U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on 22 August dismissed Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Kruse as director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, ending the Air Force officer’s 18-month tenure atop the Pentagon’s principal military-intelligence arm, officials from the Pentagon and White House said. According to people familiar with the decision, Kruse’s removal followed a preliminary DIA assessment prepared after U.S. airstrikes on three Iranian nuclear sites in June. The classified report, leaked to several news outlets, concluded the strikes had set back Tehran’s program only a few months, contradicting President Donald Trump’s assertion that the facilities had been “obliterated.” The Pentagon provided no detailed rationale beyond citing a “loss of confidence” in Kruse’s leadership. Deputy Director Christine Bordine has assumed the post on an acting basis while Hegseth seeks a permanent replacement. Kruse is the latest senior national-security official to be ousted this year; earlier departures include the heads of the National Security Agency and U.S. Cyber Command, and the early retirement of Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin. Senate Intelligence Committee Vice Chairman Mark Warner said the dismissal underscores concerns that intelligence assessments are being treated as loyalty tests rather than objective analysis.