Tag: Department of Defense

Secretary Mattis has been extremely apolitical which in today’s partisan political environment is an extreme rarity:

U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said President Donald Trump has reassured him of his full support after the Republican president described his Pentagon chief as “sort of a Democrat” who could leave the administration.

Mattis, speaking to reporters before landing in Vietnam on Tuesday, said he received the reassurance from Trump in a phone call during his nearly 20-hour flight from Washington.

“(Trump) said, ‘I’m 100 percent with you’,” Mattis recounted, playing down Trump’s remarks to CBS’ “60 Minutes,” which aired on Sunday.

Asked whether he was a Democrat, as Trump suggested, Mattis, disclosed that he had not registered as a Democrat or a Republican.

“I have never registered for any political party,” said Mattis, a retired Marine general.

Mattis sought to portray national defense as an issue above partisan politics. He also pointed to a long military career that taught him to act in a “proudly apolitical” manner, in which U.S. servicemembers carry out orders from Republican and Democratic presidents alike.

Mattis said he did not talk to Trump about leaving his job and dismissed speculation he was being pushed out.

“I’m on his team. We have never talked about me leaving. And as you can see right here, we are on our way (to Asia). We just continue doing our job,” Mattis said.  [Reuters]

You can read more at the link, but I hope Secretary Mattis gets to stay at the Pentagon for as long as possible.

A Swedish Youtube star famous for playing and filming video games that he plays decided to take the infamous DOD Cyber Awareness Challenge.  The results were pretty funny:

PewDiePie, a Swedish YouTuber with 65 million subscribers who is best known for sharing videos of himself playing video games, just took the Cyber Awareness Challenge.

In a 25-minute video posted to the video-sharing site Thursday, he takes an unclassified version of the infamous Department of Defense computer security training. The video has already been viewed upwards of 1.6 million times.

“Who would make something like this?” he asks early in the process.  [Stars & Stripes]

You can read more at the link or watch the video below:

This is like musical Defense Secretaries the way the Pentagon keeps going through them:

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel is stepping down under pressure from President Barack Obama’s Cabinet, senior administration officials said Monday, following a rocky tenure in which he has struggled to break through the White House’s insular foreign policy team.

Hagel is the first senior Obama adviser to leave the administration following the sweeping losses for Obama’s party in the midterm elections. It also comes as the president’s national security team has been battered by multiple foreign policy crises, including the rise of the Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria.  [Associated Press]

You can read more at the link, but I would be surprised if Michelle Flournoy is not nominated because she should be capable considering all her time at the Pentagon, is a strong Democrat supporter, and also brings political benefits. First of all she would be the first female Secretary of Defense and if the Republican controlled Congress does anything to try and block her nomination it can be played as the “War on Women” by the Democrats in anticipation of the 2016 elections.