Departing Defense Secretary Jim Mattis closed out a two-year run as Pentagon chief Monday, ushering in a period of intense uncertainty for the military with President Trump set to choose new leadership and issuing murky orders for U.S. troops abroad.
“Our Department is proven to be at its best when the times are most difficult. So keep the faith in our country and hold fast, alongside our allies, aligned against our foes,” Mattis said in a farewell missive to Pentagon personnel.
Mattis’s successor on an acting basis will be Deputy Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan, a longtime executive with the defense contractor Boeing. Shanahan joined the Trump administration in July 2017 with a background in management but no government or foreign policy experience.
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