For the last few months, the Atlantic's Clint Smith has been trying to understand what it is

like for black service members to report to a boss, like Secretary of Defense, Pete Heggseth.

Hegset has called our diversity is our strength, the single dumbest phrase in military history.

He has declared Black History Month dead, and within days of taking charge at the DOD,

he fired the military's highest ranking black officer, General CQ Brown.

What happened to General Brown, Clint says, it served as a kind of warning shot for every

black officer he spoke with.

CQ Brown, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, in many ways, he had come to

embody and personify excellence within the institution.

I mean, he was chosen as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff because he was so uniquely suited for the position based on his previous service, based on his rank, based on his merit.

General Brown rose through the ranks as an F-16 pilot with 3,000 hours in the cockpit,

more than 100 of those in combat.

He was promoted to Air Force Chief of Staff during President Trump's last term in office, but in

the wake of George Floyd's murder, he also became known for an uncommonly vulnerable

video he released about his own feelings on race.

General Brown was fired by phone while he was visiting with the troops on the southern border.

And so I think for many Black Service members, you know, the lack of pageantry, the lack of respect, the lack of dignity that he was given or not given, that it was indicative of what felt like was coming down the bike.

A little more than a year later, more Black officers have been let go or something. indicative of what felt like was coming down the pike.

A little more than a year later, more black officers have been let go, or simply walked off the job.

Navy Admiral Alvin Holsey used to be the head of Southern Command.

Major General William Green used to be the chief of chaplains.

Then there are the promotions Secretary H Heggseth has personally blocked.

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