Everything was set for the Navy officer to take over a new role that would have capped an already distinguished career— and made her the first woman in a Naval Special Warfare command overseeing Navy SEALs.

Ranked the top captain in her cohort, she received a Purple Heart after being injured in an IED attack during a combat tour in Iraq. She then became the first woman to serve with SEAL Team Six in the role of troop commander, one of several senior positions within the squadrons that make up the elite naval unit.

A formal ceremony marking her new position was planned for July. Invitations went out two months in advance.

But just two weeks before the ceremony, her command was abruptly canceled with little explanation, according to multiple sources familiar with the situation. The decision didn’t come through formal channels but by a series of phone calls from the Pentagon, one of the sources said. The circumstances were unusual and seemed designed to omit a paper trail, according to multiple sources.

Under the Navy’s “up or out” policy, with no command slot to take, the officer’s more than two-decade military career was effectively over.

As the news spread through the tightknit world of Naval Special Warfare, a consensus began to form: The command was likely yanked by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth because of the officer’s gender.

The command she was set to take over is closely aligned with recruiting for elite operations roles, including the Navy SEALs — and the impression those in the Naval Special Warfare community got from the Pentagon was that Hegseth did not want a woman fronting that role.

“They want to keep it the brotherhood and don’t like that she’s coming in and challenging the status quo,” said a Navy special operations source familiar with the situation.

One defense official familiar with the matter said the change of plans was a result of broader considerations about whether the role was necessary. A Pentagon official familiar with the situation said the command was pulled because the Navy captain wasn’t herself a SEAL, and that Hegseth was not involved.

But multiple people familiar with the dynamics of Navy personnel matters scoffed at those explanations. For one, the Navy doesn’t typically restructure commands by axing an incoming commanding officer days before they are set to take over. On top of that, a broad panel of the most elite Navy SEAL leaders selected her for the new command.

“They can justify it by saying she’s not qualified because she’s not a SEAL,” said one retired SEAL. “But the SEALs thought she was qualified.”

US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth speaks to senior military leaders at Marine Corps Base Quantico on September 30. Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

To this person, the revoked command was a clear symptom of Hegseth’s views about women in the military. He said he believes the commander was removed because Hegseth is sexist.

“I’m sure they would repeal the whole women in combat thing [if they could], but this is w