President Trump on Thursday nominated a new number two for the Pentagon, along with multiple Pentagon senior officials and the department’s head of program evaluation. Patrick M. Shanahan, Boeing’s senior vice president of supply chain and operations, is nominated to be the next deputy secretary of defense. Shanahan, if confirmed, would replace current No. 2 Robert Work. Trump also nominated Robert Daigle, a professional staff member on the House Armed Services Committee and previous director of program resources for Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation, to lead CAPE. David Norquist, a partner with Kearney and Company, is nominated to serve as under secretary of defense, comptroller, and Elaine McCusker, the director of resources and analysis for US Central Command, is nominated to serve as principal under secretary of defense, comptroller. Kenneth Rapuano, a senior vice president with the ANSER Corporation, was nominated to serve as assistant secretary of defense for homeland defense and global security. David Joel Trachtenberg, the president and CEO of Shortwaver Consulting, is nominated to serve as principal deputy under secretary of defense for policy. Defense Secretary James Mattis personally recommended the nominees to the president, according to a Pentagon statement.
Amid NATO’s continued push to ramp up air defenses in Eastern Europe, Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall swung by seven allied countries to boost relations last week, including those on Russia’s and Ukraine’s doorstep.