New year. New you. New secretary of defense.
Well, an acting one anyway.
Jan. 1 heralded in more than just 2019. It also was the day that Deputy Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan took over as secretary of defense from retired Marine Gen. Jim Mattis ― beloved living patron saint of Marines and king of “Chaos" with a cult-like following.
It also was the day the government changed the Facebook profile picture on the official secretary of defense page.
Though Shanahan has no active-duty military experience, he has more than three decades of experience as a Boeing executive and has spent the past year focused on reforming internal Pentagon processes.
Mattis wrote a letter of resignation and said he planned to leave at the end of February. But President Donald Trump cut Mad Dog’s tenure short by two months, announcing that Shanahan would take over in the new year.
Following in the footsteps of the Warrior Monk will not be easy. But we almost feel sorry for the guy from this thread alone.
Here are some of the reactions:
Andrea Scott is editor of Marine Corps Times.
