Army^[1] Secretary Dan Driscoll has ousted his entire slate of civilian advisers in a sweeping move aimed at clearing space for voices from the tech world, as the service doubles down on its push to modernize with a Silicon Valley-style lens.

On Friday, Driscoll notified the 115 members of the Civilian Aides to the Secretary of the Army program, or CASA, an all-volunteer group that serves as the secretary's eyes and ears in communities across the country, that their roles were being terminated.

"Moving forward, the Civilian Aide Program will focus on leveraging civilian expertise in strategic communications, advanced technology, innovation and digital transformation to advise the Army as we build a force capable of dominating the future fight," Driscoll wrote in a letter to all civilian aides Friday.

Read Next: Tech Executives Commissioned as Senior Army Officers Won't Recuse Themselves from DoD Business Dealings^[2]

The move marks a significant break for the century-old program, whose unpaid members have traditionally served to facilitate connections with local businesses, university campuses and state lawmakers, and help boost recruiting^[3] efforts and community outreach.

"One of the big losses is I think the decision is short-sighted," said John Phillips, who was an Atlanta-based aide who worked on recruiting initiatives. "The key things lost are community and industry. We're the conduit to get the Army connected to the local community."

It's unclear how Driscoll plans to reinvent the program -- or whether it will remain as large as it has grown in recent years. The shake-up comes as the Army becomes increasingly singular in its focus on emerging technology, drone warfare and deepening ties with Silicon Valley.

Just last month, in a virtually unprecedented move, the service granted direct commissions at the rank of lieutenant colonel^[4] to a group of wealthy tech executives from firms including Palantir, Meta and OpenAI.

Meanwhile, behind the scenes, Army planners are quietly trimming down, or outright dismantling, programs seen as peripheral to the service's high-tech future.

While some Pentagon officials and lawmakers have applauded the push toward more rapid innovation, some are quietly worried the Army is becoming too narrowly focused, potentially at the expense of its broader mission, and that recent major decisions about the force are being made without consulting outside of a very cloistered group of officials at the top of the Army hierarchy.

The civilian aide program has long been viewed as uneven, with aides contributing at widely varying levels. Some aides were deeply engaged in local outreach or policy advising, but others were seen as largely symbolic or duplicative, according to officials familiar with the program.

In practice, civilian aides were the Army's means of networking in cities and small towns, often helping coordinate events between the service and external stakeholders, from meetings with local officials and school administrators to attending ribbon cuttings, recruiting fairs and dinners with mayors.

They've also served, in many cases, to figuratively fly the Army's flag -- or represent the service -- in areas far from major military installations.

"It was an honor," said Edward Salo, a history professor at Arkansas State University and former CASA, who worked as a liaison between the National Guard^[5], his university and the Reserve Officers' Training Corps. "It felt good to be able to contribute to help the Army in any way possible."

"I hope that they do redo the program to meet the new Army's needs and not let it sit on the back burner," Salo added. "It's an important tool for the secretary and the Army."

Related: Army ROTC Programs at Dozens of Campuses Are Being Shut Down or Reorganized^[6]

A new leader for U.S. Central Command has been approved by the Senate at a precarious time for U.S. forces and policy in the Middle East.

In a voice vote over the weekend slipped in while senators remained in Washington, D.C., to debate the Trump administration's mega domestic policy bill, the Senate confirmed Vice Adm. Brad Cooper to be the new chief of Central Command and to earn a fourth star.

Cooper will take the helm of U.S. forces in the Middle East as U.S.-Iran tensions simmer following President Donald Trump's decision earlier this month to strike three Iranian nuclear facilities in support of an Israeli military campaign.

Read Next: Army ROTC Programs at Dozens of Campuses Are Being Shut Down or Reorganized^[1]

After the U.S. strikes, Trump announced a ceasefire between Iran and Israel, and he's also expressed a willingness to resume diplomacy on a deal to constrain Iran's nuclear program.

But while there is a lull in fighting right now, Trump also said on Friday that he would "without question, absolutely" consider striking Iran again if U.S. intelligence concludes the previous strikes did not in fact completely destroy Iran's nuclear capabilities as Trump claims. And two days before the Senate confirmed Cooper, senators voted against limiting^[2] Trump's ability to strike Iran again.

At his confirmation hearing earlier this month^[3], Cooper testified that, while the U.S. and Israeli operations against Iran degraded its capabilities, it still poses a threat to American forces in the region. He cited Iran's retaliatory missile attack against Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, one of the largest American military bases in the region, as an example of Tehran's continued threat to the U.S.

No U.S. casualties were reported in the strike on Al Udeid, but Trump has said Iran gave him advanced warning of the attack^[4].

Cooper has served as the deputy commander of Central Command since last year after previously serving as the commander of Naval Forces Central Command and the U.S. Fifth Fleet for three years. He will take the top spot at Central Command from Gen. Erik Kurilla, whose term is expiring.

In the same voice vote as Cooper's confirmation, senators also confirmed Gen. Alexus Grynkewich to become the next head of U.S. European Command. He was formally sworn into the role Tuesday, according to a social media post from the Joint Staff.

Grynkewich is also stepping into his role as head of European Command at a pivotal time for U.S. forces in that region.

While Trump came away from a recent NATO summit pleased with allies' commitment to stepping up their defense spending, he has a history of questioning American alliances in Europe and threatening to pull U.S. forces from the region.

At the beginning of Trump's current term, several reports said he was considering giving up^[5] U.S. military leadership of NATO, a role that has been held by an American general since the alliance's inception. But when the administration announced Grynkewich's^[6] nomination to be European Command leader, it also confirmed he would simultaneously serve as NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Europe.

Related: Iran Still Threat to US Forces in Middle East Despite Strikes, Admiral Says^[7]