The Pentagon Fired the Only Person Whose Job Was to Protect Military Press Freedom.

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On April 23, 2026, the Department of Defense removed Jacqueline Smith from the federal payroll. She was the 13th ombudsman for Stars and Stripes, the congressionally protected military newspaper that has been published since the Civil War. Her termination came via DA Form 3434. Her last day was set for April 28. No reason was given. The form stated: “This action is not grievable.”

Smith was told the order came from Sean Parnell, the assistant to the Secretary of Defense for public affairs — the same person leading the Pentagon’s broader overhaul of Stars and Stripes. The Defense Department confirmed to the Washington Post that she was “relieved of her duties … effective immediately” but did not explain why.

Everyone knows why.

She Was Fired for Doing Her Job

Smith didn’t just quietly observe the overhaul of Stars and Stripes. She reported it. Publicly. In her column. On podcasts. To the House and Senate Armed Services committees. That is literally what Congress created her role to do.

In January 2026, she wrote in her column: “Stars and Stripes, the legendary newspaper for the U.S. military community, is in peril of losing its editorial independence and becoming nothing more than a public relations arm of the Pentagon.”

In March, she documented a Pentagon directive banning Stars and Stripes from using “news stories, features, syndicated columns, comic strips and editorial cartoons from commercial news media.” That directive, issued by Parnell, effectively gutted the paper’s ability to function as a newspaper. No AP stories. No syndicated columns. No editorial cartoons. Stars and Stripes, which has run commercial news content for decades, was being stripped down to Pentagon-approved content only.

Smith also reported that the Pentagon had “rescinded the process in the Code of Federal Regulations that would have given Stripes legal protection from interference” — and that the move was illegal because there was no opportunity for public comment as required by the Administrative Procedures Act.

Her Publisher Called Her “Exceptionally Diligent”

Max D. Lederer Jr., the publisher of Stars and Stripes, sent an email to staff praising Smith as “exceptionally diligent and thoughtful” and noting that Congress created the ombudsman role specifically to provide independent oversight of both the outlet’s journalism and its Pentagon management. This isn’t a fringe position. The publisher of the paper agrees she was doing her job.

Smith herself wrote in an email to staff: “I knew it was risky to speak out, but my responsibility to Stripes and the First Amendment was paramount.”

In an interview, she said there had been “no communication at all” before the termination notice. She was simply informed she was being removed. The person who fired her — Sean Parnell — is also the person who will choose her replacement. Which means the role designed to provide independent oversight of the Pentagon’s relationship with Stars and Stripes will now be filled by the Pentagon official who is remaking that relationship.

This Is What They Were Afraid Of

Congress created the ombudsman position for Stars and Stripes because of exactly this kind of moment. After the Iran-Contra affair, lawmakers were concerned that military leadership was interfering with press coverage of military operations. They created a watchdog role — an ombudsman embedded at the newspaper itself — who would report to Congress when editorial independence was threatened.

Smith was doing that. Her most recent column before the firing was titled: “The Pentagon is trying to silence me.” It began: “A recent opinion column I wrote as the Stars and Stripes ombudsman began with this: ‘Pete Hegseth doesn’t want you to see cartoons in this newspaper anymore.’ Apparently the Pentagon also doesn’t want you to hear from me anymore about threats to the editorial independence of Stars and Stripes. They fired me.”

She’s not wrong. The Pentagon banned cartoons. Then they banned syndicated news. Then they removed the regulatory protections. Then they fired the person Congress appointed to monitor all of it. Each step is designed to make the next one easier.

PEN America Calls on Congress to Intervene

Press freedom group PEN America called on Congress to “step in now” following Smith’s firing. Tim Richardson, PEN America’s journalism and disinformation program director, said Smith “has been fired for doing exactly what Congress intended Stars and Stripes’ ombudsman to do — protecting the independence the publication has held for decades.”

Stars and Stripes receives approximately half its funding from the Defense Department but maintains editorial independence — or maintained it, depending on how you read the last three months. The paper has covered the U.S. military independently since 1861. That’s 165 years of independent journalism for the troops, surviving every war, every administration, and every attempt to turn it into propaganda. Until now.

The ombudsman role existed specifically to prevent this. They fired the ombudsman. The person choosing the replacement is the person she was reporting on. No reason was given. The action is not grievable. That’s how you kill a free press inside the Pentagon — not with a dramatic announcement, but with a DA Form 3434 and a five-day notice.

Sources

• Stars and Stripes: Smith’s own column reporting her firing; DA Form 3434; last day April 28; “not grievable”; previous columns on Hegseth’s cartoon ban, March 9 directive banning commercial news, rescinding CFR protections; reported to House and Senate Armed Services committees. April 23, 2026.
• Newser: Pentagon dismissed ombudsman; Smith told staff she was removed from DOD payroll; publisher Lederer: “exceptionally diligent and thoughtful”; order came from Sean Parnell; Smith: “I knew it was risky to speak out.” April 23, 2026.
• Editor & Publisher: Pentagon confirmed “relieved of her duties … effective immediately”; no reason given; role began December 2023; watchdog monitoring paper’s independence. April 24, 2026.
• Newsmax: Smith wrote op-ed reporting firing; role created by Congress; Pentagon rescinded CFR protections without public comment; PEN America calls on Congress to “step in now”; Tim Richardson: “fired for doing exactly what Congress intended.” April 24, 2026.
• The Boston Globe: Pentagon fired ombudsman; March 9 directive banned syndicated news, columns, comics, editorial cartoons; Smith had been raising concerns in columns, on podcasts, and to congressional committees; 13th ombudsman; role stemmed from Iran-Contra era concerns. April 23, 2026.