegseth’s treatment of women in the armed forces.

"Three times this year, including this past week, Hegseth personally struck qualified officers from board-approved promotion lists after service leaders refused his request to remove them. About half the officers were Black or women," Kirby wrote. "And now, the share of high-ranking officer nominations going to women is at its lowest level in more than two decades, The New York Times reports. Although women have served in combat roles for more than 30 years, including in ground combat for the past decade, Hegseth ordered a review of combat roles for women and disbanded the nonpartisan Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services."

The committee Hegseth disbanded, known as DACOWITS, dates to 1951 and had advised the Defense Department for decades on matters affecting women in the services.

Kirby said there are "several reasons" this matters beyond questions of fairness. He noted that the military is still an all-volunteer force, with female recruits making up "about 10 percent of Marines and closer to 20 percent of the other services," and that "very few military specialties" now exclude women in some way. The all-volunteer force has been the U.S. military’s manpower model since the draft ended in 1973, making its ability to attract qualified recruits central to force readiness.

"Our military cannot afford to deprive itself of this talent," Kirby wrote. "And there is value — despite Hegseth’s protestations — in fielding a force that looks like and represents the people it defends, especially when you ask those same people to join it. That’s a big part of what an 'all' volunteer force means."

He also pushed back on Pentagon claims that recruitment remains strong despite the personnel changes and the administration’s stance toward women. Kirby said those numbers reflect policies put in place under prior administrations and broader economic conditions, including what he described as the difficult state of Trump’s economy, since tough conditions have traditionally increased military enlistment. He added that recruitment figures are "lagging indicators," meaning the effects of Hegseth’s leadership may not yet be fully visible.

Kirby also said the changes are costing the military "exceptionally qualified leaders during a time of war." He pointed to four-star Adm. Lisa Franchetti, whom Hegseth fired a month after his appointment. Franchetti was the first woman to serve as Chief of Naval Operations and the first woman on the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He also cited Air Force Lt. Gen. Jennifer Short, who was fired despite "more than 1,800 hours flying the A-10 Warthog"; and Navy Vice Adm. Shoshana Chatfield, who was fired after "taking up a leadership post at NATO headquarters."

"Hegseth likes to talk about lethality. These women kicked lethality’s butt," Kirby wrote. "I knew and served alongside each of them. They were fine leaders and good people. And now, like the other women Hegseth has ousted, they and their expertise are gone from the services. Replacing their wisdom and experience will take at least a decade — if we’re lucky."

Kirby concluded that Hegseth’s approach appears aimed at reducing female leadership in the armed forces. He cited Hegseth’s long-standing views about women in the military and what he called his recent "reprehensible body-shaming of a female Canadian teenage cadet." Hegseth has previously said he opposes women in combat roles, a position he articulated before and after taking office.

"But taken together and in light of his long-standing views about the women in the military — reinforced by his recent reprehensible body-shaming of a female Canadian teenage cadet — it is clear that Hegseth is spearheading a concerted effort to diminish female leadership in the armed forces," Kirby wrote. "That risks making it more difficult to recruit and retain female talent, depriving our troops of some truly exceptional leaders and politicizing both the promotion process and the senior ranks. Hegseth is not just campaigning against DEI; he’s campaigning against DNA. If you don’t have a Y chromosome, then you don’t have much of a shot at senior leadership. That’s a wholly new and different 'war on warriors.' And nobody wins that one — not Hegseth, not the military and certainly not the American people."