95 Facts About Mark Esper

Mark Esper subsequently served in the 82nd Airborne Division and the Army National Guard.

Immediately before joining the Trump administration, Mark Esper worked as a senior leader at defense contractor Raytheon as its vice president of government relations.

Mark Esper was dismissed from the office by President Donald Trump by Twitter posting on November 9,2020.

Mark Esper was born on April 26,1964, in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, the son of Pauline "Polly" Reagan and Thomas Joseph Mark Esper.

Mark Esper's father was a member of the Maronite Church.

Mark Esper's paternal grandfather was an immigrant from Lebanon, and his uncle was war journalist George Esper.

Mark Esper graduated from Laurel Highlands High School outside Uniontown in 1982.

Mark Esper received his Bachelor of Science in engineering from the United States Military Academy in 1986.

Mark Esper was a dean's list student at West Point and received the Douglas MacArthur Award for Leadership.

Mark Esper received a master's degree in public administration from Harvard Kennedy School in 1995 and a doctorate in public policy from George Washington University in 2008.

Mark Esper served as an infantry officer with the 101st Airborne Division and deployed with the "Screaming Eagles" for the Gulf War.

Mark Esper later commanded an airborne rifle company in Europe and served as an Army fellow at the Pentagon.

Mark Esper served on active duty for more than ten years before moving to the Army National Guard and later the Army Reserve, rising to the rank of lieutenant colonel.

Mark Esper is a two-time recipient of the Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service.

Mark Esper was chief of staff at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, from 1996 to 1998.

From 1998 to 2002, Mark Esper served as a senior professional staffer for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee.

Mark Esper was a senior policy advisor and legislative director for US Senator Chuck Hagel.

Mark Esper was policy director for the House Armed Services Committee from 2001 to 2002.

From 2002 to 2004, Esper served in George W Bush's administration as deputy assistant secretary of defense for negotiations policy, where he was responsible for a broad range of nonproliferation, arms control and international security issues.

Mark Esper was director for national security affairs for the US Senate under Majority Leader Bill Frist from 2004 to 2006.

Mark Esper was executive vice president at the Aerospace Industries Association in 2006 and 2007.

From September 2007 to February 2008, Mark Esper served as national policy director to US Senator Fred Thompson in his 2008 presidential campaign.

From 2008 to 2010, Mark Esper served as executive vice president of the Global Intellectual Property Center and vice president for Europe and Eurasia at the US Chamber of Commerce.

Mark Esper was hired as vice president of government relations at defense contractor Raytheon in July 2010.

Mark Esper was recognized as a top corporate lobbyist by The Hill in 2015 and 2016.

Mark Esper was Trump's third nominee for the position, following the withdrawals of Vincent Viola and Mark E Green.

Mark Esper identified taking care of Soldiers, their families, and Department of the Army civilians as an enduring priority.

In mid-2018, Mark Esper published a new Army Vision that outlined the goals he wanted to achieve by 2028, as well as the ways and means to get there.

Mark Esper launched a reform initiative in 2018 to improve initial entry training for combat soldiers.

Mark Esper's directive extended basic and advanced infantry training by over 50 percent, to twenty-two weeks, making it one of the longest initial training programs in the world and the first major overhaul of the Army's initial training since the 1970s.

Mark Esper eventually applied the Night Court process to the entire Department of Defense when he became the Defense Secretary in July 2019.

In 2018, Mark Esper directed the establishment of Army Futures Command in Austin, Texas.

An additional four programs were added by the service's Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office, which Mark Esper established in late 2018 to "find and harvest emerging critical technologies" in the private sector for the AFC's use.

In 2018, Mark Esper directed a multi-year phased adoption of the new Army Combat Fitness Test.

Mark Esper identified "taking care of Soldiers and their families" as a top priority during his nomination hearing.

Mark Esper's focus was on improving access, especially for overseas or remote assignments, and then standardizing that process across the Department of Defense.

Mark Esper conducted multiple inspections of military homes across the service to determine the cause and extent of the problem, pressed housing contractors to meet their obligations to maintain quality homes and complete work orders more quickly and properly, wrote the department's housing "bill of rights" for service members, and collaborated with lawmakers on legislative changes to improve quality of life for those in uniform.

Mark Esper was asked by reporters in February 2018 whether soldiers had concerns about serving beside openly transgender individuals.

Trump announced the appointment of Mark Esper as Acting Secretary of Defense on June 18,2019, after Acting Secretary Patrick Shanahan decided to withdraw his nomination.

Four days later, it was announced that Trump would nominate Mark Esper to serve as Secretary of Defense in a permanent capacity.

Mark Esper appeared before the Senate Armed Services Committee on July 16,2019.

Mark Esper stated that a "very important" matter for him was to "continue the long-held tradition that DOD remain apolitical," and that he would resign if pressed by the president to do something illegal, immoral, or unethical.

Mark Esper's confirmation made him the first graduate of the US Military Academy at West Point, and the first Secretary of the Army, to become Secretary of Defense.

Mark Esper is the first former member of the National Guard to become Secretary of Defense.

One year later, in July 2020, Mark Esper delivered a televised address to Department of Defense employees to give them a "one year update" on the progress achieved in implementing the NDS, with a focus on his top ten objectives and other actions necessary to accomplish the department's goals.

Mark Esper made several changes in his first month in office to jump start his reform efforts, from altering the number, membership, scope, and purpose of meetings he held in the Pentagon to initiating a "Night Court" style review process focused across the department, beginning with the so-called fourth estate.

Mark Esper's stated aim was to "improve our business practices, become more efficient, and free up funding" for other priorities.

Mark Esper's aims were implemented through the civilian run Office of the Secretary of Defense, such as the Policy office, and through the civilian secretaries of the military departments.

Mark Esper began meeting frequently with his senior civilian leaders on issues ranging from operational and modernization plans, to matters such as housing, personnel policy, and COVID response.

Mark Esper considered AI to be the most critical technology for DOD to develop and proliferate across the military services and their warfighting functions.

In February 2020, Mark Esper approved the first-ever AI Ethics Principles to establish DOD and the United States as the global leader in the responsible development and use of Artificial Intelligence.

In June 2019, just days after the White House announcement that Trump would nominate him to become Secretary of Defense, and weeks prior to his Senate confirmation, Mark Esper traveled to Brussels for a meeting of NATO defense ministers.

Mark Esper met with his European counterparts in February 2020 to discuss basing options for a new United States Army headquarters in Europe, bearing the name "V Corps" that had originally been established in World War I but was inactivated while stationed in Germany in 2013.

Mark Esper stated the new headquarters was needed to improve military coordination among NATO partners.

Mark Esper had established V Corps when he was Army Secretary a year earlier.

On November 24,2019, during a dispute regarding whether Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher would be stripped of his Trident pin, Mark Esper fired the United States Secretary of the Navy, Richard Spencer.

Meanwhile, Trump cited the Gallagher case as the primary reason for Mark Esper's firing of Spencer, while citing "large cost overruns" in the Navy.

Mark Esper asserts in his memoir that, because of these factors, he made clear that his and DOD's support for the deal rested on an internal agreement that US implementation be "conditions based".

Mark Esper pushed back on Trump's timeline because the conditions that would justify withdrawal had not been met - specifically a reduction in violence, progress at the negotiating table, and a credible pledge from the Taliban to publicly renounce al Qaeda, among other terrorist groups.

Days later, Mark Esper purportedly sent the White House a classified memo asserting that it was the unanimous recommendation of the chain of command that the US not draw down its troop presence in Afghanistan any further until conditions were met.

Mark Esper had fended off Trump's demands to withdraw troops from Europe for months, citing a strategic review he had underway for all combatant commands, including US European Command.

Mark Esper reportedly believed that Trump's demand for speedy troop withdrawal was logistically impossible and strategically risky.

In June 2020, Mark Esper traveled to NATO headquarters in Brussels to meet privately with NATO secretary general Jens Stoltenberg to brief him on his plans and to reassure him that the US would not announce any further troop movements or reductions without first consulting with NATO allies.

Mark Esper backed Trump's decision, saying that the Pentagon wants to send more troops to the Baltic states, Poland and Romania, consistent with the final force redeployment plan he approved a few months later.

Mark Esper authorized the Defense Department to provide civilian health authorities with five million respirator masks and 2,000 specialized ventilators.

Mark Esper named James McPherson, Under Secretary of the Army, to replace him.

At a White House briefing on March 18,2020, Mark Esper said the Army Corps of Engineers met with New York officials and proposed building Alternate Care Facilities to create more bed space in anticipation of accelerating COVID caseloads.

On March 24,2020, Mark Esper held the first of many "virtual town halls" for service members, Department of Defense employees, and their families to address the pandemic.

Mark Esper announced that the Pentagon was providing commanders with additional guidance as they look to change health protection condition levels at Department of Defense installations.

Several days following the announcement, Mark Esper extended the freeze through June 30,2020.

Mark Esper primarily left it up to local commanders in terms of how they would implicate his guidance and respond to the pandemic, which resulted in uneven responses.

Mark Esper pushed back on the letter's criticism of his delegation of many decision to local commanders, calling that "standard military practice that goes back decades".

Mark Esper further noted "to somehow suggest that the guidance went out to people that don't know how to implement it is just ridiculous", highlighting the "extensive" medical staffs of service secretaries and commanders to whom the memos were issued.

Mark Esper's approach was consistent with guidance put out by Dr Anthony Fauci, a distinguished physician and immunologist.

In May 2020, at an event marking the 75th anniversary of the Allied victory in Europe, Esper briefly interacted with seven WWII veterans who had requested a photo opportunity with him.

On June 18,2020, Mark Esper said that while the Defense Department has often led on issues of race and discrimination, he cited underrepresentation of minorities in the officer ranks as a particular problem.

Mark Esper supported the renaming of military bases named after Confederate generals.

In July 2020, Mark Esper issued a memo that banned the flying of all flags other than the US flag and those of US states, allied countries, and military units.

Mark Esper later stated, in defense of the memo, that his aim was to remove any real or perceived politics from the department.

Mark Esper was later criticized by the LGBTQ community for banning the display of all non-official flags because the Pride flag, like many other groups' flags, was no longer authorized for display.

On November 9,2020, days after his election loss, Trump tweeted that Esper was "terminated," and that he had been replaced by Christopher C Miller, the director of the National Counterterrorism Center who would serve as Acting Secretary of Defense.

Mark Esper had written his resignation letter four days earlier, when a winner had not yet been determined.

Mark Esper sued the Department of Defense in November 2021, for preventing publication of parts of his memoir.

Mark Esper said he considered resigning several times but remained on, concerned he would be replaced by a Trump loyalist who would provide dangerous ideas to the president.

Mark Esper said he told Miller that would be a war crime; Miller flatly denied the episode occurred.

Mark Esper gave several interviews in 2022 as part of his book tour.

Mark Esper defended himself as a "circuit breaker" against Trump's most dangerous and erratic tendencies.

Mark Esper said that, while in office, he was unaware of previous incidents of Chinese surveillance balloons in US airspace.

Mark Esper is currently the Distinguished Chair of the Modern War Institute at the US Military Academy at West Point.

In 2021, Esper was named the first John S McCain Distinguished Fellow at the McCain Institute for International Leadership, a Washington, DC-based think tank; he is a member of the institute's board of trustees.

In December 2023, the Atlantic Council announced that Mark Esper would be chairing a new commission on Software-Defined Warfare.

Mark Esper joined the International Advisory Council of GLOBSEC, a European-based global think tank, in 2023.

Mark Esper is a frequent guest on news shows such as CNN, CNBC, Fox News, and Bloomberg, and participates in the professional speaking circuit through the Harry Walker Agency and the Worldwide Speakers Group.

Mark Esper is a member of the Aspen Strategy Group, the US Global Leadership Coalition, and the Council on Foreign Relations.

On May 20,2023, Mark Esper received the Military Hero Award by the PenFed Foundation at its annual gala in Washington, DC.