Quotes of the Day:

“Man… Is a team or civilized animal; nevertheless, he requires proper instruction, and a fortunate nature, and then of all animals he becomes the most divine and most civilized; but if he be insufficiently or ill educated, he is the most savage of earthly creatures."

– Plato

"I had reasoned this out in my mind, there was one of two things I had a right to, liberty or death; if I could not have one, I would have the other."

– Harriet Tubman

"Wear gratitude like a cloak and it will feed every corner of your life." 

– Rumi

1. “Glorious Amateurs” at War: Measuring the Effectiveness and Performance of the Office of Strategic Services

2. After Ousting Assad, Syrian Rebels Rush to Impose Order in Damascus

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9. Iran Update, December 10, 2024

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11. Biden is rushing aid to Ukraine. Both sides are digging in. And everyone is bracing for Trump

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13. Stopping ‘Endless Wars’ Is Easier Said Than Done

14. Defense officials hopeful incoming administration keeps funding cutting-edge tech

15. In Ukraine, long guns become desperate defenses against small drones

16. Elon Musk warns Republicans against standing in Trump's way — or his

17. Archipelago of Resistance: The Philippines Is Rising to Meet the China Threat, But It Has a Crucial Year Ahead

18. How Tulsi Gabbard Sees the World

19. The Global War Machine Supplying Colombian Mercenaries to Fight in Sudan

20. Good luck reforming the Department of Defense

1. “Glorious Amateurs” at War: Measuring the Effectiveness and Performance of the Office of Strategic Services

I think other scholarship shows that the Jedburghs made significant contributions. Eisenhower himself recognized their importance.

This article is important because it highlights the challenge that intelligence and special operations have to this day: quantifying and measuring effects. This also includes the challenge of communicating effects to decision makers (and bean counters).

Conclusion:

The successes and failures within the OSS’s performance and effectiveness form a cautionary tale for intelligence organizations, special operations forces, and military leaders at all echelons. Donovan invested heavily in his organization’s ability to collect information, produce intelligence, and conduct special operations. OSS personnel across the board were highly trained and competent. They could perform their assigned duties expertly. However, OSS leadership gave little thought about whether those duties and missions were effective and worth the time, resources, and effort to attempt. Most of the OSS’s most notable and specialized missions, like the Jedburgh teams, contributed little to the course of the war. In the future, the military and intelligence organizations of the United States will not have the luxury of deploying highly trained agents and operators on missions of little potential utility. Military and intelligence leaders will need to husband these precious resources and use them in such a manner as to achieve maximum effectiveness, not just performance. For Donovan, falling short of his goals did little to tarnish the OSS’s legacy or to impact the growth of the intelligence discipline in the United States. This will not be the case in the future.

“Glorious Amateurs” at War

Measuring the Effectiveness and Performance of the Office of Strategic Services

https://www.armyupress.army.mil/Journals/Military-Review/Online-Exclusive/2024-OLE/Glorious-Amateurs/

Maj. Benjamin J. Lyman, U.S. Army

Download the PDF 

German antiaircraft shells eviscerated the fuselage of Capt. Stephen Vinciguerra’s glider as it descended over Germany on 24 March 1945, the D-day for Operation Varsity, the largest airborne operation of World War II. Vinciguerra was atypical of company-grade officers in the U.S. Army. A special operator in the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), Vinciguerra led a sixteen-man OSS detachment tasked to support the Allied operation with intelligence collection and covert action. Two of Vinciguerra’s subordinates, Helmut Steltermann and Robert Staub, were inside the tattered glider rapidly descending onto German soil. The two operatives wore German uniforms for when they landed. Their mission was to drive a captured Kubelwagen off the glider into the thick of the enemy rear area to gather information, sow chaos, and create mayhem.1

Maj. Gen. William J. “Wild Bill” Donovan, a World War I Medal of Honor recipient and prominent lawyer, was selected by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to head the office that eventually became the Office of Strategic Services in charge of strategic intelligence collection and irregular warfare activities. (Photo courtesy of the U.S. Army Special Operations Command History Office)

Despite the damage to the glider, the OSS team members got on the ground still breathing. However, their mission did not get off the ground. The antiaircraft fire ruined the Kubelwagen and wounded Vinciguerra and Steltermann. German machine gun fire peppered the glider as it crash-landed, damaging men and material alike, and further exacerbating the mission’s problematic start. The OSS operatives themselves barely cleared the landing zone under direct German fire before finding cover and staying put, too wounded to continue. Their mission to infiltrate German lines, collect intelligence, and perform some light sabotage was a failure.2 Despite significant investments in training and high hopes for success, Vinciguerra’s OSS team failed. Even had they not suffered casualties in their glider landing, the OSS’s relatively small team would have struggled to provide useful tactical intelligence in a fast-moving, large-scale airborne operation. The team’s attempted theatrics and subterfuge were emblematic of an even more critical indictment; it was militarily ineffective.

The tribulations of Vinciguerra’s team during Varsity date back to 13 June 1942 when President Franklin D. Roosevelt created the first true, stand-alone intelligence organization in the history of the United States. With the stroke of a pen to a military order, Roosevelt created the OSS and placed it under the jurisdiction of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS). He gave the OSS two distinct duties. The first was to “collect and analyze such strategic information as may be required” by the JCS, and the second was to “plan and operate such special services” the chiefs required.3 The final part of Roosevelt’s order appointed William J. Donovan as OSS director. Donovan was a decorated World War I veteran and millionaire Wall Street lawyer; and since 1941, he headed the Office of the Coordinator of Information (COI), an early, small intelligence and propaganda agency that worked directly for Roosevelt.4 Over the next three years, Donovan built the OSS to be a “peculiarly complex and many-sided organization” with dozens of branches, thousands of employees, and worldwide operations, all directed toward fulfilling the duties directed by the president.5 OSS activities during the Second World War varied widely in effectiveness and in their impact on the war effort.

Measuring the effectiveness of military or intelligence organizations is challenging. There is no universal definition of effectiveness; thus, most scholars who analyze it usually conjure their own definition. However, modern military doctrine from the U.S. Department of Defense has two suitable approaches for accomplishing this task: measures of performance and measures of effectiveness. Measures of performance are those indicators “used to measure a friendly action that is tied to measuring task accomplishment.”6 These measures help personnel understand if they are performing actions correctly, such as collecting clandestine intelligence or performing covert military action. Measures of effectiveness are those indicators “used to measure a current system state, with change indicated by comparing multiple observations over time.”7 These measures assist personnel in assessing whether their actions are accomplishing a mission or having the necessary impact, such as informing and influencing decision-makers or impeding an adversary’s military operations. The framework of measures of performance and effectiveness is useful for assessing how well the OSS performed its assigned duties and whether those tasks impacted the war’s outcome. Throughout World War II, the OSS proved to be highly competent when measured against its performance, successfully and skillfully accomplishing a wide array of tasks, from foreign intelligence collection to special operations. However, when measured against its effectiveness, only OSS’s collection and analysis efforts had an appreciable effect on the war effort, while many of its special intelligence and special operations activities, like Vinciguerra’s mission, had minimal, if any, impact.

Though Roosevelt’s June 1942 order established the OSS as new agency, Donovan drew upon the foundation he had built with the COI. Established in July 1941, the COI was Donovan’s brainchild. He had conceived the organization while serving as Roosevelt’s personal observer to the British war effort after the fall of France in 1940. In multiple trips to Western Europe and the Mediterranean in the latter half of 1940, Donovan observed that Nazi Germany had a marked advantage in its employment of the psychological and political elements of war. Additionally, Donovan’s travels and communications back to Washington highlighted the growing problem the Roosevelt administration faced with information collection and intelligence management.8 In a concise, somewhat exaggerated memorandum written in June 1941, Donovan advocated for establishing a “central enemy intelligence organization,” which would provide the president with “accurate and complete enemy intelligence reports upon which military operational decisions could be based.”9 Just over one month later, the COI was born on 11 July 1941.

In the eleven months as the head of the COI, Donovan built the shell for what would later become the OSS. Well before Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor thrust the United States into the war, Donovan laid the groundwork for an effective wartime intelligence agency. He created the Foreign Information Service to produce and disseminate propaganda into enemy-occupied territories. The COI’s Research and Analysis Branch was tasked with collating and analyzing information from all sources, including other U.S. government agencies and military services. Donovan even created the Special Activities Division with the intention of establishing both a clandestine espionage service and a covert action detachment. The COI was a paper tiger, and Donovan spent much of this period wrangling with the armed services and other parts of government for personnel and funding, and to define authorities and limitations.10 However, the COI’s brief existence was not all bureaucratic maneuvering. Under Donovan’s direction, the organization dispatched a small team to North Africa, which consolidated the efforts of operatives already in place by the military and State Department. With some assistance from Britain, the COI effectively demonstrated the utility of a coordinated intelligence effort, especially one operating in enemy or neutral territory.11 The COI’s activities in North Africa became a proof of concept for the operations of its successor, the OSS.

Now under the authority of the JCS, the OSS expanded rapidly in the latter half of 1942, though not without further administrative quarreling. Donovan had grand ambitions for the OSS as a part-military, part-civilian organization with a wide-ranging mission set, from analysis to covert action, with operational reach throughout Europe, Africa, and Asia.12 The JCS, including Army Chief of Staff Gen. George C. Marshall, worried about overlap and inefficiency between the OSS and other elements of the military and civilian wartime apparatus. It was not until December that the two bodies finalized the intelligence organization’s duties and functions. The JCS directive gave the OSS the functions of establishing a military program for psychological warfare and compiling all political, sociological, and economic information required for military operations. The directive also gave the OSS specific duties ranging from the creation of strategic surveys to the conduct of espionage and sabotage. It emphasized that the OSS’s efforts were to support “actual or planned military operations” and that OSS operations required the knowledge and approval of theater or area commanders.13 Unfortunately for Donovan’s grand vision, in this round of bureaucratic maneuver, the JCS restricted the OSS from operating within the Western Hemisphere, and the Army and Navy effectively prevented the OSS from obtaining anything more than severely limited access to signals intelligence such as Magic or Ultra intercepts.14 Still, Donovan achieved his goal of creating an organization capable of fulfilling the duties originally ordered by Roosevelt the previous summer.

The Special Erection Party (SEP) for Operation Torch assembles and tests Supermarine Spitfire Mark Vs at North Front, Gibraltar, in July 1942. The SEP was established at Gibraltar to prepare aircraft crated in Britain and shipped by sea for the reinforcement of Malta. On 28 October 1942, an unexpected shipment of 116 Spitfires and thirteen Hawker Hurricanes arrived in preparation of the Allied landings in North Africa (Operation Torch), and a further shipment was received a few days later. Despite shortages of personnel, the SEP, assisted by soldiers of the Malta Brigade, assembled, test-flew, and cannon-tested all the aircraft in time for the commencement of the operation on 8 November. (Photo by Lt. G. W. Dallison via the Imperial War Museums)

In early January 1942, the OSS received JCS approval for the organizational structure and functions that would serve it for remainder of the war, with only minor adjustments. This structure melded the OSS’s assigned duties among a series of detachments and branches. At the top was Donovan as director with a full complement of staff functions, from security to inspector general, with several billets for liaisons and other special assistants. The OSS had three deputy directorships. The deputy director of services was responsible for the administrative management of the OSS, including supply, finance, communications, and medical services. The deputy director of intelligence services had responsibility over the Secret Intelligence (SI) and Research and Analysis (R&A) Branches. The SI Branch was responsible for espionage in enemy-occupied or controlled territories, maintaining contact with underground resistance groups, and various other information collection activities. The R&A Branch was responsible for collecting, compiling, and analyzing information from all sources to prepare intelligence products “as may be required for military operations.” Finally, the deputy director of psychological warfare operations contained the Morale Operations (MO) and Special Operations (SO) Branches. The MO Branch was responsible for creating and disseminating secret “black” propaganda for subversive purposes in enemy-controlled territory. The SO Branch’s mission involved organizing partisan groups, engaging in guerrilla warfare, and performing sabotage in enemy territory. The OSS also possessed its own Schools and Training Branch, which was responsible for all manner of instruction, and a Field Photographic Branch for producing motion and still pictures of “strategic and confidential subjects.”15 Organizationally, the OSS had seemingly everything it required to fulfill its mission of collecting information and performing secret services at the behest of the JCS.

During the autumn of 1942, back-and-forth regarding functions and lines of authority, OSS operatives conducted the first missions that served as indicators of the organization’s effectiveness and performance. Much of the OSS mobilized to support Operation Torch, the Allied invasion of North Africa in November 1942. OSS elements that conducted intelligence collection and production demonstrated strong measures of both effectiveness and performance. The R&A Branch produced comprehensive studies of the target areas for planning and operational use. Personnel from the Field Photographic unit embedded with the invasion forces. The clandestine radio network, in place since the days of the COI, transmitted secret intelligence directly to Allied Forces Headquarters at Gibraltar.16 Though these efforts did not make or break the Torch operation, they demonstrated that OSS could support military operations with appropriate activities and do them well. Conversely, SO Branch operations to support the pro-Allied underground resistance movements in Morocco and Algeria failed miserably. OSS had planned to use these resistance fighters to seize strategic locations and capture Vichy, France, leaders before the Allied invasion. The resistance fighters acted too early and without the armaments promised by OSS operatives. They achieved nothing more than their own arrests.17 These special operations were both poorly conceived and poorly executed. Still, the OSS’s overall effort was enough for Marshall to inform Donovan that the organization had “rendered invaluable service, particularly with reference to the North Africa Campaign.”18 The OSS was in business and would remain so for the remainder of the war.

Over the next three years, the OSS conducted various operations and supported activities in every major theater of the war. The R&A Branch assembled a team of approximately nine hundred scholars from various disciplines including history, economics, political science, and geography. These analysts produced reports at such a prodigious rate they often failed to find willing customers to read them. The SI Branch grew into a full-fledged intelligence operation with officers and stations in every major foreign capital. The MO Branch created vast quantities of black propaganda, mostly directed at Nazi Germany. Finally, the SO Branch had perhaps the most famous wartime experience, as it conducted operations behind enemy lines in both the European and Pacific theaters. In Europe, the SO Branch paired with the British Special Operations Executive (SOE) to create the “Jedburgh” teams of specially trained operators who parachuted into German-occupied France to assist in the Allied invasion in 1944. In the Pacific, an OSS detachment in Burma assembled a guerrilla force of indigenous fighters numbering in the thousands and used them for intelligence collection and sabotage against the Japanese occupiers.19 A full analysis of every major OSS operation or activity regarding their effectiveness and performance is outside the scope of the article. However, key operations from each of the R&A, SI, and SO Branches demonstrate how well or not well OSS achieved the tasks Roosevelt and the JCS originally assigned it.

Elaborate plans to produce subversive “black” propaganda like the “Sauerkraut” missions were the purview of Office of Strategic Services’s (OSS) Morale Operations (MO) Branch in 1944. MO Branch was very successful at producing and distributing vast quantities of propaganda but with uncertain results and influence. (Photo courtesy of the OSS)

Throughout the Second World War, R&A teams produced thousands of reports and assessments on all manner of topics and themes. One of the most useful R&A detachments for assessing effectiveness and performance was the Enemy Objectives Unit (EOU), an “intrepid regiment of OSS economists” operating out of the United States embassy in London. Established in late 1942, the EOU was OSS’s answer to the heated debate among the British and American air services over the proper and effective use of strategic bombing in support of the war effort. The EOU’s raison d’être was to analyze all available economic intelligence and develop a rigorous science of air warfare. The EOU looked at the German economy holistically and developed a formula to ascertain the relative costs and benefits for bombing certain components of the Nazi war machine. Early EOU assessments informed the January 1943 Casablanca Directive that gave the British and American air forces strategic priorities for the combined bomber offensive (CBO).20 However, EOU’s greater intellectual contribution was yet to come.

The Casablanca Directive set German submarine production and its aircraft industry as the top CBO priorities. By early 1944, EOU analysts saw the potential in shifting strategic bombing toward German oil production. Though they were not the only Allied personnel to see Germany’s oil vulnerability, these OSS economists applied their rigorous methodology to the problem, which gave the oil argument a significant boost among military leadership. The EOU calculations pinpointed the oil industry as the most lucrative target for disrupting German tactical and strategic operations in anticipation of the Allied invasion of Europe. Ultimately, the spring 1944 Allied bombings focused on German transportation in France and only temporarily attacked oil production facilities. The Allied air forces turned their attention to oil production in late spring with appreciable, though not war-ending results.21 Ultimately, in terms of measures of effectiveness and performance, the EOU and by extension, the R&A Branch, was successful. Applying the methodology of economics to the intelligence analysis of the German economy was the right task for the EOU to influence the war. Furthermore, these R&A scholars demonstrated their acumen by helping to identify critical components of the German industry, an indicator of successful performance. Though the EOU’s contributions became entangled in the postwar debate over bombing efficacy, the detachment’s efforts clearly impacted the war.

Like the rest of the OSS, the SI Branch grew exponentially during the war, both in size and production. While still under the COI structure, the SI Branch established stations and networks throughout the world. Its agents churned out reports at a prolific rate, from fifty total in May 1942 to more than five thousand reports per month by the war’s end.22 Production of reports alone is not a suitable indicator of the SI Branch’s overall effectiveness or performance. However, the activities of a single SI Branch station in Bern, Switzerland, provide tremendous insight into the branch’s performance. The OSS’s Bern station began its operations after Donovan assigned Allen Dulles to the posting in November 1942. Its location within a neutral, landlocked country meant Bern station remained small until the August 1944 liberation of France opened an overland route to Switzerland. However, the relative isolation from the Allied war machine did not stop Dulles from building up a network of more than forty sources and building for himself a reputation among Bern’s international community as an influential American with connections back in Washington. Some of Dulles’s key sources were members of the German domestic opposition, and his reports back to Washington consistently described their intentions and activities, along with information as wide-ranging as Nazi secret weapons and Swiss war profiteering.23

The Office of Strategic Services operational groups were small guerrilla units that conducted a variety of missions during World War II. They were trained in small unit infantry tactics, demolition, foreign weapons, parachuting, and guerrilla warfare and were tasked with organizing, training, and equipping local resistance groups for “hit-and-run” missions against enemy-controlled roads, railways, and strong points. (Photo courtesy of the U.S. Army Special Operations Command History Office)

In his station’s reports over the last two years of the war, Dulles consistently advocated for the Allies to directly support the German domestic opposition. As early as August 1943, Dulles argued that Adolf Hitler could be overthrown if the Allies were willing to negotiate with a new, more moderate regime. Beginning in January 1944, Dulles started reporting the rumors that German resistance groups were planning to assassinate the Führer, and he continued along this vein for months, stopping only just prior to the July 1944 assassination attempt. However, though Dulles generally reported accurately on the German political atmosphere, he consistently overestimated the intentions and capabilities of the resistance movement. Ordinarily, his reports contained no more depth, detail, or secret information than had they been written by a conventional diplomat. According to historian Max Hastings, “Dulles could have functioned just as effectively had he been US ambassador.”24 More telling, Neal Peterson, the editor of Dulles’s wartime papers, exclaimed, “One is hard-pressed to identify a single example of a Dulles report in and of itself having a dire impact on a top-level policy decision.”25 As indicators of the SI Branch’s measures of performance and effectiveness, Dulles and the Bern station have a mixed legacy. His performance was satisfactory, if not brilliant, in that Dulles collected and reported on information from a variety of sources, even if few were truly the result of espionage. Conversely, there are few strong indicators of the effectiveness of Dulles’s operation. His reports did not affect high-level policymaking, nor did they substantially influence or shape military operations. They likely informed assessments or surveys but did little to directly impact the war effort. They were heavy on intelligence production but with little meaningful influence. The case of Dulles demonstrates the OSS’s problem with foreign intelligence collection. No matter how prolific the reporting, the types of information the SI Branch operatives collected was usually of dubious immediate or near-term value to the war effort. This struggle with effectiveness also manifested itself in the SI Branch’s sister unit, which conducted special operations.

The SO Branch established a bevy of operational groups, units, and detachments to accomplish its mission of organizing guerrilla warfare and conducting operations behind enemy lines. The Jedburgh teams became the most famous after the war and are also the clearest case for measuring the SO Branch’s effectiveness and performance. The Jedburgh teams were a combined operation of OSS, SOE, and the Free French forces. The three-man teams consisted of one OSS or SOE officer, one French officer, and one British or American enlisted radio operator. Their original mission was to parachute drop into France in the weeks prior to the Allied invasion of Europe in 1944 and, from there, arm, train, and otherwise organize the French resistance.26 The American members of the Jedburgh teams entered the OSS from across the U.S. Army and were, in the words of one historian, “a tough, gregarious, and often unruly collection of characters, including a few ex-paratroopers, prewar adventurers, and assorted intellectuals.”27 Though rigorously trained and prepared, the first teams only dropped into France on 6 June 1944 to avoid revealing the Allied invasion plan to the Germans. This gave them little time to prepare the battlefield for conventional forces. Jedburgh teams continued to drop behind German lines in France, Belgium, and the Netherlands through September 1944. Larger OSS operational groups, like Vinciguerra’s unit, eventually joined the smaller teams in enemy-occupied territory.

Members of Jedburgh Team Ronald (from left: Tech. Sgt. Elmer B. Esch, Lt. Shirley R. Trumps, Lt. Georges Deseilligny, and a fourth unidentified team member) prepare to jump into occupied France on 4 August 1944. Esch and Trumps were Americans, while Deseilligny was French. (Photo courtesy of the U.S. Army Special Operations Command History Office)

Throughout the summer of 1944, Jedburgh teams and operational groups entered enemy-occupied territory to link up with and fight alongside French partisans. In some places, such as the Brittany region of France, OSS operatives had tremendous success marshaling the French resistance to collect intelligence, conduct ambushes, and capture key terrain in anticipation of the arrival of Allied conventional forces. However, many OSS operatives worked alongside resistance groups already highly organized and prepared, with little need for outside training or direction. The Jedburgh teams and operational groups were also unprepared to handle the fractious nature of politics in the French resistance, especially between the communist and noncommunist factions. Finally, the pace of the Allied advance meant many OSS operatives were behind enemy lines for mere days before conventional forces arrived—hardly enough time to establish and operate a robust guerrilla resistance.28 Regarding its performance, the Jedburgh teams and the operational groups were moderately successful in France. They infiltrated behind German lines and coordinated with a variety of French partisan groups without undertaking serious casualties. However, they were only marginally effective in impacting the course of the war. The SO Branch activities did not alleviate the need for Allied conventional forces to conduct the hard fight out of the Norman hedgerows or through France and into the Low Countries. The Allies’ lack of a comprehensive, integrated plan for the SO Branch employment all but ensured that the OSS operatives would only tangentially affect military operations, if at all.

These three case studies and the branches from which they derive provide only a small glimpse into the OSS’s wartime operations. By the war’s end, the OSS had approximately thirteen thousand employees, with 7,500 serving overseas. Its budget for fiscal year 1945 alone topped $45 million.29 Other OSS branches conducted important work, such as X-2 Branch’s efforts in security and counterintelligence or the Research and Development Division’s development of a long list of nifty gadgets and specialized weaponry.30 However, it was the R&A, SI, and SO Branches that conducted the activities directly related to the OSS’s core functions and purpose. As shown in the case studies above, each branch demonstrated strong measures of performance. Whether it was the R&A Branch’s analytical products, the SI Branch’s source networks, or the SO Branch’s unconventional operations, OSS analysts, officers, and operatives accomplished the tasks assigned to them. The OSS’s measurements of effectiveness, whether they achieved a meaningful impact on military operations or not, were less balanced. With the efforts of the EOU, the R&A Branch clearly demonstrated the ability to shape and influence operations at the strategic level, fulfilling its original mission. The SI and SO Branches had a more uncertain and less tangible influence. As seen in the case of Dulles and the Bern station, though SI officers may have submitted thousands of well-intentioned and accurate reports, they made little impact on high-level policymaking. The SO Branch’s activities, particularly the Jedburgh teams, performed admirably in their unconventional role, but ultimately, their efforts had no major impact on the Allied campaign in Europe. In the end, like many other elements of the Allied war machine, the OSS contributed only a small part to the final victory.

The unofficial Special Force wing was worn by the Jedburghs. This insignia was also worn by some operational group teams in France. (Photo courtesy of the U.S. Army Special Operations Command History Office)

In a 20 September 1945 executive order, President Harry S. Truman officially terminated the OSS. The order moved the R&A Branch to the Department of State and the rest to the Department of War, with the intention to eliminate any elements not required for peacetime intelligence activities.31 The OSS thus ended as it had begun, with a presidential order. In its wartime existence, the OSS moved aggressively to fulfill the tasks originally assigned to it by Roosevelt in 1942 and fulfill Donovan’s vision of an intelligence organization that supported military operations. OSS branches like R&A and SI collected and analyzed information from the tactical to the strategic levels of war. The SO Branch performed secret services in support of ongoing military operations. The OSS had strong measures of performance. From the analysts to the operators, OSS personnel accomplished a wide variety of challenging and diverse missions. However, the impact of those operations and the measures of effectiveness were less certain and less significant. While the R&A Branch built assessments that influenced and informed operations, many of the activities of the SI and SO Branches only impacted the war effort marginally, if at all.

The successes and failures within the OSS’s performance and effectiveness form a cautionary tale for intelligence organizations, special operations forces, and military leaders at all echelons. Donovan invested heavily in his organization’s ability to collect information, produce intelligence, and conduct special operations. OSS personnel across the board were highly trained and competent. They could perform their assigned duties expertly. However, OSS leadership gave little thought about whether those duties and missions were effective and worth the time, resources, and effort to attempt. Most of the OSS’s most notable and specialized missions, like the Jedburgh teams, contributed little to the course of the war. In the future, the military and intelligence organizations of the United States will not have the luxury of deploying highly trained agents and operators on missions of little potential utility. Military and intelligence leaders will need to husband these precious resources and use them in such a manner as to achieve maximum effectiveness, not just performance. For Donovan, falling short of his goals did little to tarnish the OSS’s legacy or to impact the growth of the intelligence discipline in the United States. This will not be the case in the future.

Notes 

1. James M. Fenlon, Four Hours of Fury: The Untold Story of World War II’s Largest Airborne Invasion and the Final Push into Nazi Germany (New York: Scribner, 2019), 124, 245.
2. Ibid., 245, 286.
3. “Military Order, 13 June 1942, Establishing OSS,” in War Report of the OSS (Office of Strategic Services), ed. Kermit Roosevelt (New York: Walker, 1976), 282.
4. R. Harris Smith, OSS: The Secret History of America’s First Central Intelligence Agency (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1972), 1–2.
5. Roosevelt, War Report of the OSS, 2–3.
6. DoD Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms (Washington, DC: U.S. Government Publishing Office, July 2024), s.v. “measure of performance.”
7. Ibid., s.v. “measure of effectiveness.”
8. Roosevelt, War Report of the OSS, 5–8.
9. “‘Memorandum of Establishment of Service of Strategic Information,’ 10 June 1941, Prepared for the President by [William J.] Donovan,” in Roosevelt, War Report of the OSS, 259–60.
10. Ibid., 9–27.
11. Ibid., 93–95.
12. “Report, 17 August 1942, OSS to JCS [Joint Chiefs of Staff], Describing Organization and Functions of OSS,” in Roosevelt, War Report of the OSS, 299–329.
13. “JCS 155/4/D, 23 December 1942, ‘Functions of the Office of Strategic Services,’” in Roosevelt, War Report of the OSS, 379–84.
14. Michael Warner, The Office of Strategic Services: America’s First Intelligence Agency (Washington, DC: Central Intelligence Agency Public Affairs, 2000), 6, https://www.cia.gov/resources/csi/books-monographs/the-office-of-strategic-services-americas-first-intelligence-agency/.
15. “General Order No. 9, 3 January 1943,” in Roosevelt, War Report of the OSS, 385–90.
16. Ibid., 104–5.
17. Smith, OSS, 60–67.
18. “Letter, 23 December 1942, General George C. Marshall to Donovan,” in Roosevelt, War Report of the OSS, 384.
19. Warner, Office of Strategic Services, 8–14.
20. Barry M. Katz, Foreign Intelligence: Research and Analysis in the Office of Strategic Services, 1942–1945 (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1989), 114–18.
21. Ibid., 118–24.
22. Roosevelt, War Report of the OSS, 188.
23. Max Hastings, The Secret War: Spies, Codes, and Guerrillas, 1939–45 (London: William Collins, 2015), 306–9.
24. Ibid., 315.
25. Neal Peterson, ed., introduction to From Hitler’s Doorstep: The Wartime Intelligence Reports of Allen Dulles, 1942–1945 (State College: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2010), 16.
26. Smith, OSS, 174–75.
27. David W. Hogan Jr., U.S. Army Special Operations in World War II (Washington, DC: U.S. Army Center of Military History, 1992), 50.
28. Ibid., 56–58.
29. Warner, Office of Strategic Services, 7.
30. Roosevelt, War Report of the OSS, 155–58, 188–97.
31. “Executive Order, 20 September 1945, ‘Termination of the Office of Strategic Services and Disposition of Its Functions,’” in Roosevelt, War Report of the OSS, 448–49.

Maj. Benjamin Lyman, U.S. Army, is a military intelligence officer and the S-2 for the 10th Mountain Division Artillery. He holds a BA from Dickinson College and an MA from Ohio State University. During his career, Lyman has served with the 902nd Military Intelligence Group and the Department of History at the United States Military Academy.

2. After Ousting Assad, Syrian Rebels Rush to Impose Order in Damascus

The dog caught the car. Now what do you do? And what does the rest of the international community?

After Ousting Assad, Syrian Rebels Rush to Impose Order in Damascus

Leader Jawlani moves to form a transitional government, get the buses running and turn the power back on 

https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/after-ousting-assad-syrian-rebels-rush-to-impose-order-in-damascus-1c4f5fab?mod=latest_headlines

By Stephen Kalin

Follow and Saleh al-Batati

Updated Dec. 11, 2024 12:31 am ET

When the regime of Bashar al-Assad collapsed over the weekend without a fight, Damascus slipped into a power vacuum that saw the pillaging of the deposed president’s ornate palace, some government buildings and the homes of high-ranking officials.

But hours after Assad fled Syria, organized rebel forces entered the capital and began attempting to restore order. Gunmen from Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, one of the largest groups from the north, curbed looting and set up checkpoints to confiscate stolen goods, including furniture, electronics and home appliances, residents said. 

On Monday, HTS said it had nearly completed the task of securing the capital and tapped Mohammed al-Bashir, the head of a de facto government the group backed for years in Syria’s rebel-held northwest, to form a transitional government for the entire country. 

Bashir met with HTS leader Abu Mohammed al-Jawlani as well as the prime minister of the ousted regime, who for now is working with the group on a transition. On Tuesday, the Syrian state news agency said Bashir was taking over as interim prime minister until March 1. What happens next isn’t clear, though some opposition figures are pushing for elections.

“There are significant challenges, but our previous experience in managing Idlib governorate and the surrounding areas has provided us with extensive expertise,” Bashir said in a statement pledging to return employees to their workplaces and provide services to Syrians under a transition period.

Rebel leader Abu Mohammed al-Jawlani spoke at the Umayyad Mosque on Sunday. Photo: Omar Albam/Associated Press

The rebel group of just 25,000 fighters, in collaboration with other insurgent forces, shocked the world with a lightning assault that in just over a week toppled the Assad regime, which had ruled Syria for more than half a century. The country, made up of diverse ethnic and religious communities, has become an unwieldy patchwork of armed groups that could potentially turn on each other now that the central authority is gone.

Jawlani has become the most visible face of the new power in Damascus, praying at the historic Umayyad Mosque on Sunday and addressing supporters there. “The future is ours,” he said. Syrian analysts say HTS is joining forces with local entities and expect it will be a few weeks before the transition process becomes clearer.

Jawlani fought the U.S. occupation in Iraq, where he ended up in an American-run prison. He later joined Islamic State and then al Qaeda but broke with both groups and steered HTS away from the global jihadist movement waging war on the West. Since 2017, HTS has administered a statelet in northwest Syria with a population of some four million people.

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It took just over a week for the 54-year Assad regime to fall in Syria and the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham rebel group to take control. WSJ breaks down how it happened—and what comes next for Syria and the Middle East. Illustration: Madeline Marshall

HTS is classified by many foreign governments, including the U.S., as a terrorist organization over links to al Qaeda, which it disavowed years ago. Its dominant role in Syria’s transition now presents a conundrum for those governments. A U.K. minister said the British government would consider delisting the group depending on its behavior in the coming period.

The incoming Trump administration might not be as flexible. Joel Rayburn, a former senior director for Syria on the National Security Council who is working on the president-elect’s national security transition team, said Jawlani and HTS are “delusional” if they think the world would support a transitional government that he said circumvents the United Nations.

The extent of HTS control varies across the country. In northwestern areas around Idlib, where it was holed up for years under bombardment from the regime and its Russian ally, it established a government that focused on delivering needed services and showed some tolerance for Christians and women, drawing criticism from hard-liners.

When it took Aleppo late last month, it quickly imposed itself. But in Damascus, it was less disciplined rebel groups from the suburbs and southern areas like Daraa that first entered the city.

People in Damascus celebrate after rebels seized the Syrian capital. Photo: bakr alkasem/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images

Moataz Houssein, a Damascus resident, described a capital city haunted by decades of suffering and the rapid developments of recent days, with most shops still closed and many people staying home out of fear. He said he encountered gunmen firing celebratory gunshots and recently released prisoners wandering the streets as Israeli airstrikes echoed in the distance. 

“It all feels like a nightmare, yet you remind yourself it is also a dream—now that Assad is gone,” he said.

Several officials in Damascus have been focused on finding fuel for buses to get employees to work, fixing power outages and hiring workers to clean neighborhoods. In some parts of the country, schools that closed last week partially reopened Tuesday. Stores and restaurants in the capital began opening but many remained closed due to a lack of supplies. The price of basic goods has soared, and the Syrian pound weakened.

Haid Haid, a fellow at Chatham House who is from Syria, said HTS has historically been successful by pursuing a gradual approach to governance that mixes coercion with patience and persuasion, which allows it to implement its objectives slowly and avoid backlash by adapting to public reactions.

“Its mixed strategy helps mitigate negative consequences and avoid alienating local communities, whose support is vital for its survival and influence,” he wrote on X. But with the regime’s collapse and the rebels’ rapid territorial gains, it may have to pursue meaningful reforms or risk losing favor among many Syrians.

Seeking to break from the brutal 54-year rule of the Assad family while preventing chaos and maintaining the continuity of state institutions, the rebels have sought to reassure Syria’s minorities that they will be safe. It has kept some of the regime’s ministers and managers in place, at least for now, in addition to bringing in some new ones. 

They said Monday that personal freedoms and individual rights would be guaranteed, ruling out restrictions on women’s clothing in the name of modesty like those that exist in Iran and Afghanistan.

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Syrian rebels released hundreds of detainees from a prison near Damascus dubbed the “human slaughterhouse.” As many as 13,000 people were executed in Saydnaya prison in the first six years after the uprising in 2011, according to Amnesty International. Photo: Associated Press/Social Media

The rebels have introduced a general amnesty for conscripts in Syria’s former army, ordered former officials to identify themselves to the new authorities in exchange for safe treatment, and asked police to stay on duty. Video published by Iran’s Al-Alam Arabic state TV channel showed calm at Seyda Zeinab, a revered Shiite shrine south of Damascus, discrediting reports that it had been attacked.

The rebels have pledged to hold officials from the dictatorial Assad regime accountable for alleged torture and war crimes amid fears of lawlessness and score-settling. 

Sawsan Abou Zainedin, chief executive of Madaniya, an umbrella group of more than 200 Syrian civil-society organizations working inside the country and in diaspora, said the same people who have been running state institutions should maintain their roles, with support from experts and technocrats who had been marginalized by the previous regime.

“We are not in the business of de-Baathification whatsoever here,” she said, referring to the policy during the U.S. occupation of Iraq of disbanding the ruling party, a move that was widely blamed for fueling the insurgency there.

Adam Chamseddine, Suha Ma’ayeh, Isabel Coles and Jared Malsin contributed to this article.

Write to Stephen Kalin at stephen.kalin@wsj.com

3. Army fires 4-star general for improper influence in subordinate's selection for command

Our merit based promotion systems must be protected from outside influence.

My only question to the general is "What were you thinking?"

Some might say that his actions demonstrate that the old promotion system was not working if it allowed someone who would take this kind of action to reach four star rank.

Army fires 4-star general for improper influence in subordinate's selection for command

Gen. Charles Hamilton has been relieved of command after an Army investigation found he used undue influence to help an officer get selected for command.

Jeff Schogol

Posted 17 Hours Ago

taskandpurpose.com · by Jeff Schogol

Army Secretary Christine Wormuth has fired a four-star general — one of just 12 in the entire service — following an investigation into accusations that he attempted to use his position to push a subordinate officer’s promotion forward, Task & Purpose has confirmed.

Gen. Charles Hamilton was relieved as the commander of Army Materiel Command, a position he had been suspended from during the investigation. The probe focused on whether Hamilton tried to pressure Army officials into promoting a lieutenant colonel that he mentored. Task & Purpose is not identifying the lieutenant colonel because there is no evidence she violated any Army policies.

“Based on the findings of a Department of the Army Inspector General investigation, the Secretary of the Army has relieved General Charles Hamilton of command,” the Army said in a statement.

Both Hamilton and the female junior officer are Black, a fact that Hamilton has said in the past was a factor in his mentoring the officer. However, he has maintained that he did not interfere in the promotion process, and he claimed in a letter to Wormuth that the selection process for battalion commanders “fails to account for the psychological effects that systemic bias, discrimination, and overt racism can have on prospective officers.”

“Although the investigation found that the Command Assessment Program withstood an attempt to interfere with its process, Secretary Wormuth will be issuing a directive that formally establishes CAP as an enduring Army program in order to reinforce the integrity of CAP and increase transparency,” the Army statement says.

Army Lt. Gen. Chris Mohan, the acting commander of Army Materiel Command, will continue to serve in his current role until a permanent replacement has been nominated, according to the Army.

“It was my greatest honor to serve our nation and I’ve been blessed beyond what I’ve deserved to lead our troops for the past 43 years,” Hamilton said in a statement to Task & Purpose on Tuesday. “Today, that service comes to a close. And, as the song tells us, the Army keeps rolling along. While I wish I was able to complete my command, we all take the uniform off and we don’t always control the timing. I look forward to continuing to serve our nation in new ways.”

Joe Buccino, a retired Army colonel familiar with the case, also issued a statement that praised Hamilton for his years of service.

“General Hamilton remains revered for fully investing in his troops and offering meaning to all those around him,” Buccino told Task & Purpose. “For more than four decades, he’s contributed to our Nation’s greatest institution. The officers he’s mentored will serve as his legacy.”

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“An overly familiar relationship”

The Army Inspector General’s office concluded that Hamilton had “improperly advocated” for the lieutenant colonel to be selected for command, according to a redacted copy of the investigation obtained by Task & Purpose.

“The net effect of adding [the lieutenant colonel,] an officer not certified ready for command, to the order of merit list ultimately caused concern in the force,” the investigation found. “This deviation from an established process, at the behest of Gen. Hamilton, uprooted trust in the program from not just the affected population, but across the Army.”

The Army Inspector General Office’s investigation came after it received an anonymous complaint in December 2023 alleging that Hamilton and the lieutenant colonel were having an “inappropriate, fraternizing, and likely sexual relationship,” the investigation says. Investigators subsequently found that although Hamilton and the lieutenant colonel had an “overly familiar relationship,” there was no “definitive evidence” that the two had a sexual relationship.

At first, the matter was referred to the Defense Department Inspector General’s Office, which closed the case in January after finding “insufficient evidence in the complaint to warrant further investigation.”

But the day after Military.com first reported in March that Hamilton allegedly pressured Army officials to select the lieutenant colonel for command, the DOD Inspector General’s Office referred the matter to the Army Inspector General’s Office for investigation.

On March 22, Wormuth suspended Hamilton and removed the lieutenant colonel’s name from the command selection list, according to the investigation.

Investigators found that Hamilton and the lieutenant colonel had communicated via personal email; Hamilton masked her name in his contacts; the two of them had attended an event together in St. Louis, Missouri, but their travel was not officially documented; and the investigation uncovered an email that implied an “inappropriate and prohibited” relationship between them.

“The investigation did not find definitive evidence of a sexual relationship between Gen. Hamilton and [the lieutenant colonel], however, we found several indicators of an overly familiar relationship between them,” investigators determined. “While the available evidence could not prove a sexual relationship, the preponderance of evidence led us to conclude there was a prohibited relationship and that [the lieutenant colonel] received preferential treatment as a result.”

For example, Hamilton awarded her the Legion of Merit when she was a major, according to the investigation. Such awards are usually presented to retiring colonels or one-star officers after they complete assignments with significant responsibilities.

“Gen. Hamilton’s direct actions to assist [the lieutenant colonel] began with awarding her an impact Legion of Merit and culminated with his request for an exception to policy to certify her ready for command to the Chief of Staff of the Army,” the investigation found. “Gen. Hamilton provided [the lieutenant colonel with several advantages he did not provide to other officers.”

Undue influence

The investigation determined that Hamilton had “used his position as a senior Army officer” to influence the Battalion Commander Assessment Program, or BCAP, in order to get the lieutenant colonel selected for command. BCAP evaluates an officer’s readiness for command.

“The evidence did not support Gen. Hamilton’s explanation that he advocated for [the lieutenant colonel] to illustrate his concerns with systemic bias and unfairness in the BCAP process,” according to the investigation.

Investigators found that Hamilton asked to sit in on the lieutenant colonel’s Army Comprehensive Talent Interview as part of the BCAP process. Ultimately, he didn’t observe any of the other candidates’ interviews “that would have assisted him in making observations to Army senior leaders as he had previously stated was the purpose of his visit,” according to the investigation.

Hamilton also asked to receive the lieutenant colonel’s peer and subordinate reviews before the interview, the investigation found. When he visited Fort Knox, Kentucky, for the lieutenant colonel’s BCAP, Hamilton expressed that he was concerned that her peer reviews were “50/50 positive negative,” and added that she had a difficult experience at Fort Cavazos, Texas, and he “had to get involved to get her moved out of there.” Hamilton added that he was concerned that “she’s being held accountable for actions that weren’t hers.”

One witness told investigators that the lieutenant colonel’s interview was “not the greatest,” and afterward Hamilton complained that the psychologist had been “too emotional and too negative” when briefing panelists about her risks of being an ineffective leader if put in command, investigators found. He said he felt the psychologist had “dug such a hole” that the lieutenant colonel could not get a fair evaluation.

There’s a discrepancy about what happened next. Hamilton told investigators that someone suggested to him that the lieutenant colonel could appear before another panel, but an official whose name was redacted from the investigation said that the lieutenant colonel was re-paneled “based solely on Gen. Hamilton’s request,” according to the investigation.

“We found it more likely than not Gen. Hamilton leveraged his rank and his position to pressure CAP staff to re-panel [the lieutenant colonel,” the investigation found. “Gen. Hamilton testified [Redacted] introduced the idea of the re-panel; however, his testimony was inconsistent with other evidence.”

Army Gen. Charles Hamilton addressing attendees of the Global Customer-Facing Summit at Fort Belvoir, Virginia. in April 2022. Defense Logistics Agency photo by Christopher Lynch

Typically, re-paneling is done for administrative or technical reasons, investigators wrote. This was the first time a candidate was re-paneled at the request of a general officer, according to the investigation. One person, whose name was redacted, told investigators that no other senior leader had asked for a candidate to re-paneled since the CAP process began in 2019.

Hamilton then reached out to several general officers who were sitting on panels about how the BCAP process worked, the investigation found.

“Gen. Hamilton improperly contacted four BCAP panel members,” according to the investigation. “General officers frequently serve on boards and panels and swear an oath to protect the integrity of the process. Gen. Hamilton’s contact with panel members to discuss their board philosophy put the integrity of the BCAP panel at risk. Gen. Hamilton testified he called them to ensure they were conducting panels with a holistic view of a candidate’s file. Two of the panel members testified Gen. Hamilton mentioned they may see someone he knew. A third testified Gen. Hamilton specifically attempted to garner support for a candidate who was being re-paneled.”

On the day of the second panel, Hamilton texted one person whose name was redacted from the investigation and asked how it went. After the lieutenant colonel was not selected for command again, Hamilton texted one panel member and said he was going to “find out what’s going on at CAP.”

He also started reaching out to Army officials about having a three- or four-star general override the panel’s decision because he believed there were “biases” that prevented some officers from “getting a fair shot,” according to the investigation. Hamilton took up the matter with the Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George and Lt. Gen. Walter Piatt, who was serving as vice chief of staff at the time. Ultimately, he succeeded in getting senior Army leaders to select her for command.

“Gen. Hamilton did not disclose to Army Senior Leaders that he only observed [the lieutenant colonel’s] interview,” the investigation found. “He did not share that he had not determined nor considered important, whether [the lieutenant colonel’s] assessments were accurate. He did not tell the Chief he had contacted panel members at BCAP. He did not share that both [redacted] panel and the re-panel found her not ready for command Rather, Gen. Hamilton leveraged his position as a trusted Army senior leader to convince the Chief and the Vice he was protecting the integrity of the BCAP process by identifying a bias toward a single officer.”

Bias against minority officers

In August, Hamilton wrote a letter to Wormuth denying he had done anything improper, and he argued that the Army Command Assessment Program is biased against Black candidates, including the lieutenant colonel.

In the case of the female lieutenant colonel, Hamilton wrote that he tried to prevent her promotion from being “sabotaged” by the CAP process.

“Regardless of what decision you make regarding my fate, I implore you to investigate why the Command Assessment Program deems so few minority officers as ready for command and what barriers exist that make qualified Black officers unwilling to subject themselves to that process,” Hamilton wrote in an Aug. 16 letter to Wormuth. “Removing photographs from personnel files and providing unconscious bias training for panelists is not enough. By the time a minority officer sits before a Command Assessment Program panel, the bias and racism that exists in our Army culture is already cemented into evaluation reports, peer assessments, and opinions of decision makers.”

In his letter to Wormuth, Hamilton wrote that all his advocacy for the lieutenant colonel had been “completely transparent and above board.”

While he acknowledged that he had contacted general officers whom he believed were involved with command assessment programs about what they focus on when reviewing candidates’ files, Hamilton stressed, “I never pressured or even asked any of them to deem [the lieutenant colonel] ready for command.”

Hamilton also wrote that he had been warned by an officer that the lieutenant colonel’s peers intended to hurt her chances of being selected for command by using their CAP assessments to “light her up.”

After he received an invitation to observe the lieutenant colonel’s panel, he received her peer assessments, which confirmed what he had been warned about, Hamilton wrote.

“More shocking, I observed the psychologist unprofessionally joking and making unfair conclusions with the panel prior to her interview about what he read in [the lieutenant colonel’s] assessments,” Hamilton wrote. “Though [the lieutenant colonel] acquitted herself well, she could not overcome the weight of the unfair peer bias.”

Hamilton also wrote that he did not ask that the lieutenant colonel appear before another panel. Rather, he agreed with a suggestion from Col. Townley Hedrick, CAP’s deputy executive director, that she could appear before another panel. He later learned that at least 11 other officers in the same cycle had also been re-paneled.

Following the lieutenant colonel’s second rejection, Hamilton wrote a memo to Piatt who was also director of the Army Staff at the time, arguing that she deserved to be selected as a battalion commander and included letters of recommendation on her behalf. He also met with Piatt and George on the matter.

“I am disturbed that my service to the nation might end under the glare of adversity linked unfairly to the advocacy of a subordinate officer who happens to be a Black female,” Hamilton wrote. “Over the course of my 42 years of service, I have mentored, coached, and advocated for a plethora of officers with outstanding potential. It is newsworthy that most of these officers I have supported have been White. Yet, no complaints or reports of favoritism were ever assigned to these efforts that I considered my duty to perform.”

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• Sailors on USS Carney recall tense night of combat in fierce Red Sea fight
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taskandpurpose.com · by Jeff Schogol

4. World War I Native American soldiers could be in line for Medals of Honor

Righting another wrong?

World War I Native American soldiers could be in line for Medals of Honor

Many were given different names during their service, making their identities much harder to trace.

Joshua Skovlund

Posted 24 Hours Ago

taskandpurpose.com · by Joshua Skovlund

Just a month before the end of World War I, Army Sgt. William Adair was in Montfaucon, France when his unit came under savage artillery attack. Assigned to Company C, 315th Field Signal Battalion, 90th Division, Adair was responsible for the unit’s fragile communication lines, simple spools of telephone line run from their position.

As artillery rained down all around him, Adair manned the lines despite the shells and even gas.

“After being severely gassed, Sergeant Adair stayed at his post and ran his telephone lines,” reads Adair’s Distinguished Service Cross citation. “Through a terrific artillery barrage, he remained on duty, though he was blinded and could hardly talk, until his organization was relieved.”

Though awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, Adaire is one of 25 Native American service members that a review panel believes may deserve the nation’s highest valor award, the Medal of Honor. Adair was one of 12,000 American Indian and Alaska Native servicemen who served during WWI when systemic racial discrimination was a daily reality in and out of the military.

Company E, 142nd Infantry, 71st Infantry Brigade, was one of many military units staffed with Native Americans who fought on behalf of the U.S. during WWI. Photo courtesy of the National WWI Museum and Memorial.

Records for those soldiers are being reviewed by the Valor Medals Review Project and Task Force. Established in 2018 by Congress, the panel’s mission is to surface the cases of U.S. service members who fought in World War I but whose awards and recognitions at the time were either blocked or never submitted because of racial bias in military leadership.

Dr. Tim Wescott, the Director of the George S. Robb Centre for the Study of the Great War and head of the Project and Task Force, said that racism impacted valor awards of the era. He cites the namesake of the center, 1st Lt. George Robb, as an example.

Robb was a white officer in charge of the all-Black 369th Sustainment Brigade, known as the Harlem Hellfighters who was nominated for the Medal of Honor for serving with the unit. A Black soldier, Sgt. William Butler was put up for the same award on the same sheet of paper containing Robb’s nomination.

“On the bottom half of that same piece of paper, that same nomination form is a Medal of Honor nomination for Sgt. William Butler. Butler was an African American,” said Wescott. “Right on that piece of paper, it is downgraded to DSC on Butler’s part, almost for the same actions, same theater of Meuse–Argonne, same basic date range as Rob’s. Rob receives a Medal of Honor, and Butler’s is downgraded to a DSC. Any type of PowerPoint we present, we always bring that slide up saying, ‘You don’t think there was racism?’”

The Task Force’s job is to comb the records of service members already awarded either the Distinguished Service Cross, Navy Cross, a French Croix de Guerre with Palm, or for whom an archived Medal of Honor recommendation can be found. So far, Wescott and his team have identified 215 minority WWI service members who meet the criteria. Of those, 24 are Native Americans, with one more pending a final confirmation from the National Personnel Records Center.

Among them are Army Pfc. Amado Garcia, who was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for a raid he led through the mud of no man’s land on Aug. 26, 1918. Garcia, along with two others, crawled 300 yards from the Allies’ front line, navigating the enemy’s barbed wire, and attacked their machine-gun nest. While getting shot at from 10 yards away, Garcia and his team killed three enemy soldiers and drove away the others with clubbed rifles before Garcia and his team worked their way back under heavy fire.

Another soldier the Task Force has found was Pvt. Joseph Isaac. Isaac was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross northeast of Jaulgonne, near Sergy, France, on July 31, 1918. Despite being “wounded in the head” during an assault on a German line, Isaac carried a more severely wounded comrade on his back as he crawled back to the Allies’ line.

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Another was Sgt. Joseph LaJennessee, who earned a Distinguished Service Cross near Cunel, France, on Oct. 14, 1918. LaJennessee maintained command of his platoon under heavy enemy fire after sustaining a severe gunshot wound in the leg. LaJennessee led his platoon in overcoming several machine-gun positions over the course of 36 hours, before being medically evacuated.

Complicating the search is that WWI has fallen out of living memory. The last surviving WWI veteran, Frank Buckles, died on Feb. 27, 2011, at the age of 110. Witness statements, which are generally required for Medal of Honor nominations, are no longer possible.

Making the search for WWI Native American service members even more difficult is how their names were forcibly changed to white-sounding names. A team led by Erin Fehr, the assistant director and archivist with the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Sequoyah National Research Center, has worked since 2017 to identify Native American service members. Her efforts traced the identities of 6,000 out of the 12,000 the Task Force has found.

“It can be quite difficult when you’re looking for these men because, a lot of times, their native names were stripped, and they were given just random names, like Andrew Jackson,” Fehr said. “So when you’re looking at a list of names, you can’t really tell just by looking at their names. You have to dig pretty deep sometimes to figure out if this person is white or native.”

Native American soldiers of Company E, 142nd Infantry, 36th Division in France. Photo courtesy of Oklahoma Historical Society.

Another aspect is the document search to bolster the nomination packets submitted to the Army and Navy for approval. While finding the early 1900’s documents presents an issue, many WWI military records burned up during the National Personnel Records Center fire in 1973. Once found, another hurdle includes interpreting letters sent home in their respective native language.

“When we talk about the Native Americans and Hispanic American service members, if they’re writing home, more than likely, they’re writing either in Spanish or in the Native American perspective, their native tongue,” Wescott said. “Not necessarily English, and those documents were not always maintained by family members, or family members don’t know where they’re at anymore. So that makes it somewhat of a challenge to find primary documents [for the Medal of Honor nomination packets].”

It’s a lot of work to track down everything needed to get the Native American service members’ valor awards upgraded. The combined efforts of both Fehr and Wescott’s teams have sent in 56 nomination packets, 49 to the Army and seven to the Navy. Wescott said they do not say what race is associated with any one packet to avoid giving descendants of the service members false hope.

They have until 2028 to conclude their research and submit proposed nominations to the Army and Navy for submission to the Department of Defense for final approval. Wescott and Fehr called out to the public, asking for any information that could help them identify more WWI service members for upgrades, even if it’s a story passed through generations that would help point them in the right direction.

“It is time for this country to come back to looking at things, particularly in my case, from a social justice perspective,” Wescott said. “These 215 men, and in some cases, gave the ultimate sacrifice to our country.”

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• To build a runway for the new stealth bomber, the Air Force is moving 17 B-1s to a new base
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taskandpurpose.com · by Joshua Skovlund

5. Trump picks Ron Johnson as US ambassador to Mexico

Another Green Beret (and intelligence officer) selected for a critical assignment.

He is the epitome of a modern OSS officer. If we had an OSS in the modern era he would have been a distinguished member and a key leader.

Trump picks Ron Johnson as US ambassador to Mexico

https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/trump-picks-ron-johnson-us-ambassador-mexico-2024-12-11/

By Kanishka Singh

December 10, 20249:29 PM ESTUpdated 10 hours ago

Ronald Johnson, newly appointed U.S. Ambassador to El Salvador, participates in a news conference at El Salvador International Airport in San Luis Talpa, El Salvador September 4, 2019. REUTERS/Jose Cabezas/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab

WASHINGTON, Dec 10 (Reuters) - President-elect Donald Trump has picked former U.S. ambassador to El Salvador, Ronald Johnson, as the next United States ambassador to Mexico, he said on social media on Tuesday.

Johnson served as the ambassador to El Salvador from 2019 to 2021. Trump also cited Johnson's more than 20 years of experience with the CIA in his announcement.

Trump made illegal immigration along the U.S.-Mexico border a key issue during his election campaign.

Mexico has played a key role in implementing U.S. immigration policy in recent years, accepting migrants from countries to which the U.S. struggles to deport people, such as Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela.

U.S. government estimates, though, also suggest nearly half of the immigrants living in the U.S. illegally are Mexican.

"Ron will work closely with our great Secretary of State Nominee, Marco Rubio, to promote our Nation's security and prosperity through strong America First Foreign Policies," Trump said on his Truth Social platform.

U.S. Senator Marco Rubio has been tapped by Trump for secretary of state.

Mexico is bracing for the arrival of large numbers of its citizens deported from the U.S. once Trump takes office in January. It has argued, however, the deportations are unnecessary, pointing to the contribution of Mexicans to the U.S. economy.

Mexico is seeking an agreement with Trump to ensure it does not receive deportees from third countries in case of large-scale deportations of migrants from the United States, President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Thursday.

Trump has threatened tariffs on Canada and Mexico until they clamped down on drugs and migrants crossing the border.

The Reuters Daily Briefing newsletter provides all the news you need to start your day. Sign up here.

Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Tom Hogue

6. See the list of Trump Cabinet picks and more White House appointments so far

This is the most comprehensive list I have seen.

With all the photos at the link: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/who-might-be-in-donald-trump-cabinet/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/who-might-be-in-donald-trump-cabinet/

See the list of Trump Cabinet picks and more White House appointments so far

By Kathryn Watson, Caitlin Yilek

Updated on: December 10, 2024 / 10:01 PM EST /

CBS News · by Kathryn Watson

Republicans will have a majority in the Senate when President-elect Donald Trump returns to the White House in January. That means his Cabinet nominees will likely face an easier path to confirmation, even some who may be controversial.

Among those are Trump's pick for secretary of defense, Fox News personality Pete Hegseth, who is facing headwinds over allegations of sexual misconduct, financial mismanagement and alcohol abuse. Hegseth has gone to Capitol Hill several times over the past few weeks to meet with Republican senators as he tries to shore up support for his confirmation. Trump last week alleged support for Hegseth among GOP senators was "strong and deep."

Also under the microscope is former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, Trump's pick for director of national intelligence. Gabbard is facing renewed scrutiny after the collapse of the regime of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for a trip she took to Syria in 2017 in which she met with Assad. At the time, she defended the meeting under the guise of a "fact-finding mission," but in 2019 she described him as a "brutal dictator."

Here is a full list of Trump's Cabinet picks and other top staff so far.

U.S. ambassador to Mexico: Ronald Johnson

Ronald Johnson, U.S. ambassador to El Salvador, listens during a joint press conference in San Salvador, El Salvador, on Aug. 27, 2020. Fred Ramos/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Trump on Dec. 10 announced he is tapping former U.S. Ambassador to El Salvador Ronald Johnson as his next ambassador to Mexico.

Johnson, an Army veteran and career civil servant, served as ambassador to El Salvador during Trump's first term.

"Ron will work closely with our great Secretary of State Nominee, Marco Rubio, to promote our Nation's security and prosperity through strong America First Foreign Policies," Trump said in post to Truth Social.

Johnson served in the U.S. Army from 1984 to 1998, retiring as a colonel. He then joined the CIA, where he held various roles, including as CIA science and technology liaison to the U.S. Special Operations Command.

Trump's pick comes after he threatened last month to institute a 25% tariff on all imported Mexican and Canadian goods when he takes office in January in response to drug trafficking and the border crisis.

The declaration prompted a call between Trump and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, who also suggested that Mexico could retaliate if he follows through with his threat.

Possible pick for U.S. ambassador to Italy: Tilman Fertitta

Houston Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta speaks during a news conference opening the Memorial Hermann Houston Rockets Training Center on Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024 in Houston. The new 75,000 square foot complex will house the teams practice courts, strength and conditioning training facilities, locker rooms for the Rockets and visiting teams, plus basketball operations offices. () Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images

Billionaire Tilman Fertitta, CEO of hospitality group Landry's, Inc. and the owner of the NBA's Houston Rockets, is Trump's pick for U.S. ambassador to Italy, people familiar with the decision told CBS News on Dec. 10.

Transition officials declined to comment.

Fertitta, a friend of Trump's and longtime GOP donor, leads Landry's Inc., a Texas-based corporation with hotels, restaurants and casinos.

Fertitta, who starred in a reality TV show on CNBC called "Billion Dollar Buyer," owns more than 600 properties in 36 states and in over 15 countries, according the company's website, including the iconic Golden Nugget Casino, Morton's The Steakhouse, the Palm Restaurant and Joe's Crab Shack.

Fertitta joined Trump and Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk for a Starship rocket launch in Texas in November.

In Trump's first administration, Lewis Eisenberg served as his ambassador to Italy.

By Jennifer Jacobs

U.S. ambassador to Greece: Kimberly Guilfoyle

Kimberly Guilfoyle, former Fox News host, speaks during the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on July 17, 2024. Hannah Beier/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Trump has chosen former Fox News host Kimberly Guilfoyle to be U.S. ambassador to Greece, the president-elect announced on Dec. 10.

The 55-year-old Guilfoyle dated Trump's son, Donald Trump Jr., and served as a fundraiser during his presidential campaign. She appeared on stage with Trump and his family on election night, and also delivered an address at the Republican National Convention in July.

"Kimberly is perfectly suited to foster strong bilateral relations with Greece, advancing our interests on issues ranging from defense cooperation to trade and economic innovation," Trump said in a post to Truth Social.

Guilfoyle served as a prosecutor in California early in her career. She is divorced from Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom.

"I'm honored to accept President Trump's nomination to serve as the next Ambassador to Greece and I look forward to earning the support of the U.S. Senate," she wrote in her own social media post.

— Jennifer Jacobs and Fin Gómez

Federal Trade Commission chair: Andrew Ferguson

Trump announced Dec. 10 that he has selected Andrew Ferguson as his pick to lead the Federal Trade Commission.

Since April, Ferguson has served as one of the five commissioners of the FTC. If confirmed by the Senate, he would replace current Democratic chair Lina Khan.

Prior to serving as an FTC commissioner, he was solicitor general of the Commonwealth of Virginia. He was also previously chief counsel to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Republican counsel to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee.

"Andrew has a proven record of standing up to Big Tech censorship, and protecting Freedom of Speech in our Great Country," Trump wrote in a Truth Social post announcing the pick.

The FTC is tasked with enforcing antitrust and consumer protection laws.

Trump's selection comes on the same day that a federal judge in Oregon temporarily blocked Kroger's $24.6 billion acquisition of rival grocery chain Albertsons in response to a lawsuit filed by the FTC and eight state attorneys general and the District of Columbia against the deal, arguing that it would hamper competition, raise prices and hurt workers.

U.S. ambassador to Turkey: Tom Barrack

Trump announced on Truth Social on Dec. 10 that confidant and top donor Tom Barrack is his pick to serve as ambassador to Turkey. Barrack, 77, is a billionaire investor who was an adviser to Trump during his first term and also served as the chair of his 2016 Inaugural Committee. In 2022, Barrack was accused of using his connections to the Trump administration to try to sway U.S. foreign policy for a client, the United Arab Emirates, but a New York jury found him not guilty of all charges.

Counselor to the president: Alina Habba

Trump on Dec. 8 announced Alina Habba, a lawyer who has represented the president-elect in numerous legal proceedings over the past few years, would serve as counselor to the president.

"She has been unwavering in her loyalty, and unmatched in her resolve - standing with me through numerous 'trials,' battles, and countless days in Court," Trump said in a statement.

State Department director of policy planning: Michael Anton

Trump on Dec. 8 said he will tap Michael Anton for State Department director of policy planning. Anton was a member of the National Security Council during Trump's first term.

Counselor of the Department of State: Michael Needham

Trump announced on Dec. 8 that he is chosen Michael Needham to serve as counselor of the Department of State. Needham previously served as chief of staff for Marco Rubio, Trump's pick to lead the State Department.

"He has been on the front lines of the fight for the Forgotten Men and Women of America for nearly two decades, and will do a great job at State," Trump wrote on social media announcing the pick.

Deputy Secretary of State: Christopher Landau

Trump said on Dec. 8 that he will nominate Christopher Landau for deputy secretary of state. Landau was the United States ambassador to Mexico during Trmp's first term.

"He is also one of our Country's great lawyers, and clerked for both Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas on the United States Supreme Court,' Trump said on social media.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection commissioner: Rodney Scott

Rodney Scott, former chief of U.S. Border Patrol testifies before the House Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement on Capitol Hill on May 23, 2023, in Washington, D.C. Getty Images

On Dec. 5, Trump announced Rodney Scott as his pick to lead U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Scott served as chief of U.S. Border Patrol beginning in 2020, during Trump's first term, and briefly after President Biden took office. He began his career with the agency in 1992.

"Rodney served nearly three decades in the Border Patrol, building vast experience and knowledge in Law Enforcement and Border Security," Trump said in social media post.

Scott was a vocal critical of the Biden administration's policies at the U.S.-Mexico border. If confirmed by the Senate, he would replace the current commissioner, Troy Miller.

Last month, Trump said that immediately after taking office he would impose 25% tariffs on products from both Mexico and Canada until the two countries stop the flow of drugs and migrants across the border to his liking.

CBP is part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. It has about 60,000 employees and is tasked with counterterrorism, combatting transnational crime, securing the border, and facilitating trade and travel.

U.S. ambassador to China: David Perdue

Republican gubernatorial candidate David Perdue speaks to supporters at an election-night event on May 24, 2022, in Atlanta, Georgia. The former U.S. senator, who was supported by former President Donald Trump, lost to incumbent Gov. Brian Kemp in the Republican primary. Megan Varner / Getty Images

Trump announced Dec. 5 that he has picked former Sen. David Perdue of Georgia as his U.S. ambassador to China.

In a Truth Social post, Trump said Perdue "brings valuable expertise to help build our relationship with China."

Perdue, a wealthy businessman and close Trump ally, served in the Senate from 2015 until 2021, when he lost his bid for reelection to Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff in a runoff. He also ran an unsuccessful gubernatorial race in the 2022 Republican primary in an effort to unseat Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp.

Last month, Trump said he planned to an additional 10% tariff on all imports from China as soon as he takes office, along with 25% tariffs on good from Canada and Mexico. Economics have warned such actions could cause inflation to spike and trigger a trade war.

"Crypto czar": David Sacks

David Sacks, former CEO of Yammer, speaks on stage during day one of the Republican National Convention on July 15, 2024, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post via Getty Images

Trump announced on Dec. 5 that he is selecting venture capitalist David Sacks to be his so-called "White House A.I. & Crypto Czar."

In a post to his Truth Social platform, Trump said that Sacks "will guide policy for the Administration in Artificial Intelligence and Cryptocurrency, two areas critical to the future of American competitiveness."

It's unclear exactly what Sacks' role will consist of. The move comes one day after Trump selected Paul Atkins as his pick to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission. Atkins has been a major proponent of cryptocurrency. On the same day that Atkins was named, the price of Bitcoin surpassed the $100,000 mark for the first time ever, a major milestone for the industry.

Sacks, who was a key figure in developing Paypal, served as its COO and later founded the social networking service Yammer. He was also an angel investor in major companies like SpaceX, Uber and Palantir.

A past supporter of Democrat Hillary Clinton, Sacks supported Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance in the last election cycle and was an early adopter of the Trump tech money machine, urging others in Silicon Valley to give to Trump.

He also spoke at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee in July.

By Daniel Klaidman

Acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement: Caleb Vitello

Trump announced Dec. 5 that he has tapped Caleb Vitello as his acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Vitello is currently assistant director of ICE's Office of Firearms and Tactical Programs. He previously served as director of interior enforcement in the White House National Security Council in Trump's first term.

ICE, first created in 2003, has more than 20,000 employees and an annual budget of about $8 billion. It is part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and is primarily tasked with immigration enforcement and combatting transnational crime and terrorism. Among its edicts is arresting undocumented immigrants.

Social Security Administration commissioner: Frank Bisignano

Frank Bisignano speaks at BCNY Annual Awards Dinner at Mandarin Oriental on May 20, 2019, in New York City. Owen Hoffmann/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images

Trump on Dec. 4 announced he will nominate Frank Bisignano to head the Social Security Administration. Bisignano is currently the president and CEO of Fiserv, a financial technology and payment company.

"Frank is a business leader, with a tremendous track record of transforming large corporations," Trump wrote on social media. "He will be responsible to deliver on the Agency's commitment to the American People for generations to come!"

Administrator of the Small Business Administration: Kelly Loeffler

Former Sen. Kelly Loeffler of Georgia speaks at the Georgia Republican Party's state convention on June 9, 2023, in Columbus, Georgia. Cheney Orr for The Washington Post via Getty Images

Trump on Dec. 4 announced he is selecting former Sen. Kelly Loeffler of Georgia to lead the Small Business Administration.

Loeffler served in the Senate briefly between 2020 and 2021. She was appointed to the post following the resignation of former Georgia Sen. Johnny Isakson, but lost a bid for a full term about a year later to current Sen. Raphael Warnock in a runoff election.

In a post to his Truth Social platform, Trump said "Kelly will bring her experience in business and Washington to reduce red tape, and unleash opportunity for our Small Businesses to grow, innovate, and thrive. She will focus on ensuring that SBA is accountable to Taxpayers by cracking down on waste, fraud, and regulatory overreach."

Loeffler, a Trump loyalist, supported efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election. She co-owned the WNBA team the Atlanta Dream, but sold the franchise in 2021 after she received backlash over being publicly critical of the league for supporting the Black Lives Matter movement.

She was also briefly investigated by the Senate Ethics Committee over allegations of insider trading before the pandemic, but that investigation was dropped.

Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission: Paul Atkins

Paul Atkins, founder and chief executive officer of Patomak Global Partners LLC, speaks during a Bloomberg Television interview at the Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills, California, on May 1, 2017. David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Trump announced Dec. 4 that he has chosen Paul Atkins as his pick to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Atkins, a cryptocurrency proponent, was an SEC commissioner from 2002 to 2008, appointed by then President George W. Bush. He is currently the CEO of Patomak Global Partners.

In his announcement on Truth Social, Trump called Atkins "a proven leader for common sense regulations" who "believes in the promise of robust, innovative capital markets that are responsive to the needs of investors" and "that provide capital to make our economy the best in the world."

If confirmed by the Senate, he would replace current SEC Chair Gary Gensler, who has been aggressive in his oversight of the crypto industry.

During his presidential campaign, Trump vowed to fire Gensler, who has since said he will step down from the post on Jan. 20, despite having a five-year term that runs through 2026.

Chad Chronister withdraws from consideration for Drug Enforcement Administration administrator

Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister in a June 2019 news conference. CBS News Miami

Florida Sheriff Chad Chronister announced on social media Dec. 3 that he was withdrawing from consideration to lead the Drug Enforcement Administration after Trump tapped him to run the agency on Nov. 30.

Chronister has been sheriff of Florida's Hillsborough County since 2017. Hillsborough County includes much of the Tampa Bay area. He has been with the department for 32 years.

The DEA, which is part of the Justice Department, has approximately 10,000 employees and is tasked with enforcing America's drug laws. Among its major edicts has been addressing the opioid crisis.

U.S. ambassador to France: Charles Kushner

Charles Kushner and Jared Kushner attend Ivanka Trump's spring 2012 collection launch at Lord & Taylor on March 28, 2012, in New York City. Patrick McMullan via Getty Images

Trump announced on Nov. 30 that he has picked real estate developer Charles Kushner, father of his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, to be his ambassador to France.

The 70-year-old Charles Kushner was pardoned by Trump in his first term for a 2005 federal conviction on 18 counts of assisting in the filing of false tax returns, retaliating against a cooperating witness and making false statements to the FEC, for which Kushner was sentenced to two years in prison. That case was prosecuted by former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.

Jared Kushner served as a senior adviser to Trump during his first term. He is married to Trump's daughter, Ivanka.

In a post to Truth Social announcing the decision, Trump called Kushner a "tremendous business leader, philanthropist, & dealmaker, who will be a strong advocate representing our Country & its interests."

U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom: Warren Stephens

Trump announced on Dec. 2 that he would nominate Republican donor Warren Stephens as the next ambassador to the United Kingdom. Trump called Stephens, who is the CEO of investment bank Stephens Inc., "one of the most successful businessmen" in the U.S. and said he "has always dreamed of serving the United States full time."

Special envoy for Ukraine and Russia: Retired Gen. Keith Kellogg

Trump announced Kellogg as the envoy for Ukraine and Russia in a post to social media, writing that he "has led a distinguished Military and Business career, including serving in highly sensitive National Security roles in my first Administration."

Kellogg served as chief of staff to the National Security Council and national security adviser to former Vice President Mike Pence during Trump's first term in office. He will assume the role as assistant to the president and special envoy for Ukraine and Russia as it nears the three-year mark of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Deputy secretary of Health and Human Services: Jim O'Neill

Trump said he plans to nominate Jim O'Neill for the role of deputy secretary of Health and Human Services. O'Neill had several positions within HHS, including principal associate deputy secretary in the George W. Bush administration. He also served as CEO of the Thiel Foundation from 2009 to 2012.

"Jim and RFK Jr. will fight in unison to ensure every American, and especially our most precious resource, our children, will live long and healthy lives and, Make America Great and Healthy Again!" Trump said.

U.S. Trade Representative: Jamieson Greer

President-elect Trump announced he has selected Jamieson Greer to serve as U.S. trade representative. Grier, a trade lawyer, would be a primary part of Trump's plans to enact sweeping tariffs if confirmed. Trump noted in his announcement that Greer "played a key role during my First Term in imposing Tariffs on China" when he served under then-U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer.

Director of the National Institutes of Health: Jay Bhattacharya

Trump announced Tuesday that he has selected Jay Bhattacharya to serve as director of the National Institutes of Health. The president-elect said Bhattacharya will "work in cooperation with Robert F. Kennedy Jr.," Trump's pick for HHS secretary, "to direct the Nation's Medical Research, and to make important discoveries that will improve Health, and save lives."

Bhattacharya currently serves as director of Stanford's Center for Demography and Economics of Health and Aging. He was one of the authors of the Great Barrington Declaration, an open letter that opposed widespread COVID-19 lockdowns before a vaccine was available, and advocated for generally healthy people to resume life as usual to develop herd immunity while "better protecting those who are at highest risk."

"Together, Jay and RFK Jr. will restore the NIH to a Gold Standard of Medical Research as they examine the underlying causes of, and solutions to, America's biggest Health challenges, including our Crisis of Chronic Illness and Disease," Trump said.

Secretary of the Navy: John Phelan

The president-elect has selected businessman John Phelan to serve as secretary of the Navy. Phelan is the cofounder and chairman of the Palm Beach, Florida, based investment firm Rugger Management and the cofounder of MSD Capital, the private investment firm for Dell Technologies founder and CEO Michael Dell.

Phelan did not serve in the military.

"His incredible knowledge and experience will elevate the lives of the brave Americans who serve our Nation," Trump said in his announcement. "John will deliver real results for our Navy and our Country. I look forward to working with him."

Secretary of the Treasury: Scott Bessent

On Nov. 22, President-elect Donald Trump announced that he would nominate hedge fund CEO Scott Bessent to be Treasury secretary.

Bessent, 62, is the founder of Connecticut-based hedge fund Key Square Group, and had been making a full-court press for the post to Trump, according to a source deeply involved in transition planning.

In a statement, Trump said he was "most pleased to nominate" Bessent, describing him as "widely respected as one of the world's foremost international investors and geopolitical and economic Strategists."

Scott Bessent, founder and chief executive officer of Key Square Group LP Vincent Alban/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Bessent, like Trump, advocates tariffs, viewing them as a way to raise revenue and protect American industries.

He previously worked for billionaire investor George Soros, a prominent donor to liberal causes, for nearly a decade in the 1990s, and at one point was the executive director of Soros' hedge fund.

Bessent is also openly gay, and he and his husband, former New York City prosecutor John Freeman, have two children. If confirmed, Bessent would be the first Senate-confirmed gay Cabinet member of a Republican administration. A native of South Carolina, Bessent is a graduate of Yale University.

By Kathryn Watson and Olivia Rinaldi

Secretary of agriculture: Brooke Rollins

Brooke Rollins, speaks during a discussion hosted by AFPI and The Abraham Accords Peace Institute, in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 12, 2022. Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

Brooke Rollins has been selected to lead the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Trump announced on Nov. 23.

Rollins was part of Trump's first administration as director of the Domestic Policy Council. She currently serves as president of the America First Policy Institute, a right-leaning think tank.

"Brooke's commitment to support the American farmer, defense of American food self-sufficiency, and the restoration of agriculture-dependent American small towns is second to none," Trump said in his statement.

Labor secretary: Lori Chavez-DeRemer

Trump announced he will nominate Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer of Oregon, a first-term Republican, to head the Department of Labor.

Republican Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer of Oregon Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

She lost her recent reelection bid to Democratic challenger Janelle Bynum in Oregon's 5th Congressional District race.

"Lori has worked tirelessly with both Business and Labor to build America's workforce, and support the hardworking men and women of America," Trump said in a statement announcing his choice.

Teamsters head Sean O'Brien posted a statement thanking Trump for "putting American workers first" with the choice.

Surgeon general: Dr. Janette Nesheiwat

Trump announced he will name Dr. Janette Nesheiwat to be the nation's next surgeon general.

Neshiwat is a double board-certified medical doctor practicing in New York, where she is currently medical director at the CityMD chain of urgent care centers. She is also a Fox News medical contributor.

Dr. Janette Nesheiwat attends the 2023 FOX Nation Patriot Awards on Nov. 16, 2023. Terry Wyatt / Getty Images

In a statement, Trump praised her as "a fierce advocate and strong communicator for preventive medicine and public health."

He noted, "During the COVID-19 pandemic, she worked on the front lines in New York City treating thousands of Americans and helped patients in the aftermath of President Donald Trump's Historic Operation Warp Speed that saved hundreds of millions of lives."

Food and Drug Administration commissioner: Marty Makary

Dr. Marty Makary speaks during a screening of the HBO documentary film "Bleed Out" on Dec. 12, 2018 in New York City. Noam Galai/Getty Images for HBO

Dr. Marty Makary has been nominated to serve as commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, Trump announced on Nov. 22.

Makary is a surgeon at Johns Hopkins and professor at Johns Hopkins Carey Business School.

Markary has also long been an ally of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump's selection for secretary of Health and Human Services, and well liked in so-called "health freedom" circles.

The FDA is an agency within the HHS, and Trump in his statement said that Makary will "work under the leadership of Robert F. Kennedy Jr."

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Makary appeared to promote ideas that were against those of mainstream medicine, suggesting "natural immunity" lessened people's need for the vaccine. He also argued many children did not need to be vaccinated against the disease.

Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development: Scott Turner

Scott Turner, former executive director of the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council, during the America First Policy Institute's America First Agenda summit in Washington, D.C., on July 25, 2022. Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Scott Turner, a former NFL player, was picked by Trump on Nov. 22 to be his secretary for the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Turner was part of Trump's first administration as executive director of the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council. Turner is also the highest ranking Black person selected to Trump's administration so far, according to the Associated Press.

Director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Dave Weldon

FILE -- Rep. Dave Weldon arrives for a press conference on May 24, 2005 in Washington, D.C. Getty Images

Trump has chosen former Rep. Dave Weldon, who is also a Florida physician, to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Weldon, who served in Congress for 14 years, was first elected in 1994. He has also been a physician for 40 years, Trump noted. In 2012, four years after he left the House, Weldon ran for Senate, but lost in the GOP primary.

Weldon is a Christian conservative who was also involved in the 2005 fight over whether to remove the feeding tube that was keeping alive Terri Schiavo, a brain-damaged woman whose husband has been given permission by a state court to allow her to die. Weldon introduced legislation to force review of the case by the federal government.

Weldon believed that Schiavo was not in a vegetative state. While he was in Congress, he served on the House Oversight Committee, the Labor/HHS Appropriations Subcommittee, and worked on budget issues involving the Department of Health and Human Services and the CDC.

Trump, in announcing Weldon's appointment, said he would "prioritize Transparency, Competence, and High Standards at CDC."

Attorney general: Pam Bondi

On Nov. 21, the same day Trump's first pick for the job, former GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida withdrew from consideration as attorney general, the president-elect announced the former attorney general of Florida, Pam Bondi, would be his new nominee.

Bondi served two terms as Florida attorney general and was the first woman to win election to the post in 2010. She was a staunch Trump ally and defended him in his first impeachment trial.

Pam Bondi speaks at a Trump rally on Aug. 3, 2016 in Daytona, Florida. Joe Raedle, Getty Images

Later, Bondi worked with Linda McMahon and other Trump allies at America First Policy Institute, a right-wing think tank that has been developing and promoting conservative policies since 2021.

Gaetz withdrew amid controversy over an investigation by the House Ethics Committee for alleged sexual misconduct and illicit drug use. Trump will now have to select a new nominee.

Trump said just over a week earlier he would nominate Gaetz, one of his fiercest defenders, to serve as his attorney general. He has faced several investigations into his conduct, and a number of Republican senators expressed reservations about support for his nomination.

The House Ethics Committee revealed in June that it was investigating Gaetz on allegations including sexual misconduct, drug use and obstruction. Gaetz has denied all wrongdoing and maintained his innocence throughout a Justice Department probe — closed last year — into allegations that he violated sex trafficking laws and obstructed justice. Federal prosecutors in Florida did not file charges against him in the case.

U.S. ambassador to Canada: Pete Hoekstra

Trump announced he has chosen Pete Hoekstra to serve as U.S. ambassador to Canada. Hoekstra, the current chair of the Michigan Republican Party and a former congressman who represented Michigan's 2nd district, also served as U.S. ambassador to the Netherlands during Trump's first term.

"He did an outstanding job as United States Ambassador to the Netherlands during our first four years, and I am confident that he will continue to represent our Country well in this new role," Trump wrote on social media.

Office of Management and Budget director: Russ Vought

Trump announced he will name Russ Vought as OMB director. Vought served in this role in the latter part of the first Trump administration.

Vought was involved in writing the conservative Heritage Foundation's Project 2025, which contains a detailed blueprint for the next Republican president to usher in a sweeping overhaul of the executive branch.

He was also the policy director for the 2024 Republican National Committee's platform committee, which adopted the GOP platform at July's convention.

By Ed O'Keefe and Major Garrett

U.S. ambassador to NATO: Matthew Whitaker

Trump announced he has selected Matthew Whitaker, his former acting U.S. attorney general, to be U.S. ambassador to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. He said in a statement that Whitaker would "strengthen relationships with our NATO Allies, and stand firm in the face of threats to Peace and Stability."

Whitaker, 55, has a legal background, not a foreign policy one. He was appointed U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Iowa by George W. Bush.

Whitaker was Trump's acting attorney general for only a few months, from November 2018 to February 2019.

Education secretary: Linda McMahon

Trump announced he has chosen Linda McMahon run the Department of Education. McMahon, a former wrestling executive, led the Small Business Administration during Trump's first term and is co-chair of his 2024 transition team.

Linda McMahon, former head of the U.S. Small Business Administration, on Sept. 5, 2019. Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images

"As Secretary of Education, Linda will fight tirelessly to expand "Choice" to every State in America, and empower parents to make the best Education decisions for their families," Trump said in a statement. "We will send Education BACK TO THE STATES, and Linda will spearhead that effort."

During the campaign, Trump pledged to shut down the department, complaining that the agency's budget is too large and that its staff "in many cases hate our children."

McMahon and her husband, WWE magnate Vince McMahon, have been friends of Trump for over 20 years and are among his biggest donors.

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services administrator: Dr. Mehmet Oz

Trump selected Dr. Mehmet Oz, a celebrity heart surgeon who hosted a daytime television show, to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, or CMS. The agency falls under the Department of Health and Human Services and oversees Medicare, the federal portion of the Medicaid program, the Children's Health Insurance Program and federal health insurance marketplace.

Dr. Mehmet Oz visits a medical device production company in Ankara, Turkey, May 2, 2024. Ahmet Serdar Eser/Anadolu via Getty Images

"America is facing a health care crisis, and there may be no physician more qualified and capable than Dr. Oz to make America healthy again," Trump said in a statement. "He is an eminent physician, heart surgeon, inventor, and world-class communicator, who has been at the forefront of healthy living for decades."

The president-elect said Oz will work with Kennedy, if he is confirmed to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, "to take on the illness industrial complex, and all the horrible chronic diseases left in its wake." He also indicated there may be cuts to CMS, writing that Oz "will also cut waste and fraud within our country's most expensive government agency, which is a third of our nation's healthcare spend, and a quarter of our entire national budget."

Oz was defeated by Democrat John Fetterman in the 2022 Senate race in Pennsylvania after receiving Trump's endorsement.

By Melissa Quinn

Secretary of Commerce: Howard Lutnick

Trump announced on Nov. 19 his intent to nominate billionaire Howard Lutnick as commerce secretary. The president-elect said Lutnick "will lead our tariff and trade agenda" and oversee the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.

Howard Lutnick, chairman and chief executive officer of Cantor Fitzgerald LP, is seen during a Bloomberg Television interview in New York, April 25, 2024. Christopher Goodney/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Lutnick, CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald, has served as co-chair for the Trump transition and has been a major donor to his campaign.

Citing his role with the transition, Trump said Lutnick "has created the most sophisticated process and system to assist us in creating the greatest administration America has ever seen."

By Fin Gomez and Ed O'Keefe

White House chief of staff: Susie Wiles

Within a day of winning the election, Trump announced his campaign co-chair Susie Wiles would be his chief of staff. Wiles, an experienced Florida-based political operative based, will be the first woman in U.S. history to fill the role. Chief of staff isn't a Senate-confirmed position, but it's a prestigious position often considered to be part of the Cabinet.

Former President Donald Trump brings Susie Wiles to the podium at an election night watch party on Nov. 6, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Florida. Alex Brandon / AP

Secretary of state: Marco Rubio

Trump intends to nominate Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida to be secretary of state. The selection marks some distance from when Trump and the Florida senator were rivals in the 2016 Republican primaries.

Former President Donald Trump greets Sen. Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican, during a campaign rally on Nov. 4, 2024, in Raleigh, North Carolina. Evan Vucci / AP

Rubio, 53, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the top Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, is a China hawk with extensive foreign policy experience.

Deputy attorney general: Todd Blanche

Todd Blanche was picked to serve as deputy attorney general, the second-highest position in the Justice Department. Blanche defended Trump during his "hush money" trial in New York City. (Trump was found guilty in the case; he denied wrongdoing and vowed to appeal.)

Former President Donald Trump and attorney Todd Blanche speak to members of the media after the verdict was read at Manhattan criminal court on May 30, 2024. Mark Peterson/New York Magazine/Bloomberg via Getty Images

HHS secretary: Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Trump picked Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, saying he will take on "industrial food complex and drug companies who have engaged in deception, misinformation, and disinformation," and will "Make America Great and Healthy Again!"

Kennedy has a long record of criticizing vaccines, including spreading misleading claims about their safety.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. shakes hand with former President Donald Trump at a campaign rally on Aug. 23, 2024, in Glendale, Arizona. REBECCA NOBLE / Getty Images

Kennedy has vowed to combat an "epidemic" of chronic diseases and believes that large drug and food companies are to blame for a broad swath of ailments. He has claimed a number of health issues have worsened due to federal inaction, including autism, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, sleep disorders, infertility rates, diabetes and obesity. He has also urged removing fluoride from drinking water.

Kennedy ran for president as an independent but dropped out of the race in August and endorsed Trump.

Secretary of veterans affairs: Doug Collins

Trump tapped former Republican Rep. Doug Collins of Georgia to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs, filling another Cabinet position with a military veteran.

Rep. Doug Collins, a Republican from Georgia, speaks during a campaign event in Buford, Georgia, Nov. 2, 2020. Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

Collins served in Congress from 2013 to 2021 and, as the top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, defended Trump during his first impeachment hearing.

"We must take care of our brave men and women in uniform," Trump said in a statement announcing the pick.

U.N. ambassador: Elise Stefanik

Trump has offered the job of U.S. ambassador to the United Nations to Rep. Elise Stefanik.

Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York speaks during a Trump campaign rally at Madison Square Garden on Oct. 27, 2024. ANGELA WEISS / AFP via Getty Images

Stefanik, who represents a district in upstate New York, is a vocal and staunch Trump ally and the No. 4 House Republican as chair of the House Republican Conference.

"I am honored to nominate Chairwoman Elise Stefanik to serve in my Cabinet as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. Elise is an incredibly strong, tough, and smart America First fighter," Trump said in a statement to CBS News.

Stefanik withdrew from the race to be conference chair, confirming in a letter to her GOP colleagues she had spoken with Trump and "shared how deeply humbled I am to accept his nomination."

The role of U.N. ambassador requires Senate confirmation.

By Fin Gomez and Nikole Killion

"Border czar": Tom Homan

Trump announced Tom Homan will serve as "border czar" in his incoming administration. Homan was the acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement during the first Trump administration.

Tom Homan 60 Minutes

"I am pleased to announce that the Former ICE Director, and stalwart on Border Control, Tom Homan, will be joining the Trump Administration, in charge of our Nation's Borders," the president-elect wrote on his Truth Social site.

In addition to overseeing the southern and northern borders and "maritime, and aviation security," Trump said Homan "will be in charge of all Deportation of Illegal Aliens back to their Country of Origin" — a major theme of Trump's campaign.

This role does not require Senate confirmation.

Homan was recently interviewed by 60 Minutes' Cecilia Vega before the election. During the conversation, he said Trump's plan for mass deportation would be implemented.

"I hear a lot of people say, you know, the talk of a mass deportation is racist. It's— it's— it's threatening to the immigrant community. It's not threatening to the immigrant community," Homan said. "It should be threatening to the illegal immigrant community. But on the heels of [a] historic illegal immigration crisis. That has to be done."

Defense secretary: Pete Hegseth

Trump announced that he will nominate former Fox News host Pete Hegseth to head the Department of Defense.

Pete Hegseth is seen on "FOX & Friends" on Aug. 9, 2019, in New York City. John Lamparski / Getty Images

"Pete has spent his entire life as a Warrior for the Troops, and for the Country. Pete is tough, smart and a true believer in America First. With Pete at the helm, America's enemies are on notice - Our Military will be Great Again, and America will Never Back Down," the president-elect said in a statement.

Trump praised Hegseth's military record as an Army combat veteran who served in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay.

Hegseth, 44, was a co-host of "Fox & Friends Weekends" and author of the book "The War on Warriors: Behind the Betrayal of the Men Who Keep Us Free," which rails against what he calls the "warped, woke, and caustic policies of our current military."

National security adviser: Michael Waltz

Rep. Michael Waltz, a Florida Republican, was named national security adviser. Trump praised his military record and expertise on China, Russia, Iran and global terrorism.

"Mike has been a strong champion of my America First Foreign Policy agenda, and will be a tremendous champion of our pursuit of Peace through Strength!" the president-elect said in a statement.

Rep. Michael Waltz, a Florida Republican, at a hearing on Sept. 26, 2024. Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

Waltz, a Green Beret veteran who served multiple combat tours in Afghanistan, the Middle East and Africa, was elected to Congress in 2018, replacing Ron DeSantis who had been elected Florida's governor.

Waltz, a China hawk, serves on the House China Task Force that aims to develop solutions to address the Chinese Communist Party's influence. He has also been skeptical of giving more aid to Ukraine as it fights Russia's invasion.

Secretary of Homeland Security: Kristi Noem

Trump confirmed in a statement that South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem is his pick to run DHS, praising her as "very strong on Border Security."

Former President Donald Trump greets South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem at a rally on Sept. 8, 2023, in Rapid City, South Dakota. Getty Images

Noem, who was elected governor in 2018 after serving eight years in the House, endorsed Trump's reelection bid in 2023 and joined him at a number of campaign rallies. She had been considered a potential pick for vice president earlier in the campaign.

Noem sparked controversy earlier this year when her new book, "No Going Back," falsely claimed she had met North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and revealed that she shot and killed her 14-month-old dog Cricket after failures at training.

By Major Garrett and Fin Gomez

Transportation secretary: Sean Duffy

Trump says he will nominate former congressman Sean Duffy as secretary of transportation. Duffy represented Wisconsin's 7th congressional district from 2011 to 2019, serving on the House Financial Services committee, and before that he was district attorney of Ashland County, Wisconsin. After leaving Congress, he joined Fox News as a contributor and now co-hosts a show on Fox Business.

Sean Duffy and Rachel Campos-Duffy on stage at the 2016 Republican National Convention. Ida Mae Astute/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images

"He will prioritize Excellence, Competence, Competitiveness and Beauty when rebuilding America's highways, tunnels, bridges and airports. He will ensure our ports and dams serve our Economy without compromising our National Security," Trump said in a statement. He also noted that Duffy is married to Fox News' Rachel Campos-Duffy and is the father of nine children.

Secretary of the Interior: Doug Burgum

Speaking Nov. 14 at Mar-a-Lago during a gala hosted by the right-leaning think tank the America First Policy Institute, Trump said he planned to formally nominate North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum as Interior secretary.

"Actually, he's gonna head the Department of the Interior, and he's gonna be fantastic," Trump told the crowd. Burgum was also in attendance.

North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum speaks at the America First Policy Institute Gala at Mar-a-Lago on Nov. 14, 2024, in Palm Beach, Florida. Getty Images

Burgum ran against Trump for the Republican nomination before dropping out in December and endorsing Trump the following month. He was also at one point on a shortlist to be Trump's running mate.

When asked by reporters ahead of the gala about the possibility of joining the Trump administration, Burgum responded, "There's been a lot of discussions about a lot of different things. And...like I said...nothing's true till you read it on Truth Social."

Trump made the announcement official in a statement on Nov. 15 and said Burgum would also lead "the newly formed, and very important, National Energy Council." Trump said the council would include all the departments and agencies involved in "the permitting, production, generation, distribution, regulation, transportation of ALL forms of American Energy."

CIA director: John Ratcliffe

Former U.S. Rep. John Ratcliffe, who served as Director of National Intelligence in Trump's first term, is the pick for CIA director.

John Ratcliffe served as Director of National Intelligence in the first Trump administration. ANDREW HARNIK/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

The president-elect announced the appointment in a social media post, praising Ratcliffe for investigating Hunter Biden and the FBI's use of FISA, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

"John Ratcliffe has always been a warrior for Truth and Honesty with the American Public," Trump wrote on Truth Social. And noting Ratcliffe's role in his first administration, Trump said. "I look forward to John being the first person ever to serve in both of our Nation's highest Intelligence positions."

Director of national intelligence: Tulsi Gabbard

Trump announced that he has selected former Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard to serve as his director of national intelligence.

Former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard at a Trump rally in Pittsburgh on Nov. 4, 2024. Reuters/Jeenah Moon

"For over two decades, Tulsi has fought for our country and the freedoms of all Americans," he said in a statement.

Gabbard served in the Army National Guard and represented Hawaii in the House from 2013 to 2021 before becoming an independent in 2022. In his statement, Trump said she "is now a proud Republican!" Gabbard ran for president in the Democratic primaries in 2020.

Gabbard does not have experience in the field of intelligence and opposes U.S. intervention in the war in Ukraine. Her views on Russia and her 2017 meeting with Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad have drawn controversy.

EPA administrator: Lee Zeldin

Trump announced that he will nominate former New York Republican congressman Lee Zeldin to head the Environmental Protection Agency.

Former Rep. Lee Zeldin, a New York Republican, is seen at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee on July 16, 2024. Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

"Lee, with a very strong legal background, has been a true fighter for America First policies. He will ensure fair and swift deregulatory decisions that will be enacted in a way to unleash the power of American businesses, while at the same time maintaining the highest environmental standards," Trump said in a statement.

Zeldin wrote, "It is an honor to join President Trump's Cabinet as EPA Administrator."

Zeldin represented New York's 1st Congressional District, on Long Island, from 2015 to 2023, and he ran for governor in 2022 but was defeated by Gov. Kathy Hochul.

Secretary of Energy: Chris Wright

Trump has selected Liberty Energy CEO Chris Wright as his pick to lead the U.S. Department of Energy.

File photo: Liberty Oilfield Services CEO Chris Wright, Jan. 17, 2018. Andy Cross/The Denver Post via Getty Images

Trump also said in a statement that Wright will serve on the newly-created National Energy Council, which will be chaired by North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, Trump's selection for secretary of the Interior.

Trump said in his announcement that the council "will oversee the path to U.S. energy dominance."

Wright has been a vocal advocate of oil and gas development, including fracking, and has said "there is no climate crisis and we are not in the midst of an energy transition either."

Director of the Domestic Policy Council: Vince Haley

Trump on Tuesday announced Vince Haley will serve as director of his Domestic Policy Council. Haley was director of policy and speechwriting for the president-elect's 2024 campaign. He was also a key figure in the speechwriting department during Trump's first term.

U.S. ambassador to Israel: Mike Huckabee

The president-elect has selected Mike Huckabee, the former governor of Arkansas, to serve as his U.S. ambassador to Israel. The post requires Senate confirmation.

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee moderates a roundtable discussion with former President Donald Trump on Oct. 29, 2024, in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania. Getty Images

"Mike has been a great public servant, governor, and leader in faith for many years," Trump said in a statement. "He loves Israel, and the people of Israel, and likewise, the people of Israel love him. Mike will work tirelessly to bring about Peace in the Middle East!"

Huckabee served as Arkansas' governor from 1996 to 2007 and unsuccessfully sought the Republican presidential nomination in 2008 and 2016. After leaving office, he hosted a show on Fox News and a radio program.

By Melissa Quinn

Department of Government Efficiency: Elon Musk & Vivek Ramaswamy

Trump announced he is naming billionaire ally Elon Musk and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, a former GOP primary rival, to lead a newly created Department of Government Efficiency — nicknamed DOGE, which is also the name of a cryptocurrency Musk has promoted.

L-R: File photos of entrepreneur and former Republican presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy and Tesla, SpaceX and X CEO Elon Musk. Getty Images

"I am pleased to announce that the Great Elon Musk, working in conjunction with American Patriot Vivek Ramaswamy, will lead the Department of Government Efficiency ("DOGE"). Together, these two wonderful Americans will pave the way for my Administration to dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies," Trump said in a statement, adding a quote from Musk, who said: "This will send shockwaves through the system, and anyone involved in Government waste, which is a lot of people!"

Trump's statement indicated their roles may not be formally part of the government but would "provide advice and guidance from outside." He said their work "will conclude no later than July 4, 2026."

FCC Chairman: Brendan Carr

Trump announced that he's chosen Brendan Carr, an Elon Musk ally and a critic of big tech, to head the Federal Communications Commission. Trump called Carr a "warrior for Free Speech."

Carr is currently the senior Republican on the FCC, which oversees licenses for television and radio, pricing of home internet and other communications issues in the U.S.

White House counsel: William McGinley

Trump announced on Truth Social that William McGinley will be White House counsel.

"Bill is a smart and tenacious lawyer who will help me advance our America First agenda while fighting for election integrity and against the weaponization of law enforcement," Trump wrote.

McGinley was White House Cabinet secretary and also served as Republican National Committee outside counsel for election integrity and as general counsel for the GOP Senate campaign arm, the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

By Olivia Rinaldi

Presidential Personnel Office: Sergio Gor

Sergio Gor, the co-founder and head of Donald Trump Jr.'s publishing company, Winning Team Publishing, will serve in the key role of heading the Presidential Personnel Office in the new Trump administration, the president-elect announced.

Gor also ran the pro-Trump super PAC Right for America, which was funded in part by billionaire Ike Perlmutter and raised approximately $80 million to help Trump's 2024 bid for the White House.

The director of the PPO vets thousands of appointees in the administration. The office was previously headed by John McEntee during the end of the first Trump administration.

By Fin Gómez and Jake Rosen

White House communications director: Steven Cheung

Steven Cheung was a top spokesman for Trump's presidential campaign, serving as its director of communications. He is returning to the White House after working as director of strategic response during Trump's first term. His title will be assistant to the president and director of communications.

Trump announced Cheung and Gor's selections together, saying in a statement that he is "thrilled to have them join my White House as we, Make America Great Again!"

By Melissa Quinn

White House press secretary: Karoline Leavitt

Karoline Leavitt, who was the national press secretary for Trump's presidential campaign, will be White House press secretary. She worked in the White House during Trump's first term as assistant press secretary.

Karoline Leavitt, national press secretary for the Trump campaign, speaking in New York on May 28, 2024. Yuki Iwamura/Bloomberg via Getty Images

"Karoline is smart, tough, and has proven to be a highly effective communicator. I have the utmost confidence she will excel at the podium," Trump said in a statement.

The 27-year-old previously ran an unsuccessful race for Congress in New Hampshire.

Assistants to the president and deputy chiefs of staff

Trump announced four top advisers — Dan Scavino, Stephen Miller, James Blair and Taylor Budowich — who worked on his presidential campaign will join him in the White House as members of his senior staff. They will all serve as assistants to the president and deputy chiefs of staff overseeing specific areas.

"Dan, Stephen, James, and Taylor were 'best in class' advisors on my winning campaign, and I know they will honorably serve the American people in the White House," Trump said. "They will continue to work hard to Make America Great Again in their respective new roles."

Trump advisers Stephen Miller, left, and Dan Scavino at the White House on May 16, 2019. Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images

Scavino will serve as deputy chief of staff and is described by Trump as one of his "longest serving and most trusted aides." He served as deputy chief of staff for communications and director of social media during Trump's first term.

Miller, who also worked in the White House for Trump during his first four years in office, will return as deputy chief of staff for policy and homeland security adviser. Miller advised the president-elect in his first term and crafted the administration's stringent immigration policies.

Blair will serve as deputy chief of staff for legislative, political and public affairs. He was the political director for Trump's campaign and the Republican National Committee, overseeing a portfolio of political operations and programs in that role, the president-elect said.

Budowich was tapped as deputy chief of staff for communications and personnel. He worked in a senior role for Trump's Save America PAC and was CEO of the super PAC MAGA Inc.

By Melissa Quinn

Secretary of the Treasury: Scott Bessent

On Nov. 22, President-elect Donald Trump announced that he would nominate hedge fund CEO Scott Bessent to be Treasury secretary.

The founder of Connecticut-based hedge fund Key Square Group, the 62-year-old Bessent had been making a full-court press for the post to Trump, according to a source deeply involved in transition planning.

Trump has called Bessent a "nice-looking guy" and "one of the most brilliant men on Wall Street." Bessent joked on Fox News that he is in "violent agreement" with Trump on that.

Scott Bessent, founder and chief executive officer of Key Square Group LP Vincent Alban/Bloomberg via Getty Images

The Treasury's mission is to maintain a strong economy and promote economic conditions that both enable growth and stability for the U.S. The department is also charged with managing U.S. finances and combating threats to national security by protecting the financial system's integrity.

Bessent, like Trump, advocates tariffs, viewing them as a way to raise revenue and protect American industries.

He previously worked for conservative foil George Soros for nearly a decade in the 1990s, and at one point was the executive director of Soros' hedge fund.

Bessent is also openly gay, and he and his husband, former New York City prosecutor John Freeman, have two children. If confirmed, Bessent would be the first Senate-confirmed gay Cabinet member of a Republican administration. Ric Grenell was acting director of national intelligence under Trump, but the Senate never confirmed him.

A native of South Carolina, Bessent is a graduate of Yale University.

Treasury secretary is a Senate-confirmed position. Janet Yellen is the current treasury secretary under President Biden.

By Olivia Rinaldi and Kathryn Watson

FBI director: Kash Patel

Trump announced on Nov. 30 that he plans to name Kash Patel as his director of the FBI.

Kash Patel, a former chief of staff to then-acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller, speaks during a campaign event for Republican election candidates at the Whiskey Roads Restaurant & Bar on July 31, 2022, in Tucson, Arizona. BRANDON BELL / Getty Images

Current FBI Director Chris Wray would have to voluntarily vacate the position or be fired by Trump if he is to be replaced before his term ends in 2027.

One source previously told CBS News the Trump team was aware of the complexities involved in ousting Wray.

Patel served in intelligence and defense roles in Trump's first term, including chief of staff to the secretary of defense.

In a post to his Truth Social platform, Trump called Patel "a brilliant lawyer, investigator, and 'America First' fighter who has spent his career exposing corruption, defending Justice, and protecting the American People."

The 44-year-old Patel served in intelligence and defense roles in Trump's first term, including chief of staff to the secretary of defense. He was also designated by Trump to be a representative to the National Archives and Records Administration and testified before a federal grand jury in the Mar-a-Lago classified documents case.

He is an attorney and staunch Trump loyalist who rose to prominence as an aide to former Republican Rep. Devin Nunes of California, fighting the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.

The University College London graduate served on Trump's National Security Council, then as a senior adviser to acting Director of National Intelligence Ric Grenell, and later as chief of staff to acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller.

Patel published a 2023 book titled "Government Gangsters," which received praise from Trump and in which Patel writes that the "FBI has become so thoroughly compromised that it will remain a threat to the people unless drastic measures are taken."

"This is the roadmap to end the Deep State's reign," Trump said on Truth Social about the book in September 2023.

By Libby Cathey, Jake Rosen, Fin Gómez and Ed O'Keefe

Not joining the administration

Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, 60, was floated early on as a contender to lead the Defense Department, according to two sources familiar with the process. However, in a post to his Truth Social platform, Trump indicated that Pompeo would not be joining the White House. In his post, Trump also said Nikki Haley — who served as U.S ambassador to the United Nations in his first administration, and ran against him in the Republican presidential primary — would not be joining it either.

"I will not be inviting former Ambassador Nikki Haley, or former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, to join the Trump Administration, which is currently in formation," Trump wrote. "I very much enjoyed and appreciated working with them previously, and would like to thank them for their service to our Country."

Trump's family members

It's unclear whether any of Trump's family members will work in his administration. In his first term, both daughter Ivanka Trump and son-in-law Jared Kushner worked in the White House, but they've taken a step back from involvement in their father's political work.

Who is running Trump's national security transition team

Brian Hook

Brian Hook, former U.S. special representative to Iran, at the Concordia Annual Summit on Sept. 21, 2021, in New York City. Leigh Vogel/Getty Images for Concordia Summit

Hook, a former U.S. special representative to Iran during Trump's first term and an aide to both Pompeo and former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, is part of the State Department transition team. He has been working on policy for months and meeting with foreign diplomats, but official transition meetings with the Biden-Harris team have not yet happened. The Trump team has not yet signed a memorandum of understanding, which is an agreement with the General Services Administration to receive assistance and funding from the GSA with the transition process.

Hook maintains U.S. taxpayer-funded diplomatic security protection because of ongoing threats against him from Iran and the 2020 assassination Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani.

He declined to comment.

Joel Rayburn

Joel Rayburn, then U.S. special envoy to Syria, on Oct. 29, 2019, at the United Nations offices in Geneva. FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP via Getty Images

Rayburn, former special envoy to Syria, as well as deputy assistant secretary for Levant Affairs and Senior Director for Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon under Trump, is also back and working on the National Security Council transition team.

He declined to comment.

Michael Anton

Michael Anton, a former spokesperson for the National Security Council in the first Trump administration. Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Anton, a former NSC spokesperson and deputy national security adviser during the Trump administration, is also working on the NSC transition team.

He declined to comment.

By Margaret Brennan

Fin Gómez, Margaret Brennan, Nikole Killion, Ed O'Keefe, Sara Cook, Robert Costa, James LaPorta, Major Garrett, Olivia Rinaldi, Nicole Sganga, Alexander Tin, The Associated Press and Jacob Rosen contributed to this report.

Kathryn Watson is a politics reporter for CBS News Digital, based in Washington, D.C.

CBS News · by Kathryn Watson

See the list of Trump Cabinet picks and more White House appointments so far

CBS News · by Kathryn Watson

Republicans will have a majority in the Senate when President-elect Donald Trump returns to the White House in January. That means his Cabinet nominees will likely face an easier path to confirmation, even some who may be controversial.

Among those are Trump's pick for secretary of defense, Fox News personality Pete Hegseth, who is facing headwinds over allegations of sexual misconduct, financial mismanagement and alcohol abuse. Hegseth has gone to Capitol Hill several times over the past few weeks to meet with Republican senators as he tries to shore up support for his confirmation. Trump last week alleged support for Hegseth among GOP senators was "strong and deep."

Also under the microscope is former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, Trump's pick for director of national intelligence. Gabbard is facing renewed scrutiny after the collapse of the regime of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for a trip she took to Syria in 2017 in which she met with Assad. At the time, she defended the meeting under the guise of a "fact-finding mission," but in 2019 she described him as a "brutal dictator."

Here is a full list of Trump's Cabinet picks and other top staff so far.

U.S. ambassador to Mexico: Ronald Johnson

Ronald Johnson, U.S. ambassador to El Salvador, listens during a joint press conference in San Salvador, El Salvador, on Aug. 27, 2020. Fred Ramos/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Trump on Dec. 10 announced he is tapping former U.S. Ambassador to El Salvador Ronald Johnson as his next ambassador to Mexico.

Johnson, an Army veteran and career civil servant, served as ambassador to El Salvador during Trump's first term.

"Ron will work closely with our great Secretary of State Nominee, Marco Rubio, to promote our Nation's security and prosperity through strong America First Foreign Policies," Trump said in post to Truth Social.

Johnson served in the U.S. Army from 1984 to 1998, retiring as a colonel. He then joined the CIA, where he held various roles, including as CIA science and technology liaison to the U.S. Special Operations Command.

Trump's pick comes after he threatened last month to institute a 25% tariff on all imported Mexican and Canadian goods when he takes office in January in response to drug trafficking and the border crisis.

The declaration prompted a call between Trump and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, who also suggested that Mexico could retaliate if he follows through with his threat.

Possible pick for U.S. ambassador to Italy: Tilman Fertitta

Houston Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta speaks during a news conference opening the Memorial Hermann Houston Rockets Training Center on Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024 in Houston. The new 75,000 square foot complex will house the teams practice courts, strength and conditioning training facilities, locker rooms for the Rockets and visiting teams, plus basketball operations offices. () Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images

Billionaire Tilman Fertitta, CEO of hospitality group Landry's, Inc. and the owner of the NBA's Houston Rockets, is Trump's pick for U.S. ambassador to Italy, people familiar with the decision told CBS News on Dec. 10.

Transition officials declined to comment.

Fertitta, a friend of Trump's and longtime GOP donor, leads Landry's Inc., a Texas-based corporation with hotels, restaurants and casinos.

Fertitta, who starred in a reality TV show on CNBC called "Billion Dollar Buyer," owns more than 600 properties in 36 states and in over 15 countries, according the company's website, including the iconic Golden Nugget Casino, Morton's The Steakhouse, the Palm Restaurant and Joe's Crab Shack.

Fertitta joined Trump and Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk for a Starship rocket launch in Texas in November.

In Trump's first administration, Lewis Eisenberg served as his ambassador to Italy.

By Jennifer Jacobs

U.S. ambassador to Greece: Kimberly Guilfoyle

Kimberly Guilfoyle, former Fox News host, speaks during the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on July 17, 2024. Hannah Beier/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Trump has chosen former Fox News host Kimberly Guilfoyle to be U.S. ambassador to Greece, the president-elect announced on Dec. 10.

The 55-year-old Guilfoyle dated Trump's son, Donald Trump Jr., and served as a fundraiser during his presidential campaign. She appeared on stage with Trump and his family on election night, and also delivered an address at the Republican National Convention in July.

"Kimberly is perfectly suited to foster strong bilateral relations with Greece, advancing our interests on issues ranging from defense cooperation to trade and economic innovation," Trump said in a post to Truth Social.

Guilfoyle served as a prosecutor in California early in her career. She is divorced from Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom.

"I'm honored to accept President Trump's nomination to serve as the next Ambassador to Greece and I look forward to earning the support of the U.S. Senate," she wrote in her own social media post.

— Jennifer Jacobs and Fin Gómez

Federal Trade Commission chair: Andrew Ferguson

Trump announced Dec. 10 that he has selected Andrew Ferguson as his pick to lead the Federal Trade Commission.

Since April, Ferguson has served as one of the five commissioners of the FTC. If confirmed by the Senate, he would replace current Democratic chair Lina Khan.

Prior to serving as an FTC commissioner, he was solicitor general of the Commonwealth of Virginia. He was also previously chief counsel to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Republican counsel to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee.

"Andrew has a proven record of standing up to Big Tech censorship, and protecting Freedom of Speech in our Great Country," Trump wrote in a Truth Social post announcing the pick.

The FTC is tasked with enforcing antitrust and consumer protection laws.

Trump's selection comes on the same day that a federal judge in Oregon temporarily blocked Kroger's $24.6 billion acquisition of rival grocery chain Albertsons in response to a lawsuit filed by the FTC and eight state attorneys general and the District of Columbia against the deal, arguing that it would hamper competition, raise prices and hurt workers.

U.S. ambassador to Turkey: Tom Barrack

Trump announced on Truth Social on Dec. 10 that confidant and top donor Tom Barrack is his pick to serve as ambassador to Turkey. Barrack, 77, is a billionaire investor who was an adviser to Trump during his first term and also served as the chair of his 2016 Inaugural Committee. In 2022, Barrack was accused of using his connections to the Trump administration to try to sway U.S. foreign policy for a client, the United Arab Emirates, but a New York jury found him not guilty of all charges.

Counselor to the president: Alina Habba

Trump on Dec. 8 announced Alina Habba, a lawyer who has represented the president-elect in numerous legal proceedings over the past few years, would serve as counselor to the president.

"She has been unwavering in her loyalty, and unmatched in her resolve - standing with me through numerous 'trials,' battles, and countless days in Court," Trump said in a statement.

State Department director of policy planning: Michael Anton

Trump on Dec. 8 said he will tap Michael Anton for State Department director of policy planning. Anton was a member of the National Security Council during Trump's first term.

Counselor of the Department of State: Michael Needham

Trump announced on Dec. 8 that he is chosen Michael Needham to serve as counselor of the Department of State. Needham previously served as chief of staff for Marco Rubio, Trump's pick to lead the State Department.

"He has been on the front lines of the fight for the Forgotten Men and Women of America for nearly two decades, and will do a great job at State," Trump wrote on social media announcing the pick.

Deputy Secretary of State: Christopher Landau

Trump said on Dec. 8 that he will nominate Christopher Landau for deputy secretary of state. Landau was the United States ambassador to Mexico during Trmp's first term.

"He is also one of our Country's great lawyers, and clerked for both Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas on the United States Supreme Court,' Trump said on social media.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection commissioner: Rodney Scott

Rodney Scott, former chief of U.S. Border Patrol testifies before the House Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement on Capitol Hill on May 23, 2023, in Washington, D.C. Getty Images

On Dec. 5, Trump announced Rodney Scott as his pick to lead U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Scott served as chief of U.S. Border Patrol beginning in 2020, during Trump's first term, and briefly after President Biden took office. He began his career with the agency in 1992.

"Rodney served nearly three decades in the Border Patrol, building vast experience and knowledge in Law Enforcement and Border Security," Trump said in social media post.

Scott was a vocal critical of the Biden administration's policies at the U.S.-Mexico border. If confirmed by the Senate, he would replace the current commissioner, Troy Miller.

Last month, Trump said that immediately after taking office he would impose 25% tariffs on products from both Mexico and Canada until the two countries stop the flow of drugs and migrants across the border to his liking.

CBP is part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. It has about 60,000 employees and is tasked with counterterrorism, combatting transnational crime, securing the border, and facilitating trade and travel.

U.S. ambassador to China: David Perdue

Republican gubernatorial candidate David Perdue speaks to supporters at an election-night event on May 24, 2022, in Atlanta, Georgia. The former U.S. senator, who was supported by former President Donald Trump, lost to incumbent Gov. Brian Kemp in the Republican primary. Megan Varner / Getty Images

Trump announced Dec. 5 that he has picked former Sen. David Perdue of Georgia as his U.S. ambassador to China.

In a Truth Social post, Trump said Perdue "brings valuable expertise to help build our relationship with China."

Perdue, a wealthy businessman and close Trump ally, served in the Senate from 2015 until 2021, when he lost his bid for reelection to Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff in a runoff. He also ran an unsuccessful gubernatorial race in the 2022 Republican primary in an effort to unseat Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp.

Last month, Trump said he planned to an additional 10% tariff on all imports from China as soon as he takes office, along with 25% tariffs on good from Canada and Mexico. Economics have warned such actions could cause inflation to spike and trigger a trade war.

"Crypto czar": David Sacks

David Sacks, former CEO of Yammer, speaks on stage during day one of the Republican National Convention on July 15, 2024, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post via Getty Images

Trump announced on Dec. 5 that he is selecting venture capitalist David Sacks to be his so-called "White House A.I. & Crypto Czar."

In a post to his Truth Social platform, Trump said that Sacks "will guide policy for the Administration in Artificial Intelligence and Cryptocurrency, two areas critical to the future of American competitiveness."

It's unclear exactly what Sacks' role will consist of. The move comes one day after Trump selected Paul Atkins as his pick to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission. Atkins has been a major proponent of cryptocurrency. On the same day that Atkins was named, the price of Bitcoin surpassed the $100,000 mark for the first time ever, a major milestone for the industry.

Sacks, who was a key figure in developing Paypal, served as its COO and later founded the social networking service Yammer. He was also an angel investor in major companies like SpaceX, Uber and Palantir.

A past supporter of Democrat Hillary Clinton, Sacks supported Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance in the last election cycle and was an early adopter of the Trump tech money machine, urging others in Silicon Valley to give to Trump.

He also spoke at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee in July.

By Daniel Klaidman

Acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement: Caleb Vitello

Trump announced Dec. 5 that he has tapped Caleb Vitello as his acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Vitello is currently assistant director of ICE's Office of Firearms and Tactical Programs. He previously served as director of interior enforcement in the White House National Security Council in Trump's first term.

ICE, first created in 2003, has more than 20,000 employees and an annual budget of about $8 billion. It is part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and is primarily tasked with immigration enforcement and combatting transnational crime and terrorism. Among its edicts is arresting undocumented immigrants.

Social Security Administration commissioner: Frank Bisignano

Frank Bisignano speaks at BCNY Annual Awards Dinner at Mandarin Oriental on May 20, 2019, in New York City. Owen Hoffmann/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images

Trump on Dec. 4 announced he will nominate Frank Bisignano to head the Social Security Administration. Bisignano is currently the president and CEO of Fiserv, a financial technology and payment company.

"Frank is a business leader, with a tremendous track record of transforming large corporations," Trump wrote on social media. "He will be responsible to deliver on the Agency's commitment to the American People for generations to come!"

Administrator of the Small Business Administration: Kelly Loeffler

Former Sen. Kelly Loeffler of Georgia speaks at the Georgia Republican Party's state convention on June 9, 2023, in Columbus, Georgia. Cheney Orr for The Washington Post via Getty Images

Trump on Dec. 4 announced he is selecting former Sen. Kelly Loeffler of Georgia to lead the Small Business Administration.

Loeffler served in the Senate briefly between 2020 and 2021. She was appointed to the post following the resignation of former Georgia Sen. Johnny Isakson, but lost a bid for a full term about a year later to current Sen. Raphael Warnock in a runoff election.

In a post to his Truth Social platform, Trump said "Kelly will bring her experience in business and Washington to reduce red tape, and unleash opportunity for our Small Businesses to grow, innovate, and thrive. She will focus on ensuring that SBA is accountable to Taxpayers by cracking down on waste, fraud, and regulatory overreach."

Loeffler, a Trump loyalist, supported efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election. She co-owned the WNBA team the Atlanta Dream, but sold the franchise in 2021 after she received backlash over being publicly critical of the league for supporting the Black Lives Matter movement.

She was also briefly investigated by the Senate Ethics Committee over allegations of insider trading before the pandemic, but that investigation was dropped.

Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission: Paul Atkins

Paul Atkins, founder and chief executive officer of Patomak Global Partners LLC, speaks during a Bloomberg Television interview at the Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills, California, on May 1, 2017. David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Trump announced Dec. 4 that he has chosen Paul Atkins as his pick to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Atkins, a cryptocurrency proponent, was an SEC commissioner from 2002 to 2008, appointed by then President George W. Bush. He is currently the CEO of Patomak Global Partners.

In his announcement on Truth Social, Trump called Atkins "a proven leader for common sense regulations" who "believes in the promise of robust, innovative capital markets that are responsive to the needs of investors" and "that provide capital to make our economy the best in the world."

If confirmed by the Senate, he would replace current SEC Chair Gary Gensler, who has been aggressive in his oversight of the crypto industry.

During his presidential campaign, Trump vowed to fire Gensler, who has since said he will step down from the post on Jan. 20, despite having a five-year term that runs through 2026.

Chad Chronister withdraws from consideration for Drug Enforcement Administration administrator

Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister in a June 2019 news conference. CBS News Miami

Florida Sheriff Chad Chronister announced on social media Dec. 3 that he was withdrawing from consideration to lead the Drug Enforcement Administration after Trump tapped him to run the agency on Nov. 30.

Chronister has been sheriff of Florida's Hillsborough County since 2017. Hillsborough County includes much of the Tampa Bay area. He has been with the department for 32 years.

The DEA, which is part of the Justice Department, has approximately 10,000 employees and is tasked with enforcing America's drug laws. Among its major edicts has been addressing the opioid crisis.

U.S. ambassador to France: Charles Kushner

Charles Kushner and Jared Kushner attend Ivanka Trump's spring 2012 collection launch at Lord & Taylor on March 28, 2012, in New York City. Patrick McMullan via Getty Images

Trump announced on Nov. 30 that he has picked real estate developer Charles Kushner, father of his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, to be his ambassador to France.

The 70-year-old Charles Kushner was pardoned by Trump in his first term for a 2005 federal conviction on 18 counts of assisting in the filing of false tax returns, retaliating against a cooperating witness and making false statements to the FEC, for which Kushner was sentenced to two years in prison. That case was prosecuted by former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.

Jared Kushner served as a senior adviser to Trump during his first term. He is married to Trump's daughter, Ivanka.

In a post to Truth Social announcing the decision, Trump called Kushner a "tremendous business leader, philanthropist, & dealmaker, who will be a strong advocate representing our Country & its interests."

U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom: Warren Stephens

Trump announced on Dec. 2 that he would nominate Republican donor Warren Stephens as the next ambassador to the United Kingdom. Trump called Stephens, who is the CEO of investment bank Stephens Inc., "one of the most successful businessmen" in the U.S. and said he "has always dreamed of serving the United States full time."

Special envoy for Ukraine and Russia: Retired Gen. Keith Kellogg

Trump announced Kellogg as the envoy for Ukraine and Russia in a post to social media, writing that he "has led a distinguished Military and Business career, including serving in highly sensitive National Security roles in my first Administration."

Kellogg served as chief of staff to the National Security Council and national security adviser to former Vice President Mike Pence during Trump's first term in office. He will assume the role as assistant to the president and special envoy for Ukraine and Russia as it nears the three-year mark of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Deputy secretary of Health and Human Services: Jim O'Neill

Trump said he plans to nominate Jim O'Neill for the role of deputy secretary of Health and Human Services. O'Neill had several positions within HHS, including principal associate deputy secretary in the George W. Bush administration. He also served as CEO of the Thiel Foundation from 2009 to 2012.

"Jim and RFK Jr. will fight in unison to ensure every American, and especially our most precious resource, our children, will live long and healthy lives and, Make America Great and Healthy Again!" Trump said.

U.S. Trade Representative: Jamieson Greer

President-elect Trump announced he has selected Jamieson Greer to serve as U.S. trade representative. Grier, a trade lawyer, would be a primary part of Trump's plans to enact sweeping tariffs if confirmed. Trump noted in his announcement that Greer "played a key role during my First Term in imposing Tariffs on China" when he served under then-U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer.

Director of the National Institutes of Health: Jay Bhattacharya

Trump announced Tuesday that he has selected Jay Bhattacharya to serve as director of the National Institutes of Health. The president-elect said Bhattacharya will "work in cooperation with Robert F. Kennedy Jr.," Trump's pick for HHS secretary, "to direct the Nation's Medical Research, and to make important discoveries that will improve Health, and save lives."

Bhattacharya currently serves as director of Stanford's Center for Demography and Economics of Health and Aging. He was one of the authors of the Great Barrington Declaration, an open letter that opposed widespread COVID-19 lockdowns before a vaccine was available, and advocated for generally healthy people to resume life as usual to develop herd immunity while "better protecting those who are at highest risk."

"Together, Jay and RFK Jr. will restore the NIH to a Gold Standard of Medical Research as they examine the underlying causes of, and solutions to, America's biggest Health challenges, including our Crisis of Chronic Illness and Disease," Trump said.

Secretary of the Navy: John Phelan

The president-elect has selected businessman John Phelan to serve as secretary of the Navy. Phelan is the cofounder and chairman of the Palm Beach, Florida, based investment firm Rugger Management and the cofounder of MSD Capital, the private investment firm for Dell Technologies founder and CEO Michael Dell.

Phelan did not serve in the military.

"His incredible knowledge and experience will elevate the lives of the brave Americans who serve our Nation," Trump said in his announcement. "John will deliver real results for our Navy and our Country. I look forward to working with him."

Secretary of the Treasury: Scott Bessent

On Nov. 22, President-elect Donald Trump announced that he would nominate hedge fund CEO Scott Bessent to be Treasury secretary.

Bessent, 62, is the founder of Connecticut-based hedge fund Key Square Group, and had been making a full-court press for the post to Trump, according to a source deeply involved in transition planning.

In a statement, Trump said he was "most pleased to nominate" Bessent, describing him as "widely respected as one of the world's foremost international investors and geopolitical and economic Strategists."

Scott Bessent, founder and chief executive officer of Key Square Group LP Vincent Alban/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Bessent, like Trump, advocates tariffs, viewing them as a way to raise revenue and protect American industries.

He previously worked for billionaire investor George Soros, a prominent donor to liberal causes, for nearly a decade in the 1990s, and at one point was the executive director of Soros' hedge fund.

Bessent is also openly gay, and he and his husband, former New York City prosecutor John Freeman, have two children. If confirmed, Bessent would be the first Senate-confirmed gay Cabinet member of a Republican administration. A native of South Carolina, Bessent is a graduate of Yale University.

By Kathryn Watson and Olivia Rinaldi

Secretary of agriculture: Brooke Rollins

Brooke Rollins, speaks during a discussion hosted by AFPI and The Abraham Accords Peace Institute, in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 12, 2022. Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

Brooke Rollins has been selected to lead the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Trump announced on Nov. 23.

Rollins was part of Trump's first administration as director of the Domestic Policy Council. She currently serves as president of the America First Policy Institute, a right-leaning think tank.

"Brooke's commitment to support the American farmer, defense of American food self-sufficiency, and the restoration of agriculture-dependent American small towns is second to none," Trump said in his statement.

Labor secretary: Lori Chavez-DeRemer

Trump announced he will nominate Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer of Oregon, a first-term Republican, to head the Department of Labor.

Republican Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer of Oregon Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

She lost her recent reelection bid to Democratic challenger Janelle Bynum in Oregon's 5th Congressional District race.

"Lori has worked tirelessly with both Business and Labor to build America's workforce, and support the hardworking men and women of America," Trump said in a statement announcing his choice.

Teamsters head Sean O'Brien posted a statement thanking Trump for "putting American workers first" with the choice.

Surgeon general: Dr. Janette Nesheiwat

Trump announced he will name Dr. Janette Nesheiwat to be the nation's next surgeon general.

Neshiwat is a double board-certified medical doctor practicing in New York, where she is currently medical director at the CityMD chain of urgent care centers. She is also a Fox News medical contributor.

Dr. Janette Nesheiwat attends the 2023 FOX Nation Patriot Awards on Nov. 16, 2023. Terry Wyatt / Getty Images

In a statement, Trump praised her as "a fierce advocate and strong communicator for preventive medicine and public health."

He noted, "During the COVID-19 pandemic, she worked on the front lines in New York City treating thousands of Americans and helped patients in the aftermath of President Donald Trump's Historic Operation Warp Speed that saved hundreds of millions of lives."

Food and Drug Administration commissioner: Marty Makary

Dr. Marty Makary speaks during a screening of the HBO documentary film "Bleed Out" on Dec. 12, 2018 in New York City. Noam Galai/Getty Images for HBO

Dr. Marty Makary has been nominated to serve as commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, Trump announced on Nov. 22.

Makary is a surgeon at Johns Hopkins and professor at Johns Hopkins Carey Business School.

Markary has also long been an ally of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump's selection for secretary of Health and Human Services, and well liked in so-called "health freedom" circles.

The FDA is an agency within the HHS, and Trump in his statement said that Makary will "work under the leadership of Robert F. Kennedy Jr."

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Makary appeared to promote ideas that were against those of mainstream medicine, suggesting "natural immunity" lessened people's need for the vaccine. He also argued many children did not need to be vaccinated against the disease.

Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development: Scott Turner

Scott Turner, former executive director of the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council, during the America First Policy Institute's America First Agenda summit in Washington, D.C., on July 25, 2022. Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Scott Turner, a former NFL player, was picked by Trump on Nov. 22 to be his secretary for the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Turner was part of Trump's first administration as executive director of the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council. Turner is also the highest ranking Black person selected to Trump's administration so far, according to the Associated Press.

Director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Dave Weldon

FILE -- Rep. Dave Weldon arrives for a press conference on May 24, 2005 in Washington, D.C. Getty Images

Trump has chosen former Rep. Dave Weldon, who is also a Florida physician, to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Weldon, who served in Congress for 14 years, was first elected in 1994. He has also been a physician for 40 years, Trump noted. In 2012, four years after he left the House, Weldon ran for Senate, but lost in the GOP primary.

Weldon is a Christian conservative who was also involved in the 2005 fight over whether to remove the feeding tube that was keeping alive Terri Schiavo, a brain-damaged woman whose husband has been given permission by a state court to allow her to die. Weldon introduced legislation to force review of the case by the federal government.

Weldon believed that Schiavo was not in a vegetative state. While he was in Congress, he served on the House Oversight Committee, the Labor/HHS Appropriations Subcommittee, and worked on budget issues involving the Department of Health and Human Services and the CDC.

Trump, in announcing Weldon's appointment, said he would "prioritize Transparency, Competence, and High Standards at CDC."

Attorney general: Pam Bondi

On Nov. 21, the same day Trump's first pick for the job, former GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida withdrew from consideration as attorney general, the president-elect announced the former attorney general of Florida, Pam Bondi, would be his new nominee.

Bondi served two terms as Florida attorney general and was the first woman to win election to the post in 2010. She was a staunch Trump ally and defended him in his first impeachment trial.

Pam Bondi speaks at a Trump rally on Aug. 3, 2016 in Daytona, Florida. Joe Raedle, Getty Images

Later, Bondi worked with Linda McMahon and other Trump allies at America First Policy Institute, a right-wing think tank that has been developing and promoting conservative policies since 2021.

Gaetz withdrew amid controversy over an investigation by the House Ethics Committee for alleged sexual misconduct and illicit drug use. Trump will now have to select a new nominee.

Trump said just over a week earlier he would nominate Gaetz, one of his fiercest defenders, to serve as his attorney general. He has faced several investigations into his conduct, and a number of Republican senators expressed reservations about support for his nomination.

The House Ethics Committee revealed in June that it was investigating Gaetz on allegations including sexual misconduct, drug use and obstruction. Gaetz has denied all wrongdoing and maintained his innocence throughout a Justice Department probe — closed last year — into allegations that he violated sex trafficking laws and obstructed justice. Federal prosecutors in Florida did not file charges against him in the case.

U.S. ambassador to Canada: Pete Hoekstra

Trump announced he has chosen Pete Hoekstra to serve as U.S. ambassador to Canada. Hoekstra, the current chair of the Michigan Republican Party and a former congressman who represented Michigan's 2nd district, also served as U.S. ambassador to the Netherlands during Trump's first term.

"He did an outstanding job as United States Ambassador to the Netherlands during our first four years, and I am confident that he will continue to represent our Country well in this new role," Trump wrote on social media.

Office of Management and Budget director: Russ Vought

Trump announced he will name Russ Vought as OMB director. Vought served in this role in the latter part of the first Trump administration.

Vought was involved in writing the conservative Heritage Foundation's Project 2025, which contains a detailed blueprint for the next Republican president to usher in a sweeping overhaul of the executive branch.

He was also the policy director for the 2024 Republican National Committee's platform committee, which adopted the GOP platform at July's convention.

By Ed O'Keefe and Major Garrett

U.S. ambassador to NATO: Matthew Whitaker

Trump announced he has selected Matthew Whitaker, his former acting U.S. attorney general, to be U.S. ambassador to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. He said in a statement that Whitaker would "strengthen relationships with our NATO Allies, and stand firm in the face of threats to Peace and Stability."

Whitaker, 55, has a legal background, not a foreign policy one. He was appointed U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Iowa by George W. Bush.

Whitaker was Trump's acting attorney general for only a few months, from November 2018 to February 2019.

Education secretary: Linda McMahon

Trump announced he has chosen Linda McMahon run the Department of Education. McMahon, a former wrestling executive, led the Small Business Administration during Trump's first term and is co-chair of his 2024 transition team.

Linda McMahon, former head of the U.S. Small Business Administration, on Sept. 5, 2019. Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images

"As Secretary of Education, Linda will fight tirelessly to expand "Choice" to every State in America, and empower parents to make the best Education decisions for their families," Trump said in a statement. "We will send Education BACK TO THE STATES, and Linda will spearhead that effort."

During the campaign, Trump pledged to shut down the department, complaining that the agency's budget is too large and that its staff "in many cases hate our children."

McMahon and her husband, WWE magnate Vince McMahon, have been friends of Trump for over 20 years and are among his biggest donors.

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services administrator: Dr. Mehmet Oz

Trump selected Dr. Mehmet Oz, a celebrity heart surgeon who hosted a daytime television show, to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, or CMS. The agency falls under the Department of Health and Human Services and oversees Medicare, the federal portion of the Medicaid program, the Children's Health Insurance Program and federal health insurance marketplace.

Dr. Mehmet Oz visits a medical device production company in Ankara, Turkey, May 2, 2024. Ahmet Serdar Eser/Anadolu via Getty Images

"America is facing a health care crisis, and there may be no physician more qualified and capable than Dr. Oz to make America healthy again," Trump said in a statement. "He is an eminent physician, heart surgeon, inventor, and world-class communicator, who has been at the forefront of healthy living for decades."

The president-elect said Oz will work with Kennedy, if he is confirmed to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, "to take on the illness industrial complex, and all the horrible chronic diseases left in its wake." He also indicated there may be cuts to CMS, writing that Oz "will also cut waste and fraud within our country's most expensive government agency, which is a third of our nation's healthcare spend, and a quarter of our entire national budget."

Oz was defeated by Democrat John Fetterman in the 2022 Senate race in Pennsylvania after receiving Trump's endorsement.

By Melissa Quinn

Secretary of Commerce: Howard Lutnick

Trump announced on Nov. 19 his intent to nominate billionaire Howard Lutnick as commerce secretary. The president-elect said Lutnick "will lead our tariff and trade agenda" and oversee the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.

Howard Lutnick, chairman and chief executive officer of Cantor Fitzgerald LP, is seen during a Bloomberg Television interview in New York, April 25, 2024. Christopher Goodney/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Lutnick, CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald, has served as co-chair for the Trump transition and has been a major donor to his campaign.

Citing his role with the transition, Trump said Lutnick "has created the most sophisticated process and system to assist us in creating the greatest administration America has ever seen."

By Fin Gomez and Ed O'Keefe

White House chief of staff: Susie Wiles

Within a day of winning the election, Trump announced his campaign co-chair Susie Wiles would be his chief of staff. Wiles, an experienced Florida-based political operative based, will be the first woman in U.S. history to fill the role. Chief of staff isn't a Senate-confirmed position, but it's a prestigious position often considered to be part of the Cabinet.

Former President Donald Trump brings Susie Wiles to the podium at an election night watch party on Nov. 6, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Florida. Alex Brandon / AP

Secretary of state: Marco Rubio

Trump intends to nominate Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida to be secretary of state. The selection marks some distance from when Trump and the Florida senator were rivals in the 2016 Republican primaries.

Former President Donald Trump greets Sen. Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican, during a campaign rally on Nov. 4, 2024, in Raleigh, North Carolina. Evan Vucci / AP

Rubio, 53, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the top Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, is a China hawk with extensive foreign policy experience.

Deputy attorney general: Todd Blanche

Todd Blanche was picked to serve as deputy attorney general, the second-highest position in the Justice Department. Blanche defended Trump during his "hush money" trial in New York City. (Trump was found guilty in the case; he denied wrongdoing and vowed to appeal.)

Former President Donald Trump and attorney Todd Blanche speak to members of the media after the verdict was read at Manhattan criminal court on May 30, 2024. Mark Peterson/New York Magazine/Bloomberg via Getty Images

HHS secretary: Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Trump picked Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, saying he will take on "industrial food complex and drug companies who have engaged in deception, misinformation, and disinformation," and will "Make America Great and Healthy Again!"

Kennedy has a long record of criticizing vaccines, including spreading misleading claims about their safety.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. shakes hand with former President Donald Trump at a campaign rally on Aug. 23, 2024, in Glendale, Arizona. REBECCA NOBLE / Getty Images

Kennedy has vowed to combat an "epidemic" of chronic diseases and believes that large drug and food companies are to blame for a broad swath of ailments. He has claimed a number of health issues have worsened due to federal inaction, including autism, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, sleep disorders, infertility rates, diabetes and obesity. He has also urged removing fluoride from drinking water.

Kennedy ran for president as an independent but dropped out of the race in August and endorsed Trump.

Secretary of veterans affairs: Doug Collins

Trump tapped former Republican Rep. Doug Collins of Georgia to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs, filling another Cabinet position with a military veteran.

Rep. Doug Collins, a Republican from Georgia, speaks during a campaign event in Buford, Georgia, Nov. 2, 2020. Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

Collins served in Congress from 2013 to 2021 and, as the top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, defended Trump during his first impeachment hearing.

"We must take care of our brave men and women in uniform," Trump said in a statement announcing the pick.

U.N. ambassador: Elise Stefanik

Trump has offered the job of U.S. ambassador to the United Nations to Rep. Elise Stefanik.

Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York speaks during a Trump campaign rally at Madison Square Garden on Oct. 27, 2024. ANGELA WEISS / AFP via Getty Images

Stefanik, who represents a district in upstate New York, is a vocal and staunch Trump ally and the No. 4 House Republican as chair of the House Republican Conference.

"I am honored to nominate Chairwoman Elise Stefanik to serve in my Cabinet as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. Elise is an incredibly strong, tough, and smart America First fighter," Trump said in a statement to CBS News.

Stefanik withdrew from the race to be conference chair, confirming in a letter to her GOP colleagues she had spoken with Trump and "shared how deeply humbled I am to accept his nomination."

The role of U.N. ambassador requires Senate confirmation.

By Fin Gomez and Nikole Killion

"Border czar": Tom Homan

Trump announced Tom Homan will serve as "border czar" in his incoming administration. Homan was the acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement during the first Trump administration.

Tom Homan 60 Minutes

"I am pleased to announce that the Former ICE Director, and stalwart on Border Control, Tom Homan, will be joining the Trump Administration, in charge of our Nation's Borders," the president-elect wrote on his Truth Social site.

In addition to overseeing the southern and northern borders and "maritime, and aviation security," Trump said Homan "will be in charge of all Deportation of Illegal Aliens back to their Country of Origin" — a major theme of Trump's campaign.

This role does not require Senate confirmation.

Homan was recently interviewed by 60 Minutes' Cecilia Vega before the election. During the conversation, he said Trump's plan for mass deportation would be implemented.

"I hear a lot of people say, you know, the talk of a mass deportation is racist. It's— it's— it's threatening to the immigrant community. It's not threatening to the immigrant community," Homan said. "It should be threatening to the illegal immigrant community. But on the heels of [a] historic illegal immigration crisis. That has to be done."

Defense secretary: Pete Hegseth

Trump announced that he will nominate former Fox News host Pete Hegseth to head the Department of Defense.

Pete Hegseth is seen on "FOX & Friends" on Aug. 9, 2019, in New York City. John Lamparski / Getty Images

"Pete has spent his entire life as a Warrior for the Troops, and for the Country. Pete is tough, smart and a true believer in America First. With Pete at the helm, America's enemies are on notice - Our Military will be Great Again, and America will Never Back Down," the president-elect said in a statement.

Trump praised Hegseth's military record as an Army combat veteran who served in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay.

Hegseth, 44, was a co-host of "Fox & Friends Weekends" and author of the book "The War on Warriors: Behind the Betrayal of the Men Who Keep Us Free," which rails against what he calls the "warped, woke, and caustic policies of our current military."

National security adviser: Michael Waltz

Rep. Michael Waltz, a Florida Republican, was named national security adviser. Trump praised his military record and expertise on China, Russia, Iran and global terrorism.

"Mike has been a strong champion of my America First Foreign Policy agenda, and will be a tremendous champion of our pursuit of Peace through Strength!" the president-elect said in a statement.

Rep. Michael Waltz, a Florida Republican, at a hearing on Sept. 26, 2024. Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

Waltz, a Green Beret veteran who served multiple combat tours in Afghanistan, the Middle East and Africa, was elected to Congress in 2018, replacing Ron DeSantis who had been elected Florida's governor.

Waltz, a China hawk, serves on the House China Task Force that aims to develop solutions to address the Chinese Communist Party's influence. He has also been skeptical of giving more aid to Ukraine as it fights Russia's invasion.

Secretary of Homeland Security: Kristi Noem

Trump confirmed in a statement that South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem is his pick to run DHS, praising her as "very strong on Border Security."

Former President Donald Trump greets South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem at a rally on Sept. 8, 2023, in Rapid City, South Dakota. Getty Images

Noem, who was elected governor in 2018 after serving eight years in the House, endorsed Trump's reelection bid in 2023 and joined him at a number of campaign rallies. She had been considered a potential pick for vice president earlier in the campaign.

Noem sparked controversy earlier this year when her new book, "No Going Back," falsely claimed she had met North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and revealed that she shot and killed her 14-month-old dog Cricket after failures at training.

By Major Garrett and Fin Gomez

Transportation secretary: Sean Duffy

Trump says he will nominate former congressman Sean Duffy as secretary of transportation. Duffy represented Wisconsin's 7th congressional district from 2011 to 2019, serving on the House Financial Services committee, and before that he was district attorney of Ashland County, Wisconsin. After leaving Congress, he joined Fox News as a contributor and now co-hosts a show on Fox Business.

Sean Duffy and Rachel Campos-Duffy on stage at the 2016 Republican National Convention. Ida Mae Astute/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images

"He will prioritize Excellence, Competence, Competitiveness and Beauty when rebuilding America's highways, tunnels, bridges and airports. He will ensure our ports and dams serve our Economy without compromising our National Security," Trump said in a statement. He also noted that Duffy is married to Fox News' Rachel Campos-Duffy and is the father of nine children.

Secretary of the Interior: Doug Burgum

Speaking Nov. 14 at Mar-a-Lago during a gala hosted by the right-leaning think tank the America First Policy Institute, Trump said he planned to formally nominate North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum as Interior secretary.

"Actually, he's gonna head the Department of the Interior, and he's gonna be fantastic," Trump told the crowd. Burgum was also in attendance.

North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum speaks at the America First Policy Institute Gala at Mar-a-Lago on Nov. 14, 2024, in Palm Beach, Florida. Getty Images

Burgum ran against Trump for the Republican nomination before dropping out in December and endorsing Trump the following month. He was also at one point on a shortlist to be Trump's running mate.

When asked by reporters ahead of the gala about the possibility of joining the Trump administration, Burgum responded, "There's been a lot of discussions about a lot of different things. And...like I said...nothing's true till you read it on Truth Social."

Trump made the announcement official in a statement on Nov. 15 and said Burgum would also lead "the newly formed, and very important, National Energy Council." Trump said the council would include all the departments and agencies involved in "the permitting, production, generation, distribution, regulation, transportation of ALL forms of American Energy."

CIA director: John Ratcliffe

Former U.S. Rep. John Ratcliffe, who served as Director of National Intelligence in Trump's first term, is the pick for CIA director.

John Ratcliffe served as Director of National Intelligence in the first Trump administration. ANDREW HARNIK/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

The president-elect announced the appointment in a social media post, praising Ratcliffe for investigating Hunter Biden and the FBI's use of FISA, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

"John Ratcliffe has always been a warrior for Truth and Honesty with the American Public," Trump wrote on Truth Social. And noting Ratcliffe's role in his first administration, Trump said. "I look forward to John being the first person ever to serve in both of our Nation's highest Intelligence positions."

Director of national intelligence: Tulsi Gabbard

Trump announced that he has selected former Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard to serve as his director of national intelligence.

Former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard at a Trump rally in Pittsburgh on Nov. 4, 2024. Reuters/Jeenah Moon

"For over two decades, Tulsi has fought for our country and the freedoms of all Americans," he said in a statement.

Gabbard served in the Army National Guard and represented Hawaii in the House from 2013 to 2021 before becoming an independent in 2022. In his statement, Trump said she "is now a proud Republican!" Gabbard ran for president in the Democratic primaries in 2020.

Gabbard does not have experience in the field of intelligence and opposes U.S. intervention in the war in Ukraine. Her views on Russia and her 2017 meeting with Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad have drawn controversy.

EPA administrator: Lee Zeldin

Trump announced that he will nominate former New York Republican congressman Lee Zeldin to head the Environmental Protection Agency.

Former Rep. Lee Zeldin, a New York Republican, is seen at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee on July 16, 2024. Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

"Lee, with a very strong legal background, has been a true fighter for America First policies. He will ensure fair and swift deregulatory decisions that will be enacted in a way to unleash the power of American businesses, while at the same time maintaining the highest environmental standards," Trump said in a statement.

Zeldin wrote, "It is an honor to join President Trump's Cabinet as EPA Administrator."

Zeldin represented New York's 1st Congressional District, on Long Island, from 2015 to 2023, and he ran for governor in 2022 but was defeated by Gov. Kathy Hochul.

Secretary of Energy: Chris Wright

Trump has selected Liberty Energy CEO Chris Wright as his pick to lead the U.S. Department of Energy.

File photo: Liberty Oilfield Services CEO Chris Wright, Jan. 17, 2018. Andy Cross/The Denver Post via Getty Images

Trump also said in a statement that Wright will serve on the newly-created National Energy Council, which will be chaired by North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, Trump's selection for secretary of the Interior.

Trump said in his announcement that the council "will oversee the path to U.S. energy dominance."

Wright has been a vocal advocate of oil and gas development, including fracking, and has said "there is no climate crisis and we are not in the midst of an energy transition either."

Director of the Domestic Policy Council: Vince Haley

Trump on Tuesday announced Vince Haley will serve as director of his Domestic Policy Council. Haley was director of policy and speechwriting for the president-elect's 2024 campaign. He was also a key figure in the speechwriting department during Trump's first term.

U.S. ambassador to Israel: Mike Huckabee

The president-elect has selected Mike Huckabee, the former governor of Arkansas, to serve as his U.S. ambassador to Israel. The post requires Senate confirmation.

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee moderates a roundtable discussion with former President Donald Trump on Oct. 29, 2024, in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania. Getty Images

"Mike has been a great public servant, governor, and leader in faith for many years," Trump said in a statement. "He loves Israel, and the people of Israel, and likewise, the people of Israel love him. Mike will work tirelessly to bring about Peace in the Middle East!"

Huckabee served as Arkansas' governor from 1996 to 2007 and unsuccessfully sought the Republican presidential nomination in 2008 and 2016. After leaving office, he hosted a show on Fox News and a radio program.

By Melissa Quinn

Department of Government Efficiency: Elon Musk & Vivek Ramaswamy

Trump announced he is naming billionaire ally Elon Musk and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, a former GOP primary rival, to lead a newly created Department of Government Efficiency — nicknamed DOGE, which is also the name of a cryptocurrency Musk has promoted.

L-R: File photos of entrepreneur and former Republican presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy and Tesla, SpaceX and X CEO Elon Musk. Getty Images

"I am pleased to announce that the Great Elon Musk, working in conjunction with American Patriot Vivek Ramaswamy, will lead the Department of Government Efficiency ("DOGE"). Together, these two wonderful Americans will pave the way for my Administration to dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies," Trump said in a statement, adding a quote from Musk, who said: "This will send shockwaves through the system, and anyone involved in Government waste, which is a lot of people!"

Trump's statement indicated their roles may not be formally part of the government but would "provide advice and guidance from outside." He said their work "will conclude no later than July 4, 2026."

FCC Chairman: Brendan Carr

Trump announced that he's chosen Brendan Carr, an Elon Musk ally and a critic of big tech, to head the Federal Communications Commission. Trump called Carr a "warrior for Free Speech."

Carr is currently the senior Republican on the FCC, which oversees licenses for television and radio, pricing of home internet and other communications issues in the U.S.

White House counsel: William McGinley

Trump announced on Truth Social that William McGinley will be White House counsel.

"Bill is a smart and tenacious lawyer who will help me advance our America First agenda while fighting for election integrity and against the weaponization of law enforcement," Trump wrote.

McGinley was White House Cabinet secretary and also served as Republican National Committee outside counsel for election integrity and as general counsel for the GOP Senate campaign arm, the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

By Olivia Rinaldi

Presidential Personnel Office: Sergio Gor

Sergio Gor, the co-founder and head of Donald Trump Jr.'s publishing company, Winning Team Publishing, will serve in the key role of heading the Presidential Personnel Office in the new Trump administration, the president-elect announced.

Gor also ran the pro-Trump super PAC Right for America, which was funded in part by billionaire Ike Perlmutter and raised approximately $80 million to help Trump's 2024 bid for the White House.

The director of the PPO vets thousands of appointees in the administration. The office was previously headed by John McEntee during the end of the first Trump administration.

By Fin Gómez and Jake Rosen

White House communications director: Steven Cheung

Steven Cheung was a top spokesman for Trump's presidential campaign, serving as its director of communications. He is returning to the White House after working as director of strategic response during Trump's first term. His title will be assistant to the president and director of communications.

Trump announced Cheung and Gor's selections together, saying in a statement that he is "thrilled to have them join my White House as we, Make America Great Again!"

By Melissa Quinn

White House press secretary: Karoline Leavitt

Karoline Leavitt, who was the national press secretary for Trump's presidential campaign, will be White House press secretary. She worked in the White House during Trump's first term as assistant press secretary.

Karoline Leavitt, national press secretary for the Trump campaign, speaking in New York on May 28, 2024. Yuki Iwamura/Bloomberg via Getty Images

"Karoline is smart, tough, and has proven to be a highly effective communicator. I have the utmost confidence she will excel at the podium," Trump said in a statement.

The 27-year-old previously ran an unsuccessful race for Congress in New Hampshire.

Assistants to the president and deputy chiefs of staff

Trump announced four top advisers — Dan Scavino, Stephen Miller, James Blair and Taylor Budowich — who worked on his presidential campaign will join him in the White House as members of his senior staff. They will all serve as assistants to the president and deputy chiefs of staff overseeing specific areas.

"Dan, Stephen, James, and Taylor were 'best in class' advisors on my winning campaign, and I know they will honorably serve the American people in the White House," Trump said. "They will continue to work hard to Make America Great Again in their respective new roles."

Trump advisers Stephen Miller, left, and Dan Scavino at the White House on May 16, 2019. Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images

Scavino will serve as deputy chief of staff and is described by Trump as one of his "longest serving and most trusted aides." He served as deputy chief of staff for communications and director of social media during Trump's first term.

Miller, who also worked in the White House for Trump during his first four years in office, will return as deputy chief of staff for policy and homeland security adviser. Miller advised the president-elect in his first term and crafted the administration's stringent immigration policies.

Blair will serve as deputy chief of staff for legislative, political and public affairs. He was the political director for Trump's campaign and the Republican National Committee, overseeing a portfolio of political operations and programs in that role, the president-elect said.

Budowich was tapped as deputy chief of staff for communications and personnel. He worked in a senior role for Trump's Save America PAC and was CEO of the super PAC MAGA Inc.

By Melissa Quinn

Secretary of the Treasury: Scott Bessent

On Nov. 22, President-elect Donald Trump announced that he would nominate hedge fund CEO Scott Bessent to be Treasury secretary.

The founder of Connecticut-based hedge fund Key Square Group, the 62-year-old Bessent had been making a full-court press for the post to Trump, according to a source deeply involved in transition planning.

Trump has called Bessent a "nice-looking guy" and "one of the most brilliant men on Wall Street." Bessent joked on Fox News that he is in "violent agreement" with Trump on that.

Scott Bessent, founder and chief executive officer of Key Square Group LP Vincent Alban/Bloomberg via Getty Images

The Treasury's mission is to maintain a strong economy and promote economic conditions that both enable growth and stability for the U.S. The department is also charged with managing U.S. finances and combating threats to national security by protecting the financial system's integrity.

Bessent, like Trump, advocates tariffs, viewing them as a way to raise revenue and protect American industries.

He previously worked for conservative foil George Soros for nearly a decade in the 1990s, and at one point was the executive director of Soros' hedge fund.

Bessent is also openly gay, and he and his husband, former New York City prosecutor John Freeman, have two children. If confirmed, Bessent would be the first Senate-confirmed gay Cabinet member of a Republican administration. Ric Grenell was acting director of national intelligence under Trump, but the Senate never confirmed him.

A native of South Carolina, Bessent is a graduate of Yale University.

Treasury secretary is a Senate-confirmed position. Janet Yellen is the current treasury secretary under President Biden.

By Olivia Rinaldi and Kathryn Watson

FBI director: Kash Patel

Trump announced on Nov. 30 that he plans to name Kash Patel as his director of the FBI.

Kash Patel, a former chief of staff to then-acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller, speaks during a campaign event for Republican election candidates at the Whiskey Roads Restaurant & Bar on July 31, 2022, in Tucson, Arizona. BRANDON BELL / Getty Images

Current FBI Director Chris Wray would have to voluntarily vacate the position or be fired by Trump if he is to be replaced before his term ends in 2027.

One source previously told CBS News the Trump team was aware of the complexities involved in ousting Wray.

Patel served in intelligence and defense roles in Trump's first term, including chief of staff to the secretary of defense.

In a post to his Truth Social platform, Trump called Patel "a brilliant lawyer, investigator, and 'America First' fighter who has spent his career exposing corruption, defending Justice, and protecting the American People."

The 44-year-old Patel served in intelligence and defense roles in Trump's first term, including chief of staff to the secretary of defense. He was also designated by Trump to be a representative to the National Archives and Records Administration and testified before a federal grand jury in the Mar-a-Lago classified documents case.

He is an attorney and staunch Trump loyalist who rose to prominence as an aide to former Republican Rep. Devin Nunes of California, fighting the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.

The University College London graduate served on Trump's National Security Council, then as a senior adviser to acting Director of National Intelligence Ric Grenell, and later as chief of staff to acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller.

Patel published a 2023 book titled "Government Gangsters," which received praise from Trump and in which Patel writes that the "FBI has become so thoroughly compromised that it will remain a threat to the people unless drastic measures are taken."

"This is the roadmap to end the Deep State's reign," Trump said on Truth Social about the book in September 2023.

By Libby Cathey, Jake Rosen, Fin Gómez and Ed O'Keefe

Not joining the administration

Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, 60, was floated early on as a contender to lead the Defense Department, according to two sources familiar with the process. However, in a post to his Truth Social platform, Trump indicated that Pompeo would not be joining the White House. In his post, Trump also said Nikki Haley — who served as U.S ambassador to the United Nations in his first administration, and ran against him in the Republican presidential primary — would not be joining it either.

"I will not be inviting former Ambassador Nikki Haley, or former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, to join the Trump Administration, which is currently in formation," Trump wrote. "I very much enjoyed and appreciated working with them previously, and would like to thank them for their service to our Country."

Trump's family members

It's unclear whether any of Trump's family members will work in his administration. In his first term, both daughter Ivanka Trump and son-in-law Jared Kushner worked in the White House, but they've taken a step back from involvement in their father's political work.

Who is running Trump's national security transition team

Brian Hook

Brian Hook, former U.S. special representative to Iran, at the Concordia Annual Summit on Sept. 21, 2021, in New York City. Leigh Vogel/Getty Images for Concordia Summit

Hook, a former U.S. special representative to Iran during Trump's first term and an aide to both Pompeo and former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, is part of the State Department transition team. He has been working on policy for months and meeting with foreign diplomats, but official transition meetings with the Biden-Harris team have not yet happened. The Trump team has not yet signed a memorandum of understanding, which is an agreement with the General Services Administration to receive assistance and funding from the GSA with the transition process.

Hook maintains U.S. taxpayer-funded diplomatic security protection because of ongoing threats against him from Iran and the 2020 assassination Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani.

He declined to comment.

Joel Rayburn

Joel Rayburn, then U.S. special envoy to Syria, on Oct. 29, 2019, at the United Nations offices in Geneva. FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP via Getty Images

Rayburn, former special envoy to Syria, as well as deputy assistant secretary for Levant Affairs and Senior Director for Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon under Trump, is also back and working on the National Security Council transition team.

He declined to comment.

Michael Anton

Michael Anton, a former spokesperson for the National Security Council in the first Trump administration. Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Anton, a former NSC spokesperson and deputy national security adviser during the Trump administration, is also working on the NSC transition team.

He declined to comment.

By Margaret Brennan

Fin Gómez, Margaret Brennan, Nikole Killion, Ed O'Keefe, Sara Cook, Robert Costa, James LaPorta, Major Garrett, Olivia Rinaldi, Nicole Sganga, Alexander Tin, The Associated Press and Jacob Rosen contributed to this report.

Kathryn Watson is a politics reporter for CBS News Digital, based in Washington, D.C.

CBS News · by Kathryn Watson

7. Recent Plutocratic Insurgency (& Counter-PI) Events in America: ‘Billionaire’s Club’ Cabinet and Health Care CEO Assassination

Excerpts:

As we witness the transition of the American economy from industrialization (3rd Epoch mechanical based) to information (4th Epoch post-mechanical based), we have seen the concomitant thinning of our middle class which no longer has functional utility for our economic and warfighting sectors, the concentration of wealth among the few, the increasing polarization of our political parties (with both the Democrats and Republicans seemingly moving towards the extremes of the spectrum—and a great centrist and opted out Independent group having no moderating political voice or ability to get outside candidates elected), and rising national public and family debt levels. Along with the intense dysfunction concerning immigration protocols and a lack of shared societal values, the integrity of our state form is thus increasingly being challenged.

In addition to the various elements of the transition from Modern to post-Modern civilization which have been taking place for decades, two new recent plutocratic insurgency events stand out and currently dominate the news and social media. Thumbnails of these two events are as follows:

• Donald Trump’s ‘Billionaire’s Club’ of Cabinet Nominees: While Trump has been characterized as a populist working-class candidate with an America first agenda, he is ultimately aggrandizing the ultra-rich (the Tiffany’s constituency) at the expense of his rural base (the Dollar General constituency). Trump ($8 billion net worth) is now surrounding himself with plutocratic allies in top governmental positions in what can only be viewed as an even more egregious case of ‘crony capitalism’ than during his first administration. Such a presidential cabinet composition is more extreme than anything seen during the American Gilded Age when robber barons and their monopolizing trusts held most of the wealth in our country:

“Enough billionaires and multimillionaires have been assembled by Donald Trump to fill key roles in his nascent administration to form a soccer team… At least 11 picks for strategic positions after Trump returns to the White House in January have either achieved billionaire status themselves, have billionaire spouses or are within touching distance of that threshold.”

El Centro| Research Notes

Recent Plutocratic Insurgency (& Counter-PI) Events in America: ‘Billionaire’s Club’ Cabinet and Health Care CEO Assassination

https://smallwarsjournal.com/2024/12/09/recent-plutocratic-insurgency-counter-pi-events-in-america-billionaires-club-cabinet-and-health-care-ceo-assassination/

by Robert Bunker, by Pamela Ligouri Bunker

|

12.09.2024 at 07:00pm

Plutocratic insurgency (PI) is an emerging form of insurgency not seen since the late 19th century Gilded Age. It is being conducted by high net worth globalized elites, allowing them to remove themselves from public spaces and obligations—including taxation—and to maximize their ability to generate profits transnationally. It utilizes lawyers, lobbyists, and co-opted politicians along with endemic corruption, rather than armed struggle—though private-security companies (mercenaries) may be employed in this regard—to create shadow governance in pursuit of plutocratic policy objectives. Ultimately, this form of insurgency is representative of the challenge of 21st century predatory and sovereign-free capitalism to 20th century state moderated capitalism and its ensuing public welfare programs and middle-class social structures. It can be viewed as a component of ‘Dark Globalization’ that, along with the emergence of criminal insurgency, is now actively threatening the public institutions and citizenry of the Westphalian state form [Updated].  

The ‘plutocratic insurgency’ (PI) construct, developed in 2011, has a somewhat contentious past. In fact, it has been both ignored and, when attention is paid to it, demonized by high net-worth societal elites who scoff at the plutocratic moniker as a Marxist fantasy. It also represents a line of research which has remained relatively unfunded as why would those with money want to further such a perceived anti-American construct which is at odds with unfettered capitalism. Rather than being representative of neo-Marxist political thought, however, the construct is both protective of and reinforces the sovereign state-moderated capitalism which forms the basis of our liberal-democracy. Within this state form, governance (as an ideal) is meant to enfranchise the entire socio-political spectrum, the rule of law is paramount, all citizens and corporations are required to pay their fair share of taxes, and societal benefits are enshrined as a ‘public good.’ Upward mobility is paramount so that the lower and working classes have hope for their children’s futures, our social classes do not lock up and become hereditary, and a strong middle class (of centrist values) moderates the political landscape. This is expressed by the societal mythos of the Horatio Alger’s stories about young, impoverished individuals working hard and making a better life for themselves and the perception that anything is possible for immigrants to achieve in America.

As we witness the transition of the American economy from industrialization (3rd Epoch mechanical based) to information (4th Epoch post-mechanical based), we have seen the concomitant thinning of our middle class which no longer has functional utility for our economic and warfighting sectors, the concentration of wealth among the few, the increasing polarization of our political parties (with both the Democrats and Republicans seemingly moving towards the extremes of the spectrum—and a great centrist and opted out Independent group having no moderating political voice or ability to get outside candidates elected), and rising national public and family debt levels. Along with the intense dysfunction concerning immigration protocols and a lack of shared societal values, the integrity of our state form is thus increasingly being challenged.

In addition to the various elements of the transition from Modern to post-Modern civilization which have been taking place for decades, two new recent plutocratic insurgency events stand out and currently dominate the news and social media. Thumbnails of these two events are as follows:

• Donald Trump’s ‘Billionaire’s Club’ of Cabinet Nominees: While Trump has been characterized as a populist working-class candidate with an America first agenda, he is ultimately aggrandizing the ultra-rich (the Tiffany’s constituency) at the expense of his rural base (the Dollar General constituency). Trump ($8 billion net worth) is now surrounding himself with plutocratic allies in top governmental positions in what can only be viewed as an even more egregious case of ‘crony capitalism’ than during his first administration. Such a presidential cabinet composition is more extreme than anything seen during the American Gilded Age when robber barons and their monopolizing trusts held most of the wealth in our country:

“Enough billionaires and multimillionaires have been assembled by Donald Trump to fill key roles in his nascent administration to form a soccer team… At least 11 picks for strategic positions after Trump returns to the White House in January have either achieved billionaire status themselves, have billionaire spouses or are within touching distance of that threshold.”

The Guardian, 6 December 2024

The fact that the normal FBI cabinet nominee vetting process (for U.S. national security needs) was initially stonewalled for weeks by the new administration leads further credence to concerns related to the possible, compromised manner in which nominees were being selected. Further questions about their economic (moral) conflicts of interest and self/close family profiting at the public expense come to mind. These positions also enhance these billionaires’ impunity of action within our society by merging their immense private economic power with newly acquired public (governmental) political power. Additionally, Elon Musk ($348 billion net worth)— an arch-plutocratic outlier—and Vivek Ramaswamy (~$1 billion net worth) as heads of the new governmental advisory committee, DOGE (the Department of Government Efficiency and also the name of a cryptocurrency Musk endorses and owns) may be exempt from ethics rules in their shadow governance roles. It could be argued that the foxes are going being let into the hen house given that the intent of DOGE is to cut federal spending via the elimination of governmental employees and regulations when:

Musk’s companies have received nearly $20 billion in government contracts and both he and Ramaswamy have complained about how federal regulators have hampered their businesses.

USA Today, 5 December 2024

DOGE Coin and the Department of Governmental Efficiency (DOGE)

Source: Social Media Representations

• The Assassination of the UnitedHealthcare CEO: While first and foremost a premeditated homicide for which the perpetrator must be brought to justice, the assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson by a masked and hooded assailant with a silenced pistol can also be viewed in its counter-plutocratic vigilante context. While all the facts are still out related to the case, the dominant social media narrative surrounding the incident exhibits a mocking ‘oh darn, couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy’ take. The words on the bullet casings— “deny,” “defend” and “depose”—are seemingly indicative (one interpretation) of corporate health care practices which are predatory in nature. These practices are meant to maximize profits at the economically ruinous (and fatal) expense of older and vulnerable Americans (the little guys) denied lifesaving procedures and medicines:

While it’s also impossible to confirm a motive for the slaying at this time, social media has run wild with the idea that it was revenge for UnitedHealthcare’s denial of medical coverage from a patient…

Further, he is being made out as a patriotic (folk) vigilante for the people:

As an unabashed admirer put it on X, “are those pics actually the shooter. pls i hope so america needs a hot assassin.”… A comment on the same thread with more than 5,000 likes read: “He’s FIIIIINE. And an American hero? Thank you for your service king.”

Rolling Stone, 5 December 2024

Wanted Assassin of the UnitedHealthcare CEO

Source: NYPD Crime Stoppers

The fact UHC profits were $23 billion in 2023 fuels such perceptions. Since the shooting, large corporate healthcare providers have been feverishly pulling their C-Suite level leadership information off their websites, contacting private executive security firms for protective details, and even reversing some of their draconian benefits policies (for better short-term optics). While the incident is presently a one-off, a simmering hostility exists within American households who perceive (rightly or wrongly) that they are being ripped off by large corporate greed within the healthcare industry. Whispers of class warfare concerns—or at least follow-on assassination attempts— have been taken note of by the plutocratic class within the healthcare sector of our country. This is understandable given some of the recent social media comments that have been made and the supportive street gatherings that have taken place:

Former Washington Post reporter Taylor Lorenz defended the gruesome execution of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on Wednesday in a sick social media post suggesting other health care executives should face similar fates—as hundreds of more twisted trolls took to the internet to revel in the tragedy.

“And people wonder why we want these executives dead,” Lorenz wrote on BlueSky, a microblogging social media network, alongside an article about how Blue Cross Blue Shield will no longer cover anesthesia for the full length of some surgeries.”

MSN, 5 December 2024

For more on the ‘plutocratic insurgency’ (PI) construct, refer to the eleven research notes published at Small Wars Journal and also the following book (which contains those notes and significantly more writings with over thirty readings in total):

Plutocratic Insurgency Reader: A Small Wars Journal Book (2019).

Notes published at SWJ after the publication of the Reader are as follows:

Plutocratic Insurgency Note 12: COVID-19 Fall Out—Revitalized Public Infrastructure or the Further Concentration of Private Wealth? (April 2021)

Plutocratic Insurgency Note 13: The Liberal-Democracies Strike Back – Countering Extra Sovereign Corporate Tax Avoidance (July 2021)

Authors writing on this subject include the authors of this short essay, along with Dr. Nils Gilman (Deviant Globalization, The Twin Insurgency), Dr. John P. Sullivan (originator of the criminal insurgency construct; Privatizing Urban Public Spaces), and a number of others whose works are included in the Reader. While admittedly little has been written about plutocratic insurgency over the last three years, it is time for SWJreaders to become refamiliarized with the construct, especially now that it has been reinvigorated under the auspices of the Arizona State University (ASU) Media Enterprise and the new Small Wars Journal team. The intent is to get the readers (as potential authors) engaged in this emerging form of insurgency analysis and debate. This line of inquiry is the counterpart of

the twin insurgency component of 4th Epoch War along with the criminal insurgency construct, which forms the basis of the highly successful El Centro section of the journal, focused on ‘Exploring the Small Wars of Latin America and Beyond.’

About The Authors

• 
  
• Robert Bunker
• Dr. Robert J. Bunker is Director of Research and Analysis, C/O Futures, LLC, a Research Fellow with the Future Security Initiative (FSI), Arizona State University, and an Instructor at the Safe Communities Institute (SCI) at the University of Southern California Sol Price School of Public Policy. He holds university degrees in political science, government, social science, anthropology-geography, behavioral science, and history and has undertaken hundreds of hours of counterterrorism training. Past professional associations include Minerva Chair at the Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College and Futurist in Residence, Training and Development Division, Behavioral Science Unit, Federal Bureau of Investigation Academy, Quantico. Dr. Bunker has well over 700 publications—including about 50 books as co-author, editor, and co-editor.
• View all posts 
• 
  
• 
  
• Pamela Ligouri Bunker
• Pamela Ligouri Bunker is a managing partner, senior analyst, and majority shareholder of C/O Futures, LLC. She is a researcher and analyst specializing in international security and terrorism with an emphasis on narrative analysis. She is a former senior officer of the Counter-OPFOR Corporation with professional experience in research and program coordination in university, non-governmental organization (NGO), and local government settings. She holds undergraduate degrees in anthropology-geography and social sciences from California State Polytechnic University Pomona, an M.A. in public policy from the Claremont Graduate University, and an M.Litt. in terrorism studies from the University of Saint Andrews, Scotland. She is co-author/co-editor of five books, including Global Criminal and Sovereign Free Economies and the Demise of the Western Democracies: Dark Renaissance (Routledge, 2015), and has many other refereed and professional publications. She can be reached at pligouribunker@cofutures.net.
• 
  

8. Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, December 10, 2024

Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, December 10, 2024

https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campaign-assessment-december-10-2024

Russia's force posture around Syria continues to reflect the Kremlin's current cautious and indecisive response to the fall of Bashar al Assad's regime. Sentinel-2 satellite imagery from December 10 shows that Russian ships have still not returned to Syria's Port of Tartus and that the Russian Mediterranean Sea Flotilla is still in a holding pattern about eight to 15km away from Tartus. Open-source analyst MT Anderson identified four Russian ships within this radius as of December 10—the Admiral Golovko Gorshkov-class frigate, the Admiral Grigorovich Grigorovich-class frigate, the Novorossiysk Improved Kilo-class submarine, and the Vyazma Kaliningradneft-class oiler. Satellite imagery from December 9 indicated that the Admiral Grigorovich, Novorossiysk, and Vyazma were in the same holding pattern as they are as of December 10. Other open-source analysts noted that the Baltic Fleet's Alexander Shabalin Project 775 large landing ship exited the Baltic Sea maritime zone on December 10, potentially to facilitate the removal of some Russian military assets from Tartus to the Mediterranean (potentially Tobruk, Libya). A Russian milblogger claimed that as of the end of the day on December 9 "the status of Hmeimim (Air Base) and Tartus is up in the air," and Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov emphasized that it is "difficult to predict" what will happen in Syria but that Russia will continue a dialogue with all countries that share interests with Russia. Ukraine's Main Military Intelligence Directorate (GUR) reported on December 10 that Russian forces are still disassembling equipment and weapons and removing troops from Hmeimim in An-124 and Il-76 military transport aircraft and are "dismantling" equipment at Tartus under the supervision of recently-deployed Russian Spetsnaz. Maxar satellite imagery from December 10 shows that Russian aircraft, helicopters, and associated military equipment remain in place at the Hmeimim Air Base (see embedded imagery below). The continued lack of a coherent Russian response, both in terms of military posture and rhetorical overtures, suggests that the Kremlin is still waiting to formulate a path forward in Syria as it observes the situation on the ground. The Kremlin is very likely hesitant to completely evacuate all military assets from Syria in the event that it can establish a relationship with Syrian opposition forces and the transitional government and continue to ensure the security of its basing and personnel in Syria.

Russia intends to supply North Korea with fighter jets amid growing military partnership between the two countries. US Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM) commander Admiral Samuel Paparo revealed on December 10 that Russia and North Korea struck a deal in which Russia agreed to send MiG-29 and Su-27 fighter aircraft to Pyongyang in exchange for North Korea deploying troops to Russia to support Russia's war in Ukraine. Paparo highlighted that North Korea's receipt of these aircraft will enhance its military capabilities and that Pyongyang likely expects additional military equipment and technologies from Russia, including ballistic missile reentry vehicles, submarine technologies, and air defense systems, as part of the agreement. Paparo noted that North Korean soldiers remain in combat zones, likely in reference to Kursk Oblast, but are not yet actively fighting. South Korean network TV Chosun published an exclusive report on October 21 stating that North Korea dispatched an unspecified number of fighter pilots to Vladivostok before the deployment of ground troops to Russia in early October likely in an effort to train its pilots to fly Russian fighter jets. North Korean pilots are trained on Russian Su-25 attack aircraft (which are already part of the Korean People's Army [KPA] Air Force fleet) further indicating that a Russian delivery of fighter jets will benefit and expand North Korea's military capabilities, especially in the air domain. ISW continues to assess that military cooperation between Russia and North Korea has particularly intensified since the two countries signed their Treaty on Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in June 2024, and especially since it entered into force on December 4.

Key Takeaways:

• Russia's force posture around Syria continues to reflect the Kremlin's current cautious and indecisive response to the fall of Bashar al Assad's regime.

• Russia intends to supply North Korea with fighter jets amid a growing military partnership between the two countries.

• Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh in Moscow on December 10 as India continues efforts to balance military technical cooperation with Russia and maintain good relations with key Western allies.

• Ukrainian forces recently advanced in the Vuhledar direction, and Russian forces recently advanced in Kursk and Kharkiv oblasts and in the Svatove, Toretsk, Pokrovsk, Kurakhove, Vuhledar, and Velyka Novosilka directions.

• The Russian government continues efforts to formalize irregular Russian military units and veterans from the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics army corps (DNR and LNR ACs) and formally integrate them under the Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD).

• Russia continues to utilize Western-produced high-tech components in Russian weapons systems despite Western sanctions against Russia and cobelligerent states.

• A Russian insider source who has previously correctly predicted command changes within the Russian MoD claimed on December 9 that Russian President Vladimir Putin promoted the Russian Deputy Defense Minister, Pavel Fradkov, to the rank of Major General.

9. Iran Update, December 10, 2024

Iran Update, December 10, 2024

https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/iran-update-december-10-2024

Senior Syrian officials from the deposed Bashar al Assad regime have begun to transfer power to the HTS-led interim government as of December 10. Outgoing Prime Minister Mohammed al Jalili reported that former Assad officials are working with the interim government to preserve state institutions and government workers’ jobs. The chief executive of Sawsan Abu Zainedin—an umbrella group of 200 Syrian civil society groups—emphasized that the interim government would refrain from the “de-Baathification” of the Syrian state. CTP-ISW previously noted that Hayat Tahrir al Sham (HTS) likely recognizes that its own, smaller government apparatus in Idlib Province is ill-equipped to govern all of Syria and that it will need to rely on Syrian institutions at least for a period. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken voiced the United States’ support for a Syrian-led political transition leading to a ”credible, inclusive, and non-sectarian governance” in line with UN Security Council Resolution 2254.

Syrian media reported that the interim Syrian Salvation Government will conduct an assessment of the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) prior to its reorganization. This activity is part of a broader HTS-led effort to reconcile with members of the former Syrian regime and SAA. HTS announced on December 9 a general amnesty for all Syrian regime military personnel, whom the regime conscripted under compulsory service. HTS has similarly sought to integrate Syrian regime military and security personnel into civilian life in Aleppo City since seizing the city in November 2024. CTP-ISW previously noted that integrating former combatants into civilian life could help ensure security and stability during the post-conflict transition period.

HTS leader Abu Mohammad al Julani stated that “we” will hold former regime officers “accountable” for torturing civilians under Assad. Julani’s statement is alarmingly ambiguous regarding whether HTS or a new Syrian government will oversee the judicial proceedings for former regime officials. While it is necessary to hold former regime officials accountable for crimes committed against the Syrian people, HTS lacks the formal authority to prosecute regime officials. That authority should rest with a new Syrian government and constitution that have yet to be established or with an international tribunal. Julani may be reacting to pressure from hardliners in HTS, as there have already been reports of revenge killings in HTS-controlled territory. Revenge killings have historically exacerbated sectarian conflict, as seen in neighboring Iraq.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reportedly advanced beyond the disengagement zone further into Syrian territory on December 9. Geolocated imagery posted on December 10 showed the IDF near Kudna, which is approximately one kilometer from the disengagement zone. Syrian media claimed on December 10 that the IDF advanced to the towns of Beqaasem, Erneh, Heeneh, and Rima in Damascus Province. Beqaasem is around 25 kilometers from Damascus. CTP-ISW cannot verify these claims. The IDF denied reports on December 9 that it is “advancing [toward] or approaching Damascus” and emphasized that the IDF is operating within the disengagement zone and at “defensive points close to the border.”

Key Takeaways:

• Syria: Senior Syrian officials from the deposed Bashar al Assad regime have begun to transfer power to the HTS-led interim government. HTS leader Abu Mohammad al Jolani vowed to hold accountable former regime officials for crimes against the Syrian people.



• Syria: The IDF reportedly advanced further into southwestern Syria. The IDF is also conducting a large-scale air campaign to destroy sensitive SAA capabilities that other armed Syrian groups could seize.

• Syria: Arab contingents in the US-backed SDF defected to the HTS-led interim government. These defections highlight the tenuous relationship that the SDF has with some of the Arab communities in its territory.

• Iran: Iran is trying to project continued confidence in its regional position despite the fall of the Bashar al Assad regime in Syria. This comes amid reports of infighting within the Iranian security establishment.

• Gaza Strip: Hamas indicated willingness to concede slightly on its maximalist demands in ceasefire-hostage negotiations with Israel. Hamas’ unwillingness to grant even minor concessions until now highlights its zealous commitment to fighting Israel.

10. Russia Lost More Than 500 Military Personnel in Syria, Many from Elite Units

Russia Lost More Than 500 Military Personnel in Syria, Many from Elite Units

kyivpost.com · by Kyiv Post · December 11, 2024

A BBC Russian Service investigation identified the deaths of 543 Russian regular military and Wagner PMC personnel who served in Moscow’s almost decade-long campaign supporting the Assad regime.

by Kyiv Post | December 11, 2024, 1:21 pm

Image of Russian Military Patrolling in Northern Syria Amid in 2020 – note the first appearance of the “Z” symbol that became notorious during the 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

• Kadyrov
• Africa

After accessing a variety of open-source, social media and leaked documents as well as memorials and gravestones, the BBC identified 543 Russian military personnel and Wagner PMC mercenaries killed in Syria between 2015 and 2024. The list included members of elite special forces groups of the regular army, FSB, and GRU intelligence units and military pilots.

At the height of Russian military operations, the Kremlin claimed that 63,000 military personnel had been deployed to Syria.

Company documentation from the Wagner private military company (PMC) revealed that 346 of its personnel died in Syria between 2016 and 2022. This included the loss of 80 mercenaries in a single incident on Feb. 17, 2018. Kurdish opposition forces, who were under attack by a large number of the PMC group, called in air and artillery strikes from their US ally that killed 67 Wagnerites on the spot with a further 13 later dying from their wounds.

Figures compiled by the BBC identified that Russian regular military personnel killed in Syria included one major general, 10 colonels, 15 lieutenant colonels, 31 majors, and another 61 officers with the rank of lieutenant to captain.

Among those killed were 15 soldiers and officers of Russia’s elite Special Operations Forces and at least seven special forces officers of the Russian Security Service (FSB) which included members of its Alpha group, the shadowy unit set up to conduct “black ops” inside and outside of Russia.

Other Topics of Interest

One of Last Representatives of a Russian Indigenous People Died Near Kursk

A 56-year-old member of Russia’s Sevastopol-based 810th separate marine brigade who was killed in action in the Kursk region was one of the last members of the Kerek people from Russia’s far east.

Fatalities in Syria included intelligence officers from the 45th Airborne Special Forces Brigade, soldiers and officers from GRU military intelligence units, as well as more than 20 military pilots and aircrew.

Needless to say, official figures released by the Russian Defense Ministry conflict with the BBC’s figures although it has not released statistics for casualties in Syria since 2019 which put the total as 116 killed on active service.

The last known Russian casualties were reported in October when, according to local sources, two “captain first rank” officers in the Naval Infantry, equivalent to Army colonels, died along with two Syrian generals during an ambush by Islamic State terrorists in the Deir ez-Zor province.

There have currently been no reports of Russian casualties during the most recent offensive that brought down the Assad regime.

11. Biden is rushing aid to Ukraine. Both sides are digging in. And everyone is bracing for Trump

But shouldn't that iad have been sent long ago?

Biden is rushing aid to Ukraine. Both sides are digging in. And everyone is bracing for Trump

AP · by ELLEN KNICKMEYER · December 10, 2024

1 of 4 |French President Emmanuel Macron, center, President-elect Donald Trump, right, and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy leave after their meeting at the Elysee Palace, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024 in Paris. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

ILLIA NOVIKOV

ELLEN KNICKMEYER

Foreign policy, national security, foreign policy & climate

twitter

AAMER MADHANI

Aamer Madhani is a White House reporter.

twittermailto

AP · by ELLEN KNICKMEYER · December 10, 2024

12. Cyber Considerations of a Resistance Operating Concept – The Subversive Potential of Persuasive Technology

An important contribution to resistance thinking.

Download the entire essay in PDF at this link: https://www.armyupress.army.mil/Portals/7/military-review/Archives/English/Online-Exclusive/2024/Cyber-Considerations/Cyber-Considerations-UA.pdf

Cyber Considerations of a Resistance Operating Concept

The Subversive Potential of Persuasive Technology

Jason A. Spitaletta, PhD

Maj. Michael B. Matthaeus, U.S. Army 

Michael Guadian

The maze of war psychology has not been illuminated yet by scientific knowledge, and therefore strategists make their way blindly in the dark.

—Evgeny E. Messner

Military policy, doctrine, and logic require a collective understanding of the type of conflict in which the joint force is operating.1 Evgeny Messner’s concept of subversion war is an appropriate theoretical framework to comprehend the contemporary operational environment defined by great power competition (GPC) amidst innumerable irregular conflicts, both civil and transregional.2 A par- ticularly prescient component of Messner’s subversion war is the “vulgarization” of conflict, which includes working by, with, and through resistance movements to subvert the political status quo.3 Initiating, co-opt- ing, or even fabricating resistance movements through cyberspace has been operationalized by Iran, China, Russia, North Korea, and nonstate actors to achieve strategic advantage.4 Those efforts have transformed cyberspace into the preeminent domain through which Messner’s concepts can be applied. The blueprint de- veloped by Messner during the Cold War is evident in contemporary GPC, including the enduring relevance of resistance warfare within the U.S. National Security Strategy.5 The United States should not only under- stand but also operationalize its version of subversive resistance warfare in cyberspace through an updated Resistance Operating Concept as a component of a na- tional Cyber Strategy.

13. Stopping ‘Endless Wars’ Is Easier Said Than Done

Conclusion:

Mr. Trump’s desire to simplify U.S. foreign policy and focus on achieving clear goals is admirable. But the complexity of war demands a careful and nuanced approach. Clausewitz’s reminder to recognize the type of war being waged remains vital. Wars are not contests of spreadsheets but struggles of will, shaped by leadership, morale and adaptability. To be successful, Mr. Trump must resist the allure of quick fixes and instead embrace strategies that reflect the unique nature of each conflict.

Stopping ‘Endless Wars’ Is Easier Said Than Done

Trump will need to overcome four foreign-policy fallacies to resolve entrenched conflicts.

https://www.wsj.com/opinion/stopping-endless-wars-is-easier-said-than-done-trump-second-term-2cab9c7a?st=KFGeE7&reflink=article_copyURL_share

By John Spencer

Dec. 10, 2024 5:27 pm ET

President-elect Donald Trump during a meeting in Paris, Dec. 7. Photo: Oleg Nikishin/Getty Images

Donald Trump’s promise to “put an end to endless wars” resonates with an American public fatigued by decades of military entanglements. His calls for efficient, clear objectives and reduced U.S. involvement abroad reflect a pragmatic approach to the nation’s challenges.

But Mr. Trump’s ambitions also underscore the enduring complexity of war. Wars are rarely resolved on convenient timelines or with numerical or technological superiority alone. As 19th-century Prussian general and military strategist Carl von Clausewitz famously warned, the first act of a statesman is to recognize the type of war he is in. Clausewitz described war as a contest of wills in which human determination outweighs material advantages. Misunderstanding the character of a conflict can lead to unintended consequences.

To reach his goals, Mr. Trump must heed Clausewitz’s advice. Achieving global success requires understanding the human and ideological dimensions of war and seeing past at least four common foreign-policy fallacies.

The first is the “abacus fallacy,” the belief that wars are won by tallying resources. Analysts often reduce military conflict to a numbers game, focusing on troop counts, tanks or artillery rounds.

During the Vietnam War, American leaders like Gen. William Westmoreland and Defense Secretary Robert McNamara relied on body counts to measure progress, assuming that eliminating enemy fighters would break the Viet Cong’s resolve. The results were disastrous because the body count failed to account for the Viet Cong’s resilience and ability to recruit and replace losses. The same dynamic operated in Afghanistan. The U.S. deployed the most advanced military force in history, but the Taliban nevertheless prospered thanks to local knowledge, ideological fervor and steadfast resolve.

This fallacy persists today. In February 2022, many commentators predicted a Ukrainian defeat based on Russia’s numerical military advantages. But Ukraine’s innovative use of resources—information warfare, decentralized command structures, and asymmetric tactics such as using swarms of cheap, expendable drones to complement limited advanced-fire capabilities—highlight the qualitative dimensions of war. Numbers alone fail to account for human ingenuity, resilience and the will to fight.

The second is the “vampire fallacy.” First referenced in 2014 by Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster, who later served as Mr. Trump’s national security adviser, the vampire fallacy promises that technological superiority will deliver swift victories. This too led observers to predict that Kyiv would fall within days of Russia’s invasion. Ukraine’s resilience shattered this illusion, proving that like numerical advantage, technological advantage can’t always replace determination.

Gen. McMaster has warned of a third narrative, the “Zero Dark Thirty fallacy,” which elevates precision strikes and special operations to the level of grand strategy. After Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack, some analysts initially suggested Israel could achieve its objectives through targeted raids and bombings alone. These recommendations ignored Gaza’s hostile environment, radicalized population and war-adapted terrain. They also gave short shrift to the broader challenges of dismantling Hamas’s infrastructure and ensuring Israel’s security. Such misunderstandings often promote flawed strategies that prolong rather than resolve conflicts.

This leads to the fourth error, the “peace table fallacy”—the belief that all wars end in negotiations. This approach isn’t always feasible. Simple calls for Ukraine to negotiate with Russia or for Israel to seek peace with Hamas ignore ideological and political stakes. Wars don’t end simply because one side desires peace; they end when one side achieves its objectives or both reach a stalemate.

The U.S. has fallen victim to these fallacies throughout history. In Vietnam, the U.S. underestimated the Viet Cong’s determination and overestimated the South Vietnamese government’s legitimacy. In Afghanistan, the Taliban’s sanctuary in Pakistan and understanding of local dynamics—as well as the lack of legitimacy of the U.S.-backed Afghan government—allowed the Taliban to endure against a materially superior force.

The will of the Ukrainian people and their leadership prevented Russia from achieving its unlimited strategic goals. Despite Russia’s larger army and extensive resources, Ukraine’s resolve to defend its sovereignty galvanized international support and sustained its war effort. Ukraine’s initial success surprised the Biden administration, which hadn’t prepared for the war and made the misguided choice to provide arms incrementally to Ukraine within a cautious political-risk paradigm. Similarly in Gaza, misinformation on Israel’s conduct in the war increased Hamas’s resolve and caused the Biden administration to adopt unrealistic expectations and withhold arms from Israel. American political leadership also believed that there could be a quick solution to the war despite overwhelming evidence indicating that wouldn’t be possible.

Mr. Trump’s desire to simplify U.S. foreign policy and focus on achieving clear goals is admirable. But the complexity of war demands a careful and nuanced approach. Clausewitz’s reminder to recognize the type of war being waged remains vital. Wars are not contests of spreadsheets but struggles of will, shaped by leadership, morale and adaptability. To be successful, Mr. Trump must resist the allure of quick fixes and instead embrace strategies that reflect the unique nature of each conflict.

Mr. Spencer is chair of urban warfare studies at West Point’s Modern War Institute.

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Free Expression: Donald Trump’s re-election has exposed aesthetic and substantive divisions within the U.S.-Europe alliance. Photo: Image: Francois Lenoir/Reuters

Appeared in the December 11, 2024, print edition as 'Stopping ‘Endless Wars’ Is Easier Said Than Done'.

14. Defense officials hopeful incoming administration keeps funding cutting-edge tech

Excerpts:

All of these efforts would appear to fit into a presidential agenda focused on rebuilding U.S. manufacturing capacity, something Trump vowed to do previously but struggled with during his first term. However, the future of all government spending and research programs is still very much in flux, as is the question of who will lead those innovation-focused areas related to dual-use tech and manufacturing.

Still, the need to continue such efforts speaks for itself, Shyu said. “Why would you want to cede microelectronics to all the foundries in Asia?”

Defense officials hopeful incoming administration keeps funding cutting-edge tech

Amid competing priorities, they pitched dual-use research as key to competing with China.

By Patrick Tucker

Science & Technology Editor, Defense One

December 11, 2024 01:33 AM ET

defenseone.com · by Patrick Tucker

SIMI VALLEY, California—No one knows whether defense spending will grow or shrink in the next administration, whose publicly stated goals include rebuilding arsenals, curbing government expenditure, cutting taxes, and shrinking federal headcount. But defense officials who oversee investment in dual-use technologies and companies say they're optimistic about their corner of the Pentagon budget.

That’s because such investments—for example, in microelectronics, additive manufacturing, and materials development—are key to other stated Trump administration priorities, such as competing with China and rebuilding U.S. manufacturing capability, defense officials said on the sidelines of the Reagan National Security Forum here.

Pentagon officials and leaders from both parties have long complained about the way the Defense Department buys things. They say expensive requirement-driven programs that are subject to congressional oversight result in cost overruns and weapons that can’t be modified easily—and may be obsolete by the time conflict rises. By comparison, commercial tech companies produce products quickly using rapid iteration and scaling.

It’s one reason why former Defense Secretary Ash Carter set up the Defense Innovation Unit. DIU connects the Pentagon to commercial tech companies in a variety of ways.

Doug Beck, who now heads DIU, said Saturday that the department is still largely stuck in out-moded ways of building things.

“Massive competition, also from around the world, forces innovation [and] forces investment in that innovation, because if you don't do that, you lose. And in our more traditional approach to defense procurement, we really have neither of those two things. … Instead, we’ve got something that looks a lot more like the traditional five-year plans from the old Soviet system, which the Chinese have actually spent a whole lot of time themselves trying to get away from, because it doesn't work.”

Lawmakers seem to agree. The most recent draft of the National Defense Authorization Act highlights a need to grow DIU and “position the Defense Innovation Unit as the primary accelerator for integrating cutting-edge technologies into the Department of Defense.”

Congress more than doubled DIU’s budget this year, increasing it to $1 billion. But that is still barely over one percent of the Pentagon’s overall budget.

What the department needs to do, Beck said, is “provide a consistent demand signal of the critical areas we'll be buying in, rather than specific programs, areas like AI, autonomy, space, biotech.” He said that the Pentagon should also give itself more flexibility to alter programs of record.

Beyond the funding, the flexibility Congress has given DIU will enable the office to get new tech to warfighters much faster, Beck said. “We have the ability, with the majority of that funding, to go all the way from that initial prototyping all the way through to initial fielding to operational units.”

The services would then decide how to scale up that tech.

DIU will release a list in January of requirements for companies who want to join the unit’s newest endeavor, Blue Manufacturing, Beck said. Blue Manufacturing will help companies that specialize in additive manufacturing work—not only with the Defense Department, but potentially also with defense contractors that routinely must custom-build their own parts and components, a big contributor to delays.

Prime contractors are not just open to working with smaller companies on additive manufacturing—they’re asking to do so, said Heidi Shyu, the undersecretary of defense for research and development.

“They can't get the parts. Their supply chain is so clogged up they can't get the parts, so their deliveries are behind schedule, right?” Shyu said. “So [a] way to help them out is really accelerate [and] utilize” additive manufacturing.

The Defense Department’s Office of Strategic Capital may also see continued support under a new Trump regime. The office makes loans to companies in key areas like microelectronics and additive manufacturing.

Jason Rathje, who runs the office, highlighted how the loans provide a return to the government—albeit a modest one, in line with Treasury bonds—and play a big role in helping U.S. companies innovate and modernize production. That decreases reliance on China or other countries for supplies. It’s the sort of financing the private investment sector could make, but often doesn’t.

“These are not inexpensive endeavors, and so the companies who want to move to be competitive but are operating on razor-thin margins don't have the capital access to be able to do that. They struggle to raise that capital for now. We're not talking about venture-style companies. We're talking about tier two, tier three suppliers, lower-middle market or middle market companies that have been around for decades. That's where some of our first funding went” under the office’s manufacturing lending program, Rathje said.

The office is looking to expand its loans to firms that want to modernize the way they build things. Creating a more secure supply chain for U.S. manufacturers could strengthen the United States’ supply chain, which would be critical in a war with China.

“Now that we've launched this equipment finance loan product and we're looking at: when we are providing financing for equipment, what type of advancements in manufacturing can we finance against? Right? We're not financing, you know, 20-year-old equipment. We're financing state-of-the-art stuff. So I think whether that's additive or advanced, it is really allowing companies to access the strategic financing they need to be able to accelerate U.S. manufacturing.”

Shyu’s office is also focused on decreasing vulnerability to China, she said, in terms of manufacturing and materials, such as the rare earth minerals that go into electronics. That includes efforts to develop replacements for key elements like cesium and other materials that are in short supply and under Chinese control.

The department and the rest of the government have also been working to increase domestic microelectronics and chip production, Shyu and Rathje said, as a Chinese invasion of Taiwan could lead to a major supply shortage.

But expanding chip manufacturing isn’t easy, and it’s not an attractive investment for many private lending institutions.

“These are capital-intensive industries. [It] takes eight times more investment to invest in a Series A semiconductor company than it does in a fintech or crypto company,” Rathje said, adding that microelectronics and chips will continue to play a key role in the office’s upcoming strategy.

“We can help [make it] work by providing guaranteed loans to investors to catalyze the additional capital required to make those kinds of large-scale, early stage investments. And then by time those companies drive from [product to market] then we have additional sources of financing to help scale fabrication, manufacturing or assembly, test packaging or material development.”

All of these efforts would appear to fit into a presidential agenda focused on rebuilding U.S. manufacturing capacity, something Trump vowed to do previously but struggled with during his first term. However, the future of all government spending and research programs is still very much in flux, as is the question of who will lead those innovation-focused areas related to dual-use tech and manufacturing.

Still, the need to continue such efforts speaks for itself, Shyu said. “Why would you want to cede microelectronics to all the foundries in Asia?”

defenseone.com · by Patrick Tucker

15. In Ukraine, long guns become desperate defenses against small drones

SAFAD is more relevant than ever. Or perhaps it is finally relevant. I think we only paid lip serve to it during the Cold War because we never thought we would ever hit a fast mover.

(Small Arms For Air Defense (SAFAD) now perhaps Small Arms For Anti-Drone).

In Ukraine, long guns become desperate defenses against small drones

Defense News · by Elisabeth Gosselin-Malo · December 11, 2024

MILAN — The Russian and Ukrainian militaries are moving to transform their soldiers’ rifles into weapons capable of countering exploding drones, experimenting with different ammunition types to determine the best shot, according to experts and reports posted on social media sites.

The renewed push to transform soldier weapons into desperate defenses of last resort against explodable first-person view drones represents a more systematic approach to a problem that has cost countless lives on the battlefield.

“FPV drones have become much more effective via technical improvements and pilot skills, as well as many tactical EW and jamming systems don’t work effectively or as intended all the time – this forces soldiers to develop methods to shoot down drones in the last 100 meters of their flight,” Sam Bendett, advisor at the Washington-based Center for Naval Analyses, said.

The effectiveness of using small arms to counter these types of drones remains uncertain at best, depending largely on luck and drone pilot skill, Bendett noted.

Russian Telegram channels recently published footage showing Russian soldiers making DIY anti-drone ammunition by using the pellets taken from buckshot rounds and repurposing them to be used in normal 5.45x39mm rounds used in assault rifles.

Even if a shot goes on target, pellet size and drone construction determine a successful intercept.

“Larger pellets offer more mass but the energy is delivered over a bigger surface area – the larger the pellet, the less density you have in the air, this is known as ‘pattern,’” said Paul Bradley, a ballistics expert at Hexagon Ammunition, a company owned by Beretta Holding. “A dense, wide pattern increases hit probability but smaller pellets reduce terminal effect.”

In early November, the German military-news website Hartpunkt reported about a document from the Ukrainian Special Forces Command that examined Russian troops’ use of 12-gauge shotguns to counter small drones.

According to the analysis, the threat associated with FPV drones is deemed so grave that it recommended placing a dedicated shooter at the back of every military vehicle near the frontlines in case electronic warfare systems fail to disable the flying explosives.

It also reported that Russian troops track the departure points of Ukrainian drones and place ambushes with several of their drone shooters to attempt to hit them.

According to Bradley, hobbyist quadcopter drones, like those made by Chinese maker DJI, tend to have a body made out of thin plastic as well as rigid but flimsy propellers in order to keep their weight down. That makes them “very easy” to damage with widely available 12g sporting rounds, he added.

In contrast, first-person view drones are generally built with thick carbon fiber frames and softer plastic propellers more resistant to impact, reflecting their heritage as machines designed for high-speed racing. Sporting ammunition typically cannot damage FPV sufficiently at almost any range, according to Bradley.

“Drones require more energy on target when they are in the air,” he explained. “When they are hit they simply move as they have very little inertia – the movement robs the pellets of kinetic energy, rather like punching something in zero gravity, less energy is transferred to target as it is used up moving it backward.”

The Ukrainian Third Assault Brigade demonstrated these challenges as part of an experimental shooting conducted earlier this month, simulating an FPV drone attack to test which kind of bullet is most effective. Soldiers compared shooting standard cartridges and specific anti-drone ammunition using different types of guns, including shotguns.

In the majority of cases, not only was the FPV not downed, but even when it was damaged, the system kept flying as the shot was too weak. In the one instance where the target was hit with an anti-drone charge, it crashed and caught fire near the shooter, barely missing him.

Some of the short-range drone defense tactics that have emanated from Ukraine have caught the attention of Western gun and ammunition companies.

Among them is the Swedish cartridge manufacturer Norma, also part of Beretta Holding, which has developed and tested its Anti-Drone Long Effective Range (AD-LER) against FPVs. In testing, the munition managed to “catastrophically down” six out of seven drones deployed at up to 50 meters away, according to Bradley, who said he observed the trials.

Elisabeth Gosselin-Malo is a Europe correspondent for Defense News. She covers a wide range of topics related to military procurement and international security, and specializes in reporting on the aviation sector. She is based in Milan, Italy.

16. Elon Musk warns Republicans against standing in Trump's way — or his

Standing in the way or separation of powers and checks and balances? Going against the president is the right and responsibility of all legislators if in their judgment the policy is wrong or harms the US. That is how our federal democratic republic is supposed to work.

Elon Musk warns Republicans against standing in Trump's way — or his

AP · by THOMAS BEAUMONT · December 10, 2024

1 of 3 |President-elect Donald Trump walks with Elon Musk before the launch of the sixth test flight of the SpaceX Starship rocket Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024 in Boca Chica, Texas. (Brandon Bell/Pool via AP)

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A week after President-elect Donald Trump’s victory, Elon Musk said his political action committee would “play a significant role in primaries.”

The following week, the billionaire responded to a report that he might fund challengers to GOP House members who don’t support Trump’s nominees. “How else? There is no other way,” Musk wrote on X, which he rebranded after purchasing Twitter and moving to boost conservative voices, including his own.

And during his recent visit to Capitol Hill, Musk and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy delivered a warning to Republicans who don’t go along with their plans to slash spending as part of Trump’s proposed Department of Government Efficiency.

“Elon and Vivek talked about having a naughty list and a nice list for members of Congress and senators and how we vote and how we’re spending the American people’s money,” said Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga.

Trump’s second term comes with the specter of the world’s richest man serving as his political enforcer. Within Trump’s team, there is a feeling that Musk not only supports Trump’s agenda and Cabinet appointments, but is intent on seeing them through to the point of pressuring Republicans who may be less devout.

One Trump adviser, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss internal political dynamics, noted Musk had come to enjoy his role on the campaign and that he clearly had the resources to stay involved.

The adviser and others noted that Musk’s role is still taking shape. And Musk, once a supporter of President Barack Obama before moving to the right in recent years, is famously mercurial.

“I think he was really important for this election. Purchasing Twitter, truly making it a free speech platform, I think, was integral to this election, to the win that Donald Trump had,” said departing Republican National Committee co-chair Lara Trump, the president-elect’s daughter-in-law. “But I don’t know that ultimately he wants to be in politics. I think he considers himself to be someone on the outside.”

During the presidential campaign, Musk contributed roughly $200 million to America PAC, a super PAC aimed at reaching Trump voters online and in person in the seven most competitive states, which Trump swept. He also invested $20 million in a group called RBG PAC, which ran ads arguing Trump would not sign a national abortion ban even as the former president nominated three of the justices who overturned a federally guaranteed right to the procedure.

Musk’s donation to RBG PAC — a name that invokes the initials of former Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a champion of abortion rights — wasn’t revealed until post-election campaign filings were made public Thursday.

Musk has said he hopes to keep America PAC funded and operating. Beyond that, he has used his X megaphone to suggest he is at least open to challenging less exuberant Trump supporters in Congress.

Another key Trump campaign ally has been more aggressive online. Conservative activist Charlie Kirk, whose group Turning Point Action also worked to turn out voters for Trump, named Republican senators he wants to target.

“This is not a joke, everybody. The funding is already being put together. Donors are calling like crazy. Primaries are going to be launched,” Kirk said on his podcast, singling out Sens. Joni Ernst of Iowa, Jim Risch of Idaho, Mike Rounds of South Dakota and Thom Tillis of North Carolina as potential targets. All four Republican senators’ seats are up in 2026.

For now, Musk has been enjoying the glow of his latest conquest, joining Trump for high-level meetings and galas at the soon-to-be president’s Mar-a-Lago resort home in Palm Beach, Florida. The incoming administration is seeded with Musk allies, including venture capitalist and former PayPal executive David Sacks serving as the “White House A.I. & Crypto Czar” and Jared Isaacman, a tech billionaire who bought a series of spaceflights from Musk’s SpaceX, named to lead NASA.

Musk could help reinforce Trump’s agenda immediately, some GOP strategists said, by using America PAC to pressure key Republicans. Likewise, Musk could begin targeting moderate Democrats in pivotal states and districts this spring, urging them to break with their party on key issues, Republican strategist Chris Pack said.

“Instead of using his influence to twist GOP arms when you have majorities in both houses, he could start going after Democrats who vote against Trump’s agenda in states where the election was a referendum for Trump,” said Pack, former communications director for the National Republican Senatorial Committee. “Otherwise, if you pressure Republicans with a primary, you can end up with a Republican who can’t win, and then a Democrat in that seat.”

___

Linderman reported from Baltimore and Mendoza from Santa Cruz, California. Associated Press congressional correspondent Lisa Mascaro in Washington contributed to this report.

17. Archipelago of Resistance: The Philippines Is Rising to Meet the China Threat, But It Has a Crucial Year Ahead

Conclusion:

Supporting the Philippines through the headwinds of the next year will require the U.S. government to consider how it can help tip the balance toward peace and stability in the south. It is simple: If one cares about the Philippines being a stable and capable alliance partner, one must also care about the fortunes of the Bangsamoro region. Removing that internal drain on the Philippines security sector frees it to focus on defending its sovereignty and ensuring that the West Philippine Sea is not a flashpoint for regional conflict. For now, the mutual defense treaty with the United States is a powerful deterrent to war, but more needs to be done to ensure that China’s so-called grey zone activities are not allowed to slowly erode Philippine sovereignty and give Beijing critical footholds that further tip the strategic balance in its favor. Overall, the picture is clear: advancing U.S.-Philippines relations is not just in the best interests of Washington — it also will help to create the conditions for a more peaceful and stable region.

Archipelago of Resistance: The Philippines Is Rising to Meet the China Threat, But It Has a Crucial Year Ahead - War on the Rocks

warontherocks.com · by Haroro J. Ingram · December 11, 2024

Of all the flashpoints facing the Trump administration on Jan. 20, 2025, China’s campaign of intimidation and maritime occupation in the South China Sea may prove the most concerning for U.S. interests and preventing war in the Indo-Pacific. Beijing has spent decades occupying, building, and militarizing islands in those resource-rich waters through which trillions of dollars of trade pass annually. China’s incessant maritime incursions have ignored the sovereignty of its neighbors, violated international law, and given it strategic footholds for exercising political, economic, and military leverage. The aggressiveness of China’s expansionism has spiked in the last 18 months, with the Philippines as the focal point of its ire. Beijing’s timing is not coincidental. The Philippines, a mutual defense treaty ally of the United States, is entering a pivotal 12-month period in which a convergence of critical issues promises seismic implications for not only its national security, defense, and foreign policy trajectory but also its internal stability. As Beijing has pushed the region to the brink, it has dragged the Philippines to center stage.

For its part, the Philippines has adopted an assertive posture to manage China’s aggression as it prepares for a multigenerational campaign to protect regional peace. With highly capable and respected current and former generals overseeing national security, the armed forces, and internal peace efforts, President Ferdinand Marcos’ administration has prioritized internal stability and a transformative foreign policy agenda as the foundation for and complement to a much-needed military modernization and reposturing for territorial defense. Successive administrations have also worked to build a legal architecture against Beijing’s “might is right” bullying. On Nov. 8, 2024, the Philippines passed the Philippines Maritime Zones Act and the Archipelagic Sea Lanes Act. Together, these laws define Philippines maritime possessions in line with the constitution, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, and the 2016 arbitral award, and designate sea and air routes through its archipelago. The same week, the Philippines military conducted joint island seizure and defense exercises. Just as China ignores international law and acts accordingly, the Philippines appreciates the existential need to exercise its legal rights. Beijing responded with typical vitriol.

The Philippines government has embarked upon an ambitious national security, defense, and foreign policy agenda that has delivered a more stable internal security environment and growing regional influence. That progress will be tested in the coming year. In 2025, a peace process that has brought unprecedented stability to its historically restive south enters its endgame as the Bangsamoro autonomous region prepares for its first elections. Simultaneous local and national elections will test the security sector’s responsiveness to election-related violence and foreign interference. The elections will also serve as a litmus test for the national government’s policies. Amidst all this, the Philippines will need to forge ahead with its military modernization program as Beijing inevitably cranks up its coercive actions. For the Trump administration, maturing and elevating the long-standing U.S.-Philippines alliance will be vital for managing China’s aggression, championing U.S. interests, and upholding the conditions for peace in the Indo-Pacific.

Become a Member

Philippines Rising

The Philippines is a fulcrum of the U.S.-Chinese strategic competition in Asia. Based on its geography alone, the Philippines is arguably Southeast Asia’s most important country. Its southernmost island sits in a tri-border region with Indonesia and Malaysia, while its northernmost island is a mere 90 miles from Taiwan. The northern islands of Luzon are part of the First Island Chain, with the Second Island Chain marking the maritime boundary of the Philippine Sea’s eastern reaches. For 200 nautical miles off its west coast stretches the West Philippine Sea and, beyond that, the broader South China Sea. As then-President Trump has said of the Philippines: “It is a strategic location — the most strategic location. … The most prime piece of real estate from a military standpoint.” Yet, the story of the Philippines is one of unmet potential. Historically, the country has been dogged by political instability, economic mismanagement, and internal security threats. For too long, the Philippines has been a nation swept up by the geostrategic currents of its neighborhood rather than a shaper of them. That has started to change.

There is perhaps no better evidence of the Philippines’ rise on the global stage than the unprecedented trilateral summit between the United States, Japan, and the Philippines in April 2024. The meeting signaled not just a shift in Asia’s security architecture but the Philippines’ emerging role in those dynamics. Since 2022, the Philippines has rejuvenated and deepened bilateral relationships with the United States and Japan, respectively, built a web of broader economic and security partnerships across the Indo-Pacific and beyond, and begun a military modernization pivot from internal security operations to territorial defense. The strengthening of U.S.-Philippines relations has seen confidence renewed in the Mutual Defense Treaty and the Visiting Forces Agreement, the establishment of Bilateral Defense Guidelines to “modernize alliance cooperation,” and increased U.S. access to Philippines military bases. The Philippines has similar status of forces agreements with Australia and, most recently, Japan. In just the last year, the Philippines has struck security partnerships with the likes of Singapore, Vietnam, India, and Germany amidst a regional surge in defense spending and a flurry of security arrangements across Asia.

Out of necessity, the Philippines has led the region in adopting a more forward-leaning approach to dealing with Beijing’s decades-long “slow boil” strategy to flip the Indo-Pacific’s power balance. In the West Philippine Sea, China has conducted aggressive air and sea maneuvers, attacked Philippines servicemembers with water cannon and military grade lasers, deployed “swarming” tactics to intimidate and prevent the movement of Philippines vessels, all the while flooding the information environment with manipulative rhetoric. For the Philippines, the West Philippine Sea is a dual domain contest. On the sea, the Philippines has lost the strategic advantage against a materially superior adversary. In the information domain, however, the Philippines sees opportunities to claw back momentum. To do so, it has deployed an “assertive transparency” strategy to expose China’s aggressive tactics by publicly releasing evidence that is then amplified by both media coverage and government-led strategic communications. Philippines government messaging has sought to focus attention on Beijing’s “say-do” gaps, called for peaceful dispute resolutions and respect for international law, highlighted the country’s efforts to tactically de-escalate during incidents at sea, while emphasizing that the nation will never yield to China’s bullying. As the Philippines has gained momentum in the information domain, national resolve has solidified, global awareness has grown thanks to high-profile media embeds, and neighboring countries have become more supportive of Manila.

The posture adopted by the Philippines is testimony to a growing national confidence. Since the end of World War II, Philippines armed forces have almost entirely focused on domestic threats, namely communist insurgencies across the archipelago and Moro separatist groups in Mindanao. On both issues, pivotal breakthroughs have been made in recent years. Communist insurgencies have been weakened, and the national government has explored peace negotiations to finally quell that threat. However, it is the peace process in Mindanao, which has ended decades of conflict between the Philippines government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and led to the establishment of the Bangsamoro autonomous region, that has been the breakthrough for internal stability. As domestic security has improved, the Philippines has experienced a period of post-pandemic economic growth, seeing it become one of Asia’s most promising emerging markets. All these gains will be sharply tested in the coming year.

A Nation at the Crossroads

The closing months of 2024 have showcased the volatility that often characterizes the Philippines’ domestic context. In November, a supreme court decision cast further uncertainty over the conduct of upcoming elections in Mindanao, the senate restored cuts made by the lower house to a 2025 defense budget that was already insufficient to meet modernization benchmarks, and six typhoons slammed the archipelago. Yet public attention was gripped by the escalating feud between the families of President Marcos and Vice President Sara Duterte, daughter of former president Rodrigo Duterte. Philippines government agencies are well-versed in managing volatility, but they certainly don’t need further distractions given the year ahead.

Over the next 12 months, the Philippines must manage a convergence of critical issues. First and foremost, the Bangsamoro peace process enters its endgame in 2025. After decades of cyclical peace failures followed by spikes in conflict, the most promising peace process in living memory has seen the signing of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro in 2014 and the establishment of an autonomous region with a presidentially appointed transition authority in 2019. The COVID-19 pandemic delayed progress on the political, legal, and former combatant decommissioning requirements of the peace agreement, resulting in an originally three-year transition period being extended by another three years. This, in turn, pushed the autonomous region’s first elections to May 2025. The resilience of the peace gains will continue to be tested as violent peace spoilers, particularly Islamic State–affiliated factions of local rebel groups, seek to derail what remains a very promising but fragile peace.

Yet the greatest vulnerabilities for peace in the Bangsamoro remain self-inflicted. While the political and legal requirements of the peace process are largely on track, the decommissioning and disarming of former combatants are behind schedule and plagued with implementation problems. There is also a sense, especially in the impoverished rural communities most impacted by conflict, that peace dividends have not been delivered. That the most vulnerable communities are also where many disgruntled former combatants and their families live hints at the precariousness of the security situation in some parts of the autonomous region and the potential for violence to erupt if problems remain unresolved. More broadly, an expectation management problem persists. Not enough has been done to manage the local population’s expectations to avoid the sense of crisis that flourishes when hope does not meet reality. Having spent years working in those hot-spot communities implementing ground-level programs to uphold peace and ceasefire agreements and build community resilience to the lures of violent peace spoilers, the people’s hopes are typically for their most rudimentary needs to be addressed: consistent meals for their kids, access to education and health services, basic infrastructure, and a stable security environment. These issues inevitably converge on the ground in a street-by-street and house-by-house struggle: the daily grind that is the real work of delivering and maintaining peace. It is a job too often left to the tireless and often heroic efforts of a stretched security sector and underresourced civil society.

It is difficult to overstate how important maintaining peace and stability in the Bangsamoro is for the Philippines to hold its economic, national security, and foreign policy course. Certainly, any hopes of the country’s armed forces focusing on territorial defense will require the freeing up of the estimated 40 percent of its battalions deployed there. In preparation for upcoming elections, the military presence has surged to put violent rebel groups on the back foot and to maintain security and stability during this critical time. While the Bangsamoro’s first elections were originally scheduled for May 12, 2025, to coincide with local and national elections, the supreme court decision removing Sulu province from the autonomous region could cause a brief postponement. Either way, the challenges facing the security sector’s management of election-related violence, especially in the south, will be compounded by an expected torrent of election interference activities.

Despite a complicated year ahead, the Philippines does not have the luxury of delaying or deviating from the course it has set. After all, China’s incursions in the West Philippine Sea are just the crudest tip of a diverse spectrum of activities that are dominated by an intensifying and broadening interference campaign across the archipelago. Beijing’s efforts may appear ineffectual given China’s low trust and popularity amongst Filipinos. This is a red herring. Authoritarian regimes are not particularly concerned with popularity abroad but rather use malign influence to erode a trinity of trusts — social trust, trust in authorities and expertise, and trust in democratic institutions — to fuel polarization and unrest. This is the logic of anti-democratic malign influence, and the Philippines operates on the frontlines of this struggle in the Indo-Pacific.

Mature and Elevate the U.S.-Philippines Relationship

The U.S. government can better champion American interests in Asia and reinforce a bulwark against Beijing’s aggression by advancing the U.S.-Philippines relationship as a core component of its Indo-Pacific ambitions. For now, the Philippines ought to remove a major domestic demand on its security sector by fulfilling the requirements of the Bangsamoro peace process and stabilizing the autonomous region to ensure its first elections are free and fair. So far, the U.S. government has done remarkably little to support peace in the Bangsamoro. Yet targeted, low-cost efforts could prove decisive in tipping the balance, especially if that support is funneled to directly assist ground-level peace and ceasefire activities. This would also demonstrate to the Philippines that the United States appreciates the historic and strategic significance of finally bringing peace to the south. For its part, the Philippines will need to regularly present a persuasive case to Washington for why it is important to U.S. interests and how it is pulling its weight in the alliance. The stakes are too high to do otherwise.

For the Philippines, China is an existential threat. But rather than languish under the weight of that pressure by capitulating to Beijing’s coercion or making demands of wealthier nations to rush to its defense, the Philippines has worked hard to rise to the challenge. While there is a friendly and enthusiastic administration in Manila, there are several ways to further elevate the alliance. First, the Mutual Defense Treaty and the Visiting Forces Agreement are the bedrock of the U.S.-Philippines relationship, and it will be crucial for both sides to regularly and unequivocally affirm those alliance commitments as a deterrence to war. As Trump’s nominee for secretary of state, Senator Marco Rubio, wrote last year, “If there is even a hint that the United States will not honor its security commitments to the Philippines or other treaty allies in Asia, it will encourage Beijing to engage in more hostilities to test our resolve.” The mutual defense treaty has been effective in preventing acts of war in Philippines seas. However, it has proven insufficient against China’s “long game” of escalating coercive actions (i.e., violence below the threshold of war) combined with deceptive messaging to achieve its occupation and militarization goals.

A peaceful and stable Indo-Pacific therefore requires a comprehensive suite of capacity-building and partnership-building efforts to prevent and counter Beijing’s illegal and aggressive actions below the threshold of war. The United States has an important and mutually beneficial role to play on both fronts. U.S. support to Philippines’ strategic and operational capacity — such as the bipartisan Philippines Enhanced Resilience Act of 2024, which provides $500 million of U.S. security assistance to the Philippines annually — will be critical for the alliance and Philippines’ modernization efforts. In his final visit to the Philippines, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin signed a bilateral information and defense technology sharing agreement, announced the provision of unmanned surface vessels to the Philippines navy, and acknowledged the presence of U.S. Task Force Ayungin to support maritime domain awareness. Other countries are also making significant contributions to Philippines’ capacity. For example, Philippines Coast Guard capabilities were recently boosted by five vessels from Japan and 40 vessels from France. Joint exercises, too, will continue to play a vital role in partner interoperability.

On partnership building, as the United States evolves from a “hub-and-spoke” to a “web” system of alliances and partnerships in the Indo-Pacific, the Philippines can help to strengthen the intra-regional web, particularly in Southeast Asia. To elevate and mature the U.S.-Philippines alliance, it will inevitably need to adopt many of the structures and systems of more advanced alliances and the burgeoning U.S.-Japanese-Philippines trilateral offers a suitable forum for such progress. A more mature U.S.-Philippines relationship should also provide space for the Philippines to lead on key issues. For example, Manila’s approach to addressing malign influence and deploying public messaging has been decisive in attracting global attention, garnering partners in the region, and building national resilience on the West Philippine Sea. In this area, the Philippines has much to offer regional and global partners.

The Constant Pursuit of Peace

It is difficult to decipher the goal of China’s hostilities toward the Philippines. Perhaps Beijing is testing the boundaries and fueling the conditions for war on Taiwan. In the short term, it’s more likely that Beijing has decided that the Philippines must serve as a deterrence to others from resisting its bullying. Whatever the answer, China is making the Indo-Pacific a more volatile region, and it has picked the Philippines as its primary target — at least for now. For all these unknowns, one thing is certain: China is not about to relieve its pressure on the Philippines.

The Philippines faces a year in which it will need to manage some extraordinary domestic challenges. The national government, working with its counterparts in the south, must get the Bangsamoro peace process over the finish line and the region through its first elections. Achieving that milestone will signal the transfer of the autonomous region’s destiny into the hands of its own democratically elected government. Simultaneous local and national polls will test the security sector, while the national results will reshape the configuration of the Philippine congress, set the scene for the 2028 presidential elections, and serve as a report card on the Marcos administration’s performance. All these internal challenges will need to be managed while holding course on a foreign policy path that promises to position the Philippines as a more skilled navigator of the geostrategic currents that surround it.

Supporting the Philippines through the headwinds of the next year will require the U.S. government to consider how it can help tip the balance toward peace and stability in the south. It is simple: If one cares about the Philippines being a stable and capable alliance partner, one must also care about the fortunes of the Bangsamoro region. Removing that internal drain on the Philippines security sector frees it to focus on defending its sovereignty and ensuring that the West Philippine Sea is not a flashpoint for regional conflict. For now, the mutual defense treaty with the United States is a powerful deterrent to war, but more needs to be done to ensure that China’s so-called grey zone activities are not allowed to slowly erode Philippine sovereignty and give Beijing critical footholds that further tip the strategic balance in its favor. Overall, the picture is clear: advancing U.S.-Philippines relations is not just in the best interests of Washington — it also will help to create the conditions for a more peaceful and stable region.

Become a Member

Haroro J. Ingram is the Philippines country director for the United States Institute of Peace. He is based in the Philippines. X:@haroro_ingram.

Image: Philippine Navy via Wikimedia Commons

Commentary

warontherocks.com · by Haroro J. Ingram · December 11, 2024

18. How Tulsi Gabbard Sees the World

She does not have the support of the Wall Street Journal editorial board.

As in the subtitle, emphasis on "hard-left" views.

Excerpts:

Ms. Gabbard criticized Mr. Trump’s Israel policy as “lopsided in favoring the interests of Israel and not playing the neutral role that I think the United States should be playing and trying to help push this peace process forward.” That would be the old, failed peace process. Mr. Trump saw no reason to be “neutral” between Israel, a U.S. ally, and the Palestinian Authority, which has praised the Oct. 7 massacre.

Backing allies against enemies facilitated the Abraham Accords. Next up is Saudi Arabia, but Ms. Gabbard pushed to end arms sales to the Saudis in 2019 and earlier to stop U.S. support for them in Yemen. After Mr. Biden did the latter, the Iran-backed Houthis triumphed.

As mistaken as these views are, more troubling is Ms. Gabbard’s dogmatism. It has led her to obfuscate the evidence in Syria, stick to a failed approach to Israel, and denounce the Trump Iran policy as warmongering. Supporters of Mr. Trump’s foreign policy will think twice about confirming her.

How Tulsi Gabbard Sees the World

Her dogmatic, hard-left views make her a risky fit for assessing intel.

https://www.wsj.com/opinion/tulsi-gabbard-director-of-national-intelligence-donald-trump-foreign-policy-syria-israel-iran-b37aa3de?mod=latest_headlines

By The Editorial Board

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Dec. 10, 2024 5:41 pm ET

Tulsi Gabbard Photo: jeenah moon/Reuters

Are liberals still in their McCarthyite phase? The ugly criticism of Tulsi Gabbard as a “likely Russian asset” (Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz) might convince Trump supporters that she is being maligned, as President Trump was, because she’s on board with his agenda.

The truth, which has Republican Senators concerned, is the opposite: Ms. Gabbard is on ample record as a dogmatic opponent of the policies that made Mr. Trump’s first-term foreign policy a success and that Democrats resisted. The former Democrat would be a risky fit as director of national intelligence (DNI).

***

Consider her views on Israel, Syria and Iran. The chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency said Friday that Iran’s capacity to produce near-weapons-grade uranium is “increasing dramatically,” perhaps “seven, eight times more.” That and the Syrian regime’s collapse put a premium on sound intelligence and judgment early in Mr. Trump’s term.

The DNI’s job is to convey intelligence fairly to a President even when it benefits a disfavored policy or overturns a cherished notion. Ms. Gabbard’s record suggests she is as likely to reject new intel and muddy the waters.

That’s how it was with Syria, where Ms. Gabbard’s opposition to U.S. involvement led her to defend dictator Bashar al-Assad from findings of chemical-weapons use. At times in her 2020 campaign, she wouldn’t concede that the Butcher of Damascus is a war criminal.

Ms. Gabbard could have made a case for U.S. restraint without apologizing for Mr. Assad. Instead she published a report full of crank theories, including that Syrian chemical attacks “may have been staged by opposition forces for the purpose of drawing the United States and the West deeper into the war.”

Why wade in this fever swamp? Ms. Gabbard thought it would minimize the grounds for U.S. intervention. When President Trump said there was “no dispute that Syria used banned chemical weapons” in 2017 and bombed the air base that had launched the attack, she scored him for having “escalated our illegal regime-change war to overthrow the Syrian government.”

That wasn’t Mr. Trump’s policy, but conspiratorial hard-left rhetoric is Ms. Gabbard’s bread and butter. She backed Sen. Bernie Sanders in 2016, emphasizing their foreign-policy agreements, and in 2022 denounced the Democratic Party as an “elitist cabal of warmongers.” She called Mr. Trump the same names. “Trump says he doesn’t want war with Iran, but that’s exactly what he wants,” she said in 2019. “Netanyahu and Saudi Arabia want to drag the United States into war with Iran, and Trump is submitting to their wishes.”

She singled out as “Trump’s Path to War With Iran” the key elements that distinguish his policy from Obama-Biden’s: Leaving the Iran deal, “crippling sanctions” on Iranian oil, designating the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist group.

After Mr. Trump ordered a strike on Qassem Soleimani, Iran’s terror chief, Ms. Gabbard accused him of “pushing our nation headlong into a war with Iran.” She was wrong. Her preferred Biden appeasement strategy led to war.

This raises a larger point. Avoiding war is a worthy goal, but when it becomes overriding it sends a message of weakness, which invites adversaries to try their luck. That’s one lesson of the Biden years, when U.S. fretting about escalation encouraged more aggression.

If Iran sprints to a nuclear bomb, the DNI must tell the truth as best we know it, not fudge it to advocate for or against war. The risks run both ways: The U.S. overestimated Iraq’s WMD program after 9/11 but underestimated al Qaeda before it. The U.S. consistently has underestimated Iran’s nuclear progress.

In 2007 U.S. intelligence judged with high confidence that Iran had halted its nuclear-weapons program in 2003. After Israel stole Iran’s nuclear archive in 2018, we learned definitively that Iran had only dispersed its activity and continued piece by piece, often with civilian cover. The U.S. was played for years.

***

These questions bear on Israel’s security. In 2018 Ms. Gabbard condemned Israel for shooting to prevent a breach of the Gaza border—a precursor to Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack. In 2019 she defended Ilhan Omar’s attribution of Congressional support for Israel to “the benjamins.”

Ms. Gabbard criticized Mr. Trump’s Israel policy as “lopsided in favoring the interests of Israel and not playing the neutral role that I think the United States should be playing and trying to help push this peace process forward.” That would be the old, failed peace process. Mr. Trump saw no reason to be “neutral” between Israel, a U.S. ally, and the Palestinian Authority, which has praised the Oct. 7 massacre.

Backing allies against enemies facilitated the Abraham Accords. Next up is Saudi Arabia, but Ms. Gabbard pushed to end arms sales to the Saudis in 2019 and earlier to stop U.S. support for them in Yemen. After Mr. Biden did the latter, the Iran-backed Houthis triumphed.

As mistaken as these views are, more troubling is Ms. Gabbard’s dogmatism. It has led her to obfuscate the evidence in Syria, stick to a failed approach to Israel, and denounce the Trump Iran policy as warmongering. Supporters of Mr. Trump’s foreign policy will think twice about confirming her.

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WSJ Opinion Documentary: Was Liz Truss done in by The Blob, the British version of the administrative state? While the former PM started out with a Thatcherite plan to grow the economy, it ended in a dramatic political tale of betrayals and blunders. Photo: Getty Images

Appeared in the December 11, 2024, print edition as 'How Tulsi Gabbard Sees the World'.

19. The Global War Machine Supplying Colombian Mercenaries to Fight in Sudan

Three different combatant commands are affected. Just saying.

The Global War Machine Supplying Colombian Mercenaries to Fight in Sudan

Company with links to United Arab Emirates has deployed contractors to support rebel Rapid Support Forces

https://www.wsj.com/world/africa/sudan-colombian-mercenaries-global-security-services-9ff2a201?mod=latest_headlines

By Benoit Faucon

Follow, Gabriele Steinhauser

Follow, Kejal Vyas

Follow and Summer Said

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Updated Dec. 11, 2024 12:18 am ET

At first glance, the shaky cellphone videos captured on the desolate plains of Sudan’s Darfur region looked like many others emerging from the country’s brutal civil war: Men in camouflage uniforms pose next to crates of weapons, showing off the spoils of their battle.

Then one of the men flips through their newly seized prisoners’ papers and personal belongings.

“Look at this, they aren’t Sudanese,” he says, his Arabic inflected with the local Zaghawa dialect, holding up a passport issued some 7,000 miles away by the government of Colombia. “These are the people who are killing us.”

The videos are a telling sign that the war in Sudan between the country’s military and the rebel Rapid Support Forces has turned into a battleground for more foreign powers, drawing in fighters and weapons from as far as Latin America and Europe.

A Colombian national’s identification documents, found by Sudanese forces in Darfur, shown in an image from one of the videos.

Several regional governments are vying to assert their influence as the fighting escalates, led by the United Arab Emirates on one side and Egypt on the other—with devastating consequences for Sudan’s 48 million people, some of whom are now in the grip of famine. At stake is control of Red Sea shipping lanes, some of Africa’s largest gold reserves and the contested waters of the Nile.

Now mercenaries are becoming an increasingly important tool for securing a strategic advantage.

The Colombian fighters seized last month in Darfur were hired earlier this year by an Abu Dhabi-based company called Global Security Services Group, according to interviews with more than a dozen international officials and Colombian veterans as well as a review of social-media profiles and company websites. 

The company describes itself as the only armed private security provider to the Emirati government and lists as its clients the Gulf state’s ministries of presidential affairs, interior and foreign affairs. 

In Uganda, where GSSG has trained local troops in counterterrorism operations and VIP protection, the company presented itself as acting on behalf of the Emirati government, an army spokesman said. 

GSSG and company representatives didn’t respond to calls, emails and LinkedIn messages seeking comment.

The Colombian recruits were flown into Libyan territory controlled by warlord Khalifa Haftar before crossing into the RSF stronghold of Darfur. Haftar, according to United Nations reports, has long been supported by the U.A.E.

Troops look for U.A.E. coins scattered at the site of a major battle in Omdurman.   Photo: Adrienne Surprenant/MYOP for WSJ

The U.A.E. is also shipping weapons and other war materials to the RSF, The Wall Street Journal has previously reported, findings that have also been supported by U.N. experts. The oil-rich Gulf state is the destination of most of Sudan’s formal and informal gold exports, and Emirati officials have expressed concern over what they see as Islamist forces backing the Sudanese military.

The U.A.E.’s Foreign Ministry denied that it provides support or supplies to the RSF or any other party in the war, and said it continues to call for a peaceful resolution of the conflict. It didn’t respond to detailed questions about its links to GSSG.

On the other side of the conflict is Egypt, which is angling for Sudan’s support in its standoff with Ethiopia over a giant dam on the Nile. Its Foreign Ministry has denied launching airstrikes in Sudan to aid the Sudanese military. Senior Arab officials privately say that Egypt has deployed light aircraft to provide support, dropping bombs on RSF positions in Darfur and the central state of Sennar, where the Sudanese military has recently retaken a number of towns from the RSF. 

Darfur is subject to a U.N. arms embargo and the U.S. has repeatedly called on foreign governments to stay out of the conflict, which began in April 2023.

But the fighting has escalated, creating what is now widely considered to be the world’s biggest humanitarian crisis. By some estimates, as many as 150,000 people have been killed. About 25 million, more than half of the population, are suffering crisis levels of hunger and one in four Sudanese have been forced from their homes. Famine has been declared in a Darfur camp hosting between 500,000 and a million displaced people, who, in recent days, have also come under attack from the RSF.

The prominent roles of mercenaries and foreign governments threaten to extend the suffering.

Ruins were left behind after the Sudanese military retook the national radio and TV headquarters from the Rapid Support Forces in Omdurman this year. Photo: Adrienne Surprenant/MYOP for WSJ

International recruitment

With its large stock of drug-war veterans trained on American weapons, Colombia has long been a target for recruiters from overseas security and mercenary groups. A decade ago, the U.A.E., through military contractors, sent Colombians to fight in the civil war in Yemen. This September, a Bogotá, Colombia-registered recruitment company called International Services Agency, or A4SI, began posting ads on its website looking for drone operators, cybersecurity specialists and bodyguards to deploy in Africa.

Around the same time, a brief job posting was shared on Colombian veteran chat groups, offering salaries ranging from $2,600 to $6,000 a month for applicants with military experience to work in the Middle East and Africa.

The company hosted town halls in cities across Colombia, including in mid-October in Medellín, where some 80 former Colombian military members and policemen gathered to hear a pitch from a recruiter seeking to deploy a force of 200 servicemen to Africa. 

Colombian military contractors familiar with the recruitment efforts say that A4SI was looking for snipers and Spanish-to-English translators. Dozens of former soldiers went on to sign contracts with GSSG, which had been working with A4SI for several years, the contractors said. A4SI didn’t respond to calls and emails seeking comment and no one answered the door at two of the company’s Bogotá offices.

Two North African officials put the number of Colombians who have passed through Libya in support of Sudan operations at roughly 160.

A Catholic prayer card, found when Colombian contractors were intercepted in the Darfur region, in an image from one of the videos.

The Colombian contractors are part of a push from the U.A.E. to bolster its RSF ally after it lost ground to the Sudanese military and its Egyptian backers around the capital, Khartoum, and in central Sudan, said Middle Eastern and African officials. The Sudanese military has also bought drones from Iran, which the Journal previously reported wants to build a naval base on the country’s Red Sea coast.

The RSF now controls most of Darfur and is close to taking control of the embattled city of El Fasher.

But the contracts the Colombians signed with GSSG didn’t mention Sudan or deployment in an active war zone, Colombian military contractors and retired soldiers said. “They were practically duped,” a contractor said. 

The recruits flew to the U.A.E. from Colombia, say Colombian veterans and Middle Eastern and African officials. Christian Lombana Moncaya, whose documents were shown in the Darfur videos, was a retired corporal who flew from Bogotá to Dubai on Oct. 6 and stayed there for several weeks, according to stamps on his passport and photos posted on his social-media accounts.

From the U.A.E., the Colombians were sent to an airport in Benghazi, a city in eastern Libya controlled by Haftar, the Libyan warlord, and then to an old air base near the Sudanese border, according to the Middle Eastern and African officials as well as Colombian veterans familiar with the operations.

A mission gone wrong

The next time signs of the Colombian contractors surfaced was on Nov. 22, when a spokesman for the Darfur Joint Protection Force, an alliance of armed groups fighting against the RSF alongside Sudan’s military, posted the grainy videos of the intercepted convoy on his Facebook account.

Sudanese forces display a cache of mortar charges, found after Colombian mercenaries were intercepted, in an image from one of the videos.

He said the alliance force had seized several foreign fighters, some of whom had been killed, along with vehicles and arms, and accused the U.A.E. of organizing the movement of fighters and weapons through Darfur. One of the videos showed labels featuring Bulgarian names on a crate holding 81-mm mortar rounds. Bulgaria’s economy ministry, which oversees weapons exports from the country, said it had issued no permits for sales to Sudan. 

Colombia’s foreign minister discussed the involvement of Colombian contractors in the war with his counterpart in Sudan’s military-supported government on Dec. 3. The ministry has said it is working through diplomatic channels to bring home the former servicemen, who it said were deceived into the operation.

Neither Lombana Moncaya nor members of his family could be reached for comment. It couldn’t be determined whether he survived the attack on the convoy.

—Jenny Carolina Gonzalez, Nicholas Bariyo, Michael M. Phillips, Mohamed Zakaria and Denise Blostein contributed to this article.

Write to Benoit Faucon at benoit.faucon@wsj.com, Gabriele Steinhauser at Gabriele.Steinhauser@wsj.com, Kejal Vyas at kejal.vyas@wsj.com and Summer Said at summer.said@wsj.com

Appeared in the December 11, 2024, print edition as 'Colombian Mercenaries Are Fighting in Sudan'.

20. Good luck reforming the Department of Defense

But in 2001 was Rumsfeld "mortally wounded" (bureaucratically) and then emerged as a "brilliant minister of war?"

Excerpt:

The lessons are clear. Two secretaries of defense failed to impose the major reforms intended by their administration. A service chief was more successful. Five decades after Zumwalt, General David Berger, commandant of the Marine Corps, despite huge resistance by the retired Marine community, put in place Force Design 2030 that transformed the Corps. 

The next Defense secretary should learn from this history.

Good luck reforming the Department of Defense

by Harlan Ullman, opinion contributor - 12/10/24 10:30 AM ET

https://thehill.com/opinion/national-security/5030148-pentagon-defense-reform-history/

No matter who President Donald Trump’s secretary of Defense ends up being, that person will be charged with disrupting the Pentagon to reform it and annihilating any vestiges of diversity equity and inclusion and wokeness.

But reforming and transforming the Department of Defense are aspirations, not actions. 

When the Cold War ended and the Soviet Union collapsed, the main threat to the U.S. and its allies vaporized. Yet, the U.S. made relatively modest reductions to its forces, cutting back by about 25 percent.

We have a few instructive examples of attempted reform. When Robert McNamara was President John Kennedy’s choice for secretary in 1961, he brought to the Pentagon, the “Whiz Kids.” In addition to relative youth and huge brainpower, this team believed that systems analysis, through intellect and rigor, could solve any problem and turn the management of defense into a more precise business. McNamara had served in World War II in the analytical branch of the Army Air Corps and later went on to be the first non-Ford to become president of that company.

McNamara instituted the Planning, Programming and Budgeting System or PPBS, which is still in force but with an added “E” for Execution. Many of the McNamara analytical reforms were rejected due to failures in Vietnam, where systems analysis did not work and brought false hopes for more Pentagon efficiencies.  

One of the most notable procurement disasters was the TFX, the TriService aircraft fighter that would be used by all three services. It was not. And like TFX, major attempts for reform did not work

In 1970, Admiral Elmo Zumwalt became the youngest chief of naval operations in the Navy’s history. A three-star commanding U.S. forces in Vietnam, Zumwalt vaulted over dozens of more senior admirals to the Navy’s top spot.

Zumwalt was preoccupied with three issues that drove his thinking. 

First, the Navy he would lead still maintained too many ships that had served in World War II and were obsolete, unfit for modern war. Second, in many areas, the Soviet Navy’s technological advantages and relatively new ships raised profound questions as to who might win a war at sea. Third, because of Vietnam, racial issues had boiled over in the services. Zumwalt feared naval mutinies were increasingly likely.

Zumwalt moved to re-capitalize the Navy by cutting about one-third of its fleet thereby freeing up funds for newer, more technically advanced systems. With those savings, he was able to add two more aircraft carriers to the naval inventory. 

Exploiting technology, Zumwalt placed more fighting power into cruise missiles. And under his leadership, The Exploitation of National Capabilities Program extended the Navy’s reach and dependence on space.  

To reverse the racial problems, Zumwalt made racial seminars mandatory in which sailors were taught to be blind to race, gender and nationality. Zumwalt also launched his famous Z-Grams that reversed certain rules on dress and other matters that were long obsolete and harmful to morale, from allowing sideburns to not rescinding the requirement that all junior officers carry swords.

Four years as chief of naval operations were not enough for all of Zumwalt’s reforms to take hold. He achieved perhaps half the most importantones in cutting the number of ships to modernize the Navy. But his successor, Admiral James L. Holloway, saw his role as steadying the Navy after Zumwalt’s disruptive tenure.

When Donald Rumsfeld returned to the Pentagon for the second time in early 2001, he had the distinction of being the youngest and oldest person to serve as secretary of Defense, having first held that position in the Nixon administration. 

The mandate from George W. Bush was to “transform” defense. Yet the administration had no clear idea of what transformation meant other than to allow more spending on missile defense that would come after Bush abrogated the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, the centerpiece of the U.S.-Soviet strategic detente.  

The result was chaos. The brass had no idea what was wanted and Rumsfeld insisted on having the generals and admirals tell him what transformation meant. Reports and stories emanating from senior officials warned that because of this disconnect, Rumsfeld would be the first cabinet official to leave office.  

Then Sept. 11 intervened. And from a mortally wounded secretary, after the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, Rumsfeld would emerge as a brilliant minister of war.

The lessons are clear. Two secretaries of defense failed to impose the major reforms intended by their administration. A service chief was more successful. Five decades after Zumwalt, General David Berger, commandant of the Marine Corps, despite huge resistance by the retired Marine community, put in place Force Design 2030 that transformed the Corps. 

The next Defense secretary should learn from this history.

Harlan Ullman, Ph.D., is a senior advisor at the Atlantic Council. His 12th book, “The Fifth Horseman and the New MAD: How Massive Attacks of Disruption Became the Looming Existential Danger to a Divided Nation and the World at Large,” is available on Amazon. 

21.

De Oppresso Liber,

David Maxwell

Vice President, Center for Asia Pacific Strategy

Senior Fellow, Global Peace Foundation

Editor, Small Wars Journal

Twitter: @davidmaxwell161

Phone: 202-573-8647

email: david.maxwell161@gmail.com