Washington DC - Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth fired Navy Chief of Staff Jon Harrison on Friday following a major reshuffle of the service's leadership and a dramatic speech in which he called for loyalty.

Two defense officials and one former official revealed to Politico that Harrison was fired following the confirmation this week of Navy Undersecretary Hung Cao, an appointment Hegseth made as part of sweeping reforms in the Navy.

"He will no longer serve as Chief of Staff to the Secretary of the Navy," the Pentagon said in a statement. "We are grateful for his service to the Department."

Harrison reportedly worked closely with Hegseth and President Donald Trump's administration to implement massive changes to the Navy's policy and finances, and had undertaken a major reshuffle of the organization's leadership.

He was initially promoted to the role by the second Trump administration and began his stint in the job in January.

Harrison's ouster is but the latest in a series of high-profile firings by Hegseth, who has removed a number of top aides during his term as Defense Secretary and in February even fired the Joint Chiefs Chair General Charles Brown.

Hegseth replaced Brown with Dan Caine, who faced backlash upon his nomination over accusations that he was hired due to his loyalty to Trump.

The firing of Harrison – without any official explanation – comes days after Hegseth used a dramatic speech to the military's top brass to call for loyalty.

"As you have seen and the media has obsessed over, I have fired a number of senior officers since taking over," Hegseth said. "The previous chairman, other members of the Joint Chiefs, combatant commanders and other commanders."

"The rationale for me has been straightforward: It's nearly impossible to change a culture with the same people who helped create or even benefited from that culture, even if that culture was created by a previous president and previous secretary."