For weeks earlier this year, the Army’s top uniformed lawyer had been raising legal concerns inside the Pentagon about some of the new policies being rolled out dictating how the military can be used and staffed.

In late January, Lt. Gen. Joe Berger, who had taken the top posting in July 2024, was asked for his advice about the legality of using Texas National Guard soldiers for immigration enforcement. Berger told Army chief of staff Gen. Randy George that he was skeptical and wanted more information about whether the soldiers were properly trained for that kind of mission, according to a former senior defense official and another person familiar with his actions.

He was told by the department’s acting general counsel, Charlie Young, to stop meddling in state affairs, the sources said.

Then, in early February, Berger and his team began asking questions of civilian leaders about the legality of firing huge swaths of probationary Defense Department employees, which was being pushed at the time by the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency. Defense officials across the services were raising concerns that the summary firings could break the law and potentially harm the US military’s ability to fight.

But when officials in Berger’s office sought to discuss the legal basis of the mass purge —which they would likely have to defend in court — Young refused to speak to them altogether, making clear he would only speak to the Army’s top civilian lawyer at the time, the sources recalled.

Then, on February 14, the right-wing social media account LibsofTikTok, which Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has frequently engaged with on X, accused Berger of running afoul of Hegseth’s anti-diversity, equity and inclusion policies.

The Army denied that accusation, also on X. But one week later, Hegseth fired Berger. A second top legal officer, the Air Force’s Judge Advocate General, Lt. Gen. Charles Plummer, was also fired. Hegseth told reporters later that he viewed them as potential “roadblocks to orders that are given by a commander-in-chief.”

The Office of the Secretary of Defense didn’t respond to specific questions about Berger’s or Young’s conduct. Young is likely to be confirmed soon as the new Army general counsel, having been nominated by President Donald Trump in April.

More than a dozen current and former defense officials, including four current Judge Advocate General corps officers, told CNN that Berger and Plummer’s firings appeared to be the first warning sho