Trump has chosen retired Marine Gen. James Mattis for secretary of defense

SSgt GG-15 RET Jim Lint, from what I saw on the news tonight, this appointment won't be made official until next week.

We seem to forget that Lt. Gen. Frank Libutti, USMC (Ret.) was the Under Secretary for Infrastructure Protection. 2003 (start up) for a couple of years. I think 2005, but can not remember exactly.

He was a 11th MEU Commander while I was assigned there but I never sailed with them as I was selected for WO and detached, I ran across someone assigned to the unit in Okinawa and he said the float was a bust, they spent much of their time outrunning typhoons in the Pacific, which happens and has nothing to do with your position, other than that and the knowledge that many of all services use political ties to further their careers to get a star (especially Colonels that have no family ties or combat record) I'm outgunned in any debate such as this, bottom line here is that there's not much anyone can do to stop these appointments and public opinion will far outweigh dissent from the opposition, IMHO

We don't have to go back tremendously far to find former active duty folks that have served in civilian positions, and former USMC Colonel Gerald Turley is one example. Although he served at a lower level as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense and Special Consultant to the Under Secretary of Defense, and thus required no Senate confirmation as the principal, he still had a combat record to substantiate his service. The record is full of people that have served in war and in peace, with folks like former SecNav Lehman who was a Lt Cmdr USNR. I'm all for vetting and confirmation but feel political considerations should be set aside when filling our leadership positions. If they screw up then fire them, but at least give them a chance.