WASHINGTON: Trump’s new pick for Pentagon chief Mark Esper takes over as acting defence secretary on Monday — and will quickly find himself in the hot seat on everything from tensions with Iran to Washington’s position within Nato.

Esper, the secretary of the US Army who served in its much-heralded 101st Airborne Division, will bring the soldiering experience to the Depart­ment of Defence that former acting chief Patrick Shanahan lacked.

But his years of work as a lobbyist for defence firm Raytheon may spark concerns on Capitol Hill about the awarding of weapons contracts — an issue that also plagued Shanahan because of his ties to Boeing.

President Donald Trump on Friday formally nominated the 55-year-old Esper, three days after Shanahan withdrew his name from consideration after past episodes of family domestic violence resurfaced during his background check.

“I know Mark, and have no doubt he will do a fantastic job!” Trump tweeted.

Esper, who must be confirmed by the Senate, is the third man to lead the Pentagon in six months, after Shanahan and Jim Mattis, Trump’s first defence secretary who resigned in December last year.

For some Democrats, the multiple changes at the Defence Department have left a power vacuum, at a moment when Trump nearly authorised strikes on Iran over the downing of a US surveillance drone.

“This is a particularly fraught time for there to be not only an acting but an acting-acting,” Democratic Senator Chris Coons told political news outlet Roll Call.

Esper comes from a top military pedigree — he graduated from the US Military Academy at West Point in 1986, and served as an infantryman, including during the Gulf War in 1990-91.

After his time on active duty, he served in the National Guard and Army Reserve before retiring from the military in 2007.

The married father of three adult children also has Master’s degrees in government and public policy — and years of experience on Capitol Hill, both as an congressional aide and as a lobbyist.

He is close to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, a West Point classmate, and National Security Advisor John Bolton — both outspoken hawks on Team Trump.

Published in Dawn, June 23rd, 2019