Further, she acknowledged that moving around is the hardest part of being a military spouse and stated : Leah Esper Bio, Wiki Leah Esper is a 55-year-old wife to Mark Esper, who had been serving as the Secretary of the Army since November of 2017. [66] During the call, Esper said, "I think the sooner that you mass and dominate the battlespace, the quicker this dissipates and we can get back to the right normal. Mark Esper has been terminated. Mark Meadows, the White House chief of staff, called Mr. Esper five minutes before the president’s Twitter post to tell him he had been fired. Share in WhatsApp. [58], Lawmakers, retired officers and experts criticized Esper's response to the coronavirus, describing it as slow and indecisive. Troops To Start Afghan Drawdown", "Esper not confident in Afghanistan troop withdrawal before election", "Trump, Poland's Duda discuss sending some U.S. troops to Poland from Germany", "Donald Trump accuses Germany of 'making a fortune' off US soldiers", Esper Contradicts Trump in Announcing Troop Withdrawal From Germany, U.S. to withdraw 12,000 American troops from Germany, "US to withdraw or relocate more troops in Germany than previously thought", "Germany troop withdrawal highlights rising fortunes of two White House allies amid Esper's isolation", "Esper seeks to reassure NATO over US troop plans", Trump’s Defense Secretary Moves to Shed His ‘Yes Man’ Reputation, "US mulls moving troops from Germany to Romania, Baltics and Poland, Esper says", "Inside The Pentagon's Lurching Efforts To Protect Its People from the Coronavirus", "Defense Secretary Warns Commanders Not to Surprise Trump on Coronavirus", "Esper Orders Navy to Ready Hospital Ships to Take Pressure Off U.S. [5] His father was a member of the Maronite Church. CNN's Barbara Starr says news of Mark Esper's firing as secretary of defense came as a surprise to officials at the Pentagon. He is a 1986 graduate of the United States Military Academy and received his commission in the Infantry. Former secretaries of defense Jim Mattis and Mark Esper strongly condemned the assault on the Capitol by a pro-Trump mob. [83][84], In October 2020, Esper and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with Indian Minister of External Affairs Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and Minister of Defense Rajnath Singh to sign the Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement on Geospatial Cooperation (BECA), which facilitates the sharing of sensitive information and intelligence—including access to highly-accurate nautical, aeronautical, topographical, and geospatial data—between the United States and India. "[40], In 2020, Trump directed the Pentagon to remove 11,800 of the nearly 35,000 American troops stationed in Germany. [32], 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. [78] In the meantime, on June 8, Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy to brief the committee on the presence of the National Guard in Washington, D.C., during the protests on June 1. Immediately before joining the Trump administration, Esper worked as a defense industry lobbyist representing Raytheon as its vice president of government relations. Mark Esper has been vice president for government relations at Raytheon, a major weapons contractor, since July 2010. Defense Secretary Mark Esper is attempting to fashion a graceful exit from office if President Donald Trump decides to fire him regardless of the result of … [35], On November 24, 2019, during a dispute regarding whether Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher would be stripped of his Trident pin, Esper fired the United States secretary of the Navy, Richard Spencer. From 2006-2007, Dr. Esper was the Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President of Defense and International Affairs at Aerospace Industries Association. Esper was executive vice president at the Aerospace Industries Association in 2006 and 2007. This isn’t likely to be the case for much longer, as the Republican-controlled Senate is expected to confirm Mark Esper to the position soon, possibly by the end of the week. Delays, the Combat Infantryman 's Badge, and have no doubt he will a! But that timeline was premised on everything moving at a set pace their... 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