文/南希·A·尤瑟夫本周早些时候，五角大楼首席规划师、陆军中将布雷特·西尔维亚被免去参谋长联席会议职务。未给出任何解释。这发生在一个不合时宜的时刻，因为特朗普总统可能正计划重启对伊朗的战争。西尔维亚曾任第101空降师师长，成为自国防部长皮特·赫格塞斯近两年前抵达五角大楼以来，被解职的一长串高级军官中的最新一位。
By Nancy A. Youssef Earlier this week, the Pentagon’s chief planner, Army Lieutenant General Brett Sylvia, was ousted from the Joint Chiefs of Staff. No explanation was given. This comes at an inopportune moment, given that President Trump may be planning to relaunch the war on Iran. Sylvia, the former commander of the 101st Airborne Division, becomes the latest in a long line of senior officers who have been shown the door since Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth arrived at the Pentagon almost two years ago.
未宣布西尔维亚的继任者，目前尚不清楚谁将接管他的职责。过去，参谋长联席会议相关部门的副主任或副部长会暂时代理该职务，直到总统提名候选人并经参议院确认。西尔维亚是过去一年中第二位被迫离开参谋长联席会议战略、计划与政策局（军内称为J5）局长职位的人。他的前任、陆军中将约瑟夫·麦吉被迫退休。
No replacement for Sylvia was named, and it is unclear who will take over his responsibilities. In the past, the deputy or vice director of the relevant directorate of the Joint Chiefs of Staff would fill the role on a temporary basis until the president nominated a candidate for Senate confirmation. Sylvia is the second person to be pushed out of the job of director of the Directorate for Strategy, Plans, and Policy at the Joint Chiefs of Staff, known inside the military as the J5, in the past year. His predecessor, Army Lieutenant General Joseph McGee, was forced to retire.
“现在绝不是你希望失去J5的时候，”一位前参谋长联席会议官员说。“此人将作为作战部队、部门政策与白宫之间的关键纽带。”西尔维亚的离职预示着五角大楼高层将出现更多动荡，因为特朗普正寻求打破与伊朗的僵局，并在周二大选后权衡恢复战斗行动。我和同事此前曾报道，特朗普曾在中期选举前考虑打击伊朗，而负责战争行动的美国中央司令部已准备了多种打击方案。
“Now is not the time when you’d want to lose the J5,” a former Joint Chiefs of Staff official said. “This person would serve as a critical link between the operational force, the department policy, and the White House.”Sylvia’s departure presages more upheaval in the Pentagon’s upper echelons as Trump looks to break the stalemate with Iran and weighs renewed combat after Tuesday’s elections. Trump had considered striking Iran before the midterms, my colleagues and I previously reported, and U.S. Central Command, which is running the war effort, has prepared a variety of strike options.
这些方案从针对伊朗核设施的短时突击，到旨在将伊朗经济推向崩溃边缘、迫使伊朗政府回到谈判桌前的长期战役，范围不一。但总统尚未决定如何推进，任何打击行动不太可能在下周前发生。这场始于2月的战争在近几个月相对平静，美伊部队在霍尔木兹海峡对峙，该海峡是全球能源供应的关键水道。战争爆发后不久，伊朗实际上控制了该海峡，而美国则以封锁伊朗航运作为反制。
Those plans range from a short burst of strikes targeting Iran’s nuclear sites to a longer campaign aimed at pushing Iran’s economy closer to the brink—and Iran’s government to the negotiating table. But the president has not yet decided how to proceed, and any strikes are unlikely to happen before next week. The war, which began in February, has been relatively quiet in recent months as U.S. and Iranian forces face off in the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway for global energy supplies. Iran effectively seized control of the strait shortly after the war began, while the U.S. has countered with a blockade of Iranian shipping.
列出西尔维亚为参谋长联席会议成员的网页已被撤下。西尔维亚未回应置评请求。
The webpage naming Sylvia as a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff has already been taken down. Sylvia did not respond to a request for comment.
如果说战争陷入了僵局，那么赫格塞斯在五角大楼的解职行动却并未停滞。西尔维亚至少是今年被推出或解职的第五位将军，他们每个人都在军队中担任关键职位。在美国对伊朗打击行动达到高潮之际，尽管陆军肩负着补充关键弹药的重任——而这些弹药如今已告短缺——赫格塞斯仍强行解除了陆军参谋长兰迪·乔治大将的职务。
If the war has gotten bogged down, Hegseth’s campaign of firings at the Pentagon has not. Sylvia is at least the fifth general pushed out or fired this year, each holding key positions within the military. Hegseth forced out General Randy George, chief of staff of the Army, at the height of the U.S. strike campaign in Iran, despite the Army’s role in restocking key munitions, which are now in short supply.
同一个月内，赫格塞斯免去了陆军转型与训练司令部司令大卫·霍德尼大将的职务，并撤换了陆军军牧团团长小威廉·格林少将。6月，陆军将军克里斯·“C.D.”·多纳休在与赫格塞斯出现分歧后，辞去驻欧非美军司令一职。多纳休被广泛视为陆军冉冉升起的新星——一位三角洲部队领导人，曾被认为是陆军参谋长甚至参联会主席的有力竞选人。
That same month, Hegseth removed General David Hodne, the head of the Army’s Transformation and Training Command, and ousted Major General William Green Jr., the head of the Army Chaplain Corps. And in June, Army General Chris “C.D.”Donahue stepped down as the head of U.S. Army Forces in Europe and Africa amid disagreements with Hegseth. Donahue was widely seen as one of the Army’s rising stars—a Delta Force leader who was considered a top candidate for Army chief of staff or even chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
自赫格塞斯不到两年前掌管五角大楼以来，至少已有26名海军上将和陆军将军辞职或被迫离职。
In all, at least 26 admirals and generals have stepped down or been pushed out since Hegseth took control of the Pentagon less than two years ago.
五角大楼极少提供理由，留下留任者只能猜测缘由。据官员透露，原因通常属于以下三类之一或多类：曾从事赫格塞斯视为“觉醒”的政策工作，例如推动多元化；被视为与现政府视为不受欢迎人物的前将军关系密切，如前参联会主席马克·米利；以及被赫格塞斯怀疑向媒体泄密。军队上下接收到的信息是，任何被视为对赫格塞斯的政治观点或优先事项缺乏足够热情的人都面临风险。
The Pentagon has rarely provided rationales, leaving those still in place to guess about the causes. The reasons, according to officials, tend to fall into one or more of three categories: previous work on policies that Hegseth considers “woke,” such as promoting diversity; perceived closeness to a former general considered persona non grata by the current administration, such as former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Mark Milley; and being suspected by Hegseth of leaking to the press. The message received through the ranks is that anyone viewed as insufficiently enthusiastic about Hegseth’s political views or priorities is at risk.
国防部官员告诉我，解雇西尔维亚的理由与之前被推出的其他人如出一辙：赫格塞斯对他失去了信心，而且他与负责政策的首席文职官员、五角大楼三号人物埃尔布里奇·科尔比相处不来。去年9月，在“部队状态”演讲中，赫格塞斯表示，五角大楼已解雇了约10%的将军和海军上将，并正在裁减另外10%的高级军官职位。
Department of Defense officials told me that the rationale for firing Sylvia mirrored that of others pushed out before him: Hegseth lost confidence in him, and he did not get along with the top civilian in charge of policy, Elbridge Colby, the No. 3 leader at the Pentagon. In September, during his State of the Force speech, Hegseth said that the Pentagon had fired approximately 10 percent of its generals and admirals, and was eliminating another 10 percent of senior-officer positions.
“联合参谋长、联合参谋部和联合部队对布雷特·西尔维亚中将及其家人为国家奉献的32年杰出服务表示最深切的感谢，”联合参谋部发言人在一份声明中说。“祝愿他和家人在迎接新机遇、开启人生新篇章之际一切顺利。”去年，保守派活动人士劳拉·卢默在社交媒体帖子中呼吁特朗普政府解雇西尔维亚的儿子加文，后者是国土安全部联邦应急管理局（FEMA）的一名数据分析师。
“The Chairman, the Joint Staff, and the Joint Force extend our deepest gratitude to Lt. Gen. Brett Sylvia and his family for their 32 years of distinguished service to our nation,” a spokesperson for the Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement. “We wish him and his family the best as they graduate to new opportunities and the next chapters of their lives.”Last year, the conservative activist Laura Loomer called in a social-media post for the Trump administration to fire Sylvia’s son Gavin, an employee of the Department of Homeland Security as a data analyst at FEMA, charging that he had posted an inflammatory message on Instagram shortly after the assassination of Charlie Kirk.
卢默指控加文在查理·柯克遇刺后不久在Instagram上发布了煽动性言论。在该帖子中，卢默也点名了这位将军，称：“他的父亲是美国陆军少将，目前在五角大楼任职。他曾被乔·拜登提名晋升为三星上将。”她的长篇大论还针对加文·西尔维亚的兄弟和祖母。“这些人恨我们，”她写道。“他们不配掌握我们国家权力的杠杆。”
In the post, Loomer referred to the general as well, saying: “His father is a Major General in the United States Army and currently serves at the Pentagon. He was nominated for a third star by Joe Biden.”Her screed also took aim at Gavin Sylvia’s brother and grandmother. “These people hate us,” she wrote. “They don’t belong near the levers of our National Power.”
她在帖子结尾称，赫格塞斯“也应该审查加文父亲、少将布雷特·西尔维亚的任职情况”。《华盛顿邮报》报道，加文·西尔维亚已被安排行政休假。
She ended the post by saying Hegseth “should also review the employment of Gavin’s father, MG Brett Sylvia.”Gavin Sylvia was placed on administrative leave, The Washington Post reported.
1994年毕业于位于西点的美国军事学院，西尔维亚的大部分职业生涯都在陆军的空降和空中突击部队度过。他曾指驻扎在肯塔基州坎贝尔堡的第101空降师。作为第101空降师成员，他曾多次部署至伊拉克和阿富汗。他的军事勋章包括杰出服役勋章、六枚铜星勋章——其中一枚带有“V”字装饰（授予英勇行为）——以及紫心勋章。
A 1994 graduate of the United States Military Academy, in West Point, Sylvia spent much of his career in the Army’s airborne and air-assault units. He commanded the 101st Airborne Division out of Fort Campbell, Kentucky. And he deployed multiple times to Iraq and Afghanistan as a member of the 101st. His military decorations include the Distinguished Service Medal, six Bronze Star Medals—including one with valor—and the Purple Heart.
Missy Ryan和Marie-Rose Sheinerman参与了报道。
Missy Ryan and Marie-Rose Sheinerman contributed reporting.