On 19 July 2017 Mark Thomas Esper was nominated to be the new Secretary of the Army. This is the third nomination for this position, as the first two nominees, Vincent Viola and Mark E. Green, withdrew. Not sure when Congress will review and approve this nomination. I am guessing it won’t happen in September. The acting Secretary of the Army is Ryan McCarthy (approved as Undersecretary of the Army in August 2017).
Mr. Esper’s background:
- Graduate of USMA (West Point) in 1986 with a BS in Engineering.
- Masters degree from Harvard in 1995.
- PhD from GWU in 2008.
- Served as in infantry officer with the 101st Airborne Division during the Gulf War (1990-1991).
- Over ten years of active duty (1986-1996?). I gather still in the Army Reserve as a Lt. Colonel.
- Chief of Staff of the Heritage Foundation, 1996-1998.
- Senior staffer for Senate Foreign Relations Committee and Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, 1998-2002.
- Policy Director House Armed Services Committee, 2001-2202.
- Deputy Assistance Secretary of Defense for Negotiations Policy, 2002-2004.
- Director of National Security Affairs for U.S. Senate, 2004-2006.
- Executive Vice President at Aerospace Industries Association, 2006-2007.
- National Policy Director for Senator Fred Thompson’s 2008 Presidential campaign, 2007-2008.
- Executive Vice President of the Global Intellectual Property Center, and Vice President for Europe and Eurasia at U.S. Chamber of Commerce, 2008-2010.
- Vice President of Government Relations at Raytheon, 2010 to present.
Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Esper