'The military has no role' in politics, says retiring chair of the Joint Chiefs
Army General Mark Milley, the nation's most senior military officer, has retired after 43 years of service.
At midnight on Saturday, he turned over his post as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
His four years in that role were defined by a seemingly non-stop series of challenges. There was the end of the 20-year-long U.S. campaign in Afghanistan, rising tensions with China, and Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
There was also an American president with little regard for the norms that have historically separated politics from the U.S. military.
Perhaps the most contentious moment was when Milley appeared alongside then-President Donald Trump, wearing his combat fatigues, in a political photo-op on Lafayette Square during the racial justice protests in 2020. Milley later apologized.
