Acting Defense Secretary Mark Esper assured DOD staff in a Pentagon memo Monday that despite last week’s sudden departure of former acting agency chief Patrick Shanahan, the department will stay its course, The Hill reported.
Esper, previously Secretary of the Army, emphasized the administration’s National Security Strategy as the agency’s path forward, according to the report.
“As we continue to advance the Nation’s security, let me reaffirm our path forward,” Esper wrote. “The National Security Strategy remains our guiding document, and everything we do should support its stated objectives. The Department’s priorities remain unchanged.”
Esper also highlighted three main department objectives including building a more lethal force, strengthening alliances and attracting new partners, and reforming internal DOD practices.
He also emphasized that top DOD leaders should demonstrate “those values and behavior that represent the best of the military profession and mark the character and integrity of the Armed Forces that the American people admire.”
Esper became under secretary of the Army in 2017. He is a West Point graduate who has also served as a Senate aide and a top Raytheon executive. If confirmed, he would be President Donald Trump’s second permanent Defense secretary.
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