The Pentagon announced on Wednesday that the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Dan Caine, was restructuring leadership and that Vice Admiral Fred Kacher was being removed from his position as director of the Joint Staff. Kacher assumed the role on December 5, 2025.

“We are deeply grateful for Vice Adm. Kacher’s dedicated service to the Joint Force and his contributions to the Joint Staff,” Caine said in a statement. “Since graduating from the United States Naval Academy, Vice Adm. Kacher has answered the call for every kind of selfless service imaginable. The Navy will be glad to have him back, and we thank him and them for the loan of his leadership.”

The position of the Joint Staff director is a prestigious one that is “heavily influential inside the Pentagon” and is usually involved in “behind-the-scenes” procedures, according to Breaking Defense. The director manages “the day in and day out of the Joint Staff and sits in on key meetings.” It is also considered a vital position for three-star officers in terms of career growth and promotions. 

The decision to remove him was Caine’s. Reuters reported that an anonymous source said Kacher was removed because he was ultimately deemed not a good fit for the role. However, other sources said there was no official reason for Kacher’s removal. The vice admiral will reportedly “return to service” with the U.S. Navy, a Joint Staff spokesperson told Reuters. 

Kacher has a distinguished career of over 30 years of service in the U.S. Navy. He is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and has a Master’s Degree from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. The vice admiral was the commander of the U.S. Seventh Fleet. He was also previously named the vice director for operations of the Joint Staff in 2022.

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No replacement was named for the position, and it is highly unusual for someone to be removed from the position so quickly.

Kacher’s removal comes less than two weeks after it was reported that Col. Dave Butler was removed from his position as chief of Army public affairs and chief adviser to Army Secretary Dan Driscoll.