US President Donald Trump has named Deputy Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan as the acting Pentagon chief, saying he will replace outgoing Defense Secretary Jim Mattis earlier than previously scheduled.
“I am pleased to announce that our very talented Deputy Secretary of Defense, Patrick Shanahan, will assume the title of Acting Secretary of Defense starting January 1, 2019. Patrick has a long list of accomplishments while serving as Deputy, & previously Boeing,” the president said in a tweet on Sunday. “He will be great.”
A former Boeing Co. executive, Shanahan joined the Trump administration in 2017. He has supervised many of Boeing’s strategic weapons programs, including the V-22 Osprey, CH-47 Chinook and the AH-64D Apache aircraft.
He has also overseen the US military’s experiments with laser, including the Airborne Laser and Advanced Tactical Laser programs.
Source: Websites
