President Donald Trump has nominated six individuals to fill some of the top posts at the Pentagon, including a Boeing executive who will serve as the department’s second-in-command, according to a news release put out Thursday by the White House.
Aside from the deputy secretary of defense, the new appointees would take posts left unoccupied since Trump took office. Bob Work, the current deputy secretary of defense, agreed to stay in his role following the inauguration until his replacement was nominated.
“These are all highly qualified individuals who were personally recommended by Secretary (James) Mattis” to the president for nomination, said Pentagon spokesman Navy Capt. Jeff Davis in a statement. “Secretary Mattis is grateful to Deputy Secretary Bob Work for agreeing to continue serving until his successor is confirmed. His steady leadership is critical during this time of transition, and Secretary Mattis continues to have full confidence in him as he carries out crucial work in managing in the Department.”
Work’s successor, if confirmed by the Senate, will be Patrick Shanahan, the senior vice president of supply chain operations for Boeing. While Shanahan’s recent posting at the aeronautics giant was on the commercial side, overseeing programs like the 737 and 747 airliners, he also did stints as vice president and general manger of both Boeing Missile Defense Systems and their military rotorcraft division in Philadelphia.
Trump has met multiple times with Boeing executives since he was elected, leaning on the company to reduce the cost of the replacement for Air Force One and also as leverage to the same for Lockheed Martin’s massive F-35 program. In February, Trump held a rally at the Boeing plant in South Carolina where he ended his speech with “God Bless Boeing.”
While Shanahan’s time in the company might highlight Trump’s propensity to lean on the revolving door of the defense industry and the U.S. military, former president Barack Obama’s first pick for deputy secretary of defense, William Lynn, was a lobbyist for the defense giant Raytheon before taking the role in 2009.
For principal deputy undersecretary of defense for policy, Trump has nominated David Joel Trachtenberg, according to the news release. He is the president and chief executive of Shortwaver Consulting and a former House Armed Services Committee staffer. Trachtenberg’s boss, the deputy undersecretary of defense for policy, has yet to be nominated. In recent days, Defense Secretary Mattis withdrew his recommendation – senior diplomat Anne W. Patterson – after friction from some within the Trump administration.
David Norquist has been picked to serve as the Pentagon’s comptroller. He is a partner with the accounting firm Kearney and Co. and served as the first chief financial officer for the Department of Homeland Security.
Elaine McCusker would serve under Norquist. She is the current director of resources and analysis at the U.S. Central Command based out of Tampa. She has served on the Senate Armed Services Committee as a professional staffer, in the Department of the Navy and in the Pentagon’s comptroller office.
Kenneth Rapuano, if confirmed, will be the assistant secretary of defense for homeland defense and global security. He is the senior vice president and director of the studies and analysis group at the ANSER Corp. Rapuano is also a former White House deputy homeland security adviser and Marine. He has deployed and spent time in both the active and reserve components of the military and as a civilian at the Pentagon, according to the news release.
Robert Daigle will helm the Pentagon’s Office of Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation, a branch of the department that oversees and studies various Pentagon initiatives. Daigle worked at the office under George W. Bush’s administration.
