Uniontown-area native in line to lead Department of Defense

A Uniontown-area native is slated to become the next U.S. secretary of defense.
President Donald J. Trump announced his intent Friday to nominate Mark T. Esper, who is currently serving as secretary of the Army, to lead the Department of Defense.
Esper had been designated to become the next acting Defense secretary effective Sunday, but he cannot serve in that role while the Senate is considering his nomination to be the permanent secretary under federal law.
Esper had been tapped to succeed acting Defense Secretary Patrick M. Shanahan, who withdrew his name from consideration as permanent Defense secretary after reports emerged of past violent domestic incidents between members of his family.
Esper graduated with honors in 1982 from Laurel Highlands High School, where he earned varsity letters in football, basketball and track. He was inducted into the Laurel Highlands Hall of Fame in 2013.
Esper attended the U.S. Military Academy and graduated from West Point in 1986, the same year as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
He served in the 101st Airborne Division in the Gulf War and later commanded an airborne rifle company in Europe.
Esper retired from the Army in 2007 as a lieutenant colonel and served as executive vice president for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Global Intellectual Property Center and as vice president for Europe and Eurasian affairs from 2008 to 2010.
Esper holds a master of public administration degree from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, and a doctorate in public policy from George Washington University.
Esper was sworn in as the 23rd Secretary of the Army in Nov. 2017.
After announcing Tuesday that Esper was his pick for acting Defense secretary, Trump told reporters on the South Lawn Tuesday that Esper was “a highly respected gentleman with a great career … a tremendous talent.”
“Mark Esper is going to be outstanding, and we look forward to working with him for a long period of time to come,” Trump said.
If he is confirmed by the Senate, Esper will become the nation’s 27th Defense secretary and second to hail from the Uniontown area. The first was George C. Marshall, who served in that role from Sept. 1950 to Sept. 1951, at which point he retired to his home in Leesburg, Va. Marshall had previously served as secretary of State from 1947 to 1949.
The Trump administration has been without a permanent Defense secretary since James N. Mattis resigned effective Dec. 31, 2018.