Pentagon swears in 32 new Trump appointees for prime protection posts

The Pentagon inducted 32 new Trump administration appointees for key defense positions, including many aides formerly working for national security committees on Capitol Hill or veterans of the previous Trump administration.
The new officials were sworn in on Monday at the Pentagon, the Defense Department said in a statement Tuesday without comment.
The appointments do not require Senate confirmation and follow the announced nominations of former National Guard officer Pete Hegseth to be defense secretary and Stephen Feinberg, chief executive officer of Cerberus Capital Management, for deputy secretary.
Several undersecretaries, who also will face Senate scrutiny, also have been nominated. They include Elbridge Colby for the key post of undersecretary of defense for policy and businessman Emil Michael to be undersecretary of defense for research and engineering.
Mr. Colby worked at the Pentagon as a policymaker in the first Trump administration and Mr. Michael was a senior vice president of business and chief business officer at the ride-sharing service Uber.
One key appointee announced on Tuesday is John Noh, until recently deputy general counsel for the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist part. Mr. Noh is the new deputy assistant defense secretary for East Asia, the key policy-making post in charge of policy toward China, Taiwan and other parts of the region.
The high-profile position of Pentagon press secretary went to Kingsley R. Wilson, currently a director of strategic communications at the Center for Renewing America, a pro-Trump think tank.
Highlighting the importance of artificial intelligence to the Trump administration’s announced goal of strengthening the military, the new chief of staff to the deputy defense secretary is Colin Carroll, an engineer and executive experienced with AI and robot systems.
Mr. Caroll worked until recently with Anduril Industries, a defense technology company. He also headed the Pentagon’s Joint Artificial Intelligence Center from 2020 to 2021.
Former Fox News executive producer, Tami Radabaugh, a two-time Emmy award winner, was appointed deputy assistant to the defense secretary for public affairs focused on strategic engagement.
John Ullyot, a Marine Corps veteran and former White House National Security Council spokesman, was picked for another key post, principal deputy assistant to the defense secretary for public affairs.
Austin Dahmer, a defense aide to Sen. Josh Hawley, was named deputy assistant defense secretary for strategy,
Sen. Ted Cruz’s national security adviser, Tim Dill, was picked to be adviser for defense manpower and reserve affairs.
Former CIA analyst Michael P. DiMino will be deputy assistant defense secretary handling Middle East policy.
Michael P. Duffey, the new deputy chief of staff to the defense secretary, is a veteran Pentagon official who worked under several earlier defense secretaries.
Retired Army Sgt. Maj. Eric Geressy, a combat veteran and associate of Mr. Hegseth, was appointed senior adviser to the defense secretary for strategy.
Capitol Hill staff members now working in the Pentagon include Mateo Haydar, from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Dane Hughes with the House Armed Services Committee, and Jules Hurst, defense strategist for House Speaker Mike Johnson.
Former congressional aide Bryn Woollacott MacDonnell is the new special assistant to the defense secretary and James Mazol, a Senate Armed Services Committee staff member, is senior adviser to the defense undersecretary for research and engineering.
Former Senate staff member for Sen. Mike Lee, Katherine E. Thompson, is the new deputy assistant defense secretary for global partnerships, and Patrick Weaver, former Trump White House aide and a House national security staff member is a special assistant to the defense secretary.
Former Army Special Operations officer and combat veteran Colby C. Jenkins is the new deputy assistant defense secretary for irregular warfare.