Yvette Davids, the first woman to lead the US Naval Academy has been reassigned and replaced by a Marine Corps general.
The US Department of Defense released a statement announcing that Davids would be removed from her current role and reassigned as Deputy Chief of Naval Operations, Plans, Strategy and War-fighting Development.
Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Michael J. Borgschulte will now serve in Davids’ position, which she has held since January 2024.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced the changes as part of President Donald Trump’s shake-up of top military leaders. Davids joins a growing list of women and people of colour who have been removed from top military roles.
Typically, Superintendents at the Naval Academy hold their leadership positions for at least three years.
Davids said she was “honoured” to be nominated to her new role, adding: “I look forward to continuing to serve alongside America’s strongest warfighters.”
Secretary of the Navy John C. Phelan said in a statement, “Davids has commanded at every level and has led with distinction in some of the most complex security environments of our time. Her strategic vision and operational depth will be an exceptional asset to the Navy and the Department of Defense.”
“The Naval Academy remains one of the most consequential institutions in American public life. It forges leaders of character, men and women of integrity, resilience, and intellect who will guide our Fleet and our Nation through the challenges of an increasingly contested world.”
Davids graduated from the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland in 1989. In 2007, she became the first Hispanic American woman to lead a Navy warship as the commanding officer of the frigate Curts. She has also served as the commanding officer of the cruiser Bunker Hill.
In 2022, she became the director of the Navy’s Learning to Action Drive Team. The program was established after the fire aboard the amphibious assault ship Bonhomme Richard in San Diego, two years prior, which caused the ship extensive damage that led to it being decommissioned.
When she was appointed as the first woman to ever hold the post of superintendent of the US Naval Academy early last year, Davids said she was “beyond honored.”
“I look back on the experiences of those before me to guide the way ahead,” Davids said at the time.
“In the lasting words of Navy legend Admiral Grace Hopper, who in 1985 spoke to my Plebe Class, ‘A ship in port is safe, but that’s not what ships are built for. Sail out to sea and do new things,’ which we will do together. I look forward to the exceptional semesters, moments, and experiences we will share.”
A growing list of high-ranking women removed
In Febraury, Hegseth fired the Navy’s chief of naval operations, Admiral Lisa Franchetti, who was the first woman to serve on the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The 60-year old Admiral has had a long and distinguished career, spanning four decades, and became the first woman to hold the post of Chief of Naval Operations (CNO). She was also the first female member of the Joint Chiefs.
Franchetti’s dismissal came after President Trump fired another four-star female admiral, Adm. Linda L. Fagan, less than a day after he was inaugurated in January.
A lengthy statement from the Homeland Security Department said Fagan was terminated for a number of reasons, including her “failure to address border security threats” and “because of leadership deficiencies, operational failures and inability to advance the strategic objectives of the U.S. Coast Guard.”
Fagan became the first female officer to lead a branch of the American armed forces when she took up the post in mid-2022.
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