President Donald Trump announced on June 21 that he intends to formally nominate Army Secretary Mark Esper as the next secretary of defense.
This follows Trump’s decision earlier this week to place Esper as acting secretary of defense after Patrick Shanahan abruptly withdrew from consideration for the top job earlier this week.
Along with Esper, the president also announced that current Deputy Secretary of Defense David L. Norquist will remain in his position, while Ryan D. McCarthy will replace Esper as the next army secretary.
Several senators have already shown their support for Esper such as Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), who released a statement after Trump announced Esper as acting secretary of defense.
Esper began his career as an Infantry Officer in the 101st Airborne Division while serving in the first Gulf War. He then served in Europe and in the National Guard, before retiring from the Army after 21 years of service, according to the White House.
Prior to serving as the army secretary, he was Vice President for Government Relations at the Raytheon Company.
“His Pentagon experience includes serving as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (Negotiations Policy) in the Office of the Secretary of Defense and earlier on the Army staff as a war planner. Esper was also a Chief of Staff of the Heritage Foundation, and taught at Missouri State University’s Department of Defense and Strategic Studies program in Fairfax, Virginia.”
Esper is also a graduate of the United States Military Academy, Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government, and George Washington University.
China has been a personal priority for Esper as far back as the 1990s, including when he worked as an aide on Capitol Hill after more than a decade in the Army.
“The issue of China, competition with China, China’s capabilities, is not a new one to me … That is both the foundation and the shaping of my views on these various issues, because I’ve watched this evolution for 20 years now,” he said.