WASHINGTON (AP) — Adm. Daryl Caudle took over as the Navy’s highest-ranking officer Monday, ending a six-month vacancy created by the Trump administration’s firing of his predecessor .

Caudle became chief of naval operations as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ousted a growing list of military leaders with little or no explanation. Remarks at a swearing-in ceremony at Washington Navy Yard offered several nods to the admiral being in close alignment with the Trump administration leaders above him.

In February, Hegseth fired Caudle’s predecessor, Adm. Lisa Franchetti, without explanation. Neither Caudle nor Navy Secretary John Phelan addressed the ouster at the ceremony Monday, though Franchetti was among several former chiefs of naval operations in attendance.

Franchetti had been the s

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