President Donald J. Trump on Nov. 9 fired Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper, announcing on Twitter that he was appointing Christopher C. Miller, the director of the National Counterterrorism Center, to serve as the acting Pentagon boss. “Chris will do a GREAT job! Mark Esper has been terminated,” Trump tweeted. “I would like to thank him for his service.” Miller will be the fourth acting Defense Secretary in the Trump administration. In a Nov. 9 letter addressed to Trump, Esper writes that he serves “in deference to the Constitution, so I accept your decision to replace me. I step aside knowing there is much we achieved at the Defense Department over the last eighteen months to protect the nation and improve the readiness, capabilities, and professionalism of the joint force, while fundamentally transforming and preparing the military for the future.”
Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper sent a “Final Message to the Department” shortly after President Donald J. Trump fired him in a tweet Nov. 9. In the letter, Esper writes that his time as leader of the Pentagon was the "honor and privilege of a lifetime," highlighting work on the National Defense Strategy, military modernization, and department reform. However, he acknowledges there is more work to be done.
New Space Force guidance directs the service to create entities like a National Space Intelligence Center, begins to set benchmarks for improving the force, and offers insight into future operations. Chief of Space Operations Gen. John W. “Jay” Raymond rolled out the planning document Nov. 9 to “[communicate] my intent and [define] the capabilities and culture the USSF will pursue over my tenure,” he wrote. It also elaborates on priorities that military leaders have touted over the course of the Space Force’s first year, like speed, flexibility, technological savvy, and international cooperation.
Pilot error and a series of ejection seat malfunctions led to a fatal F-16CM crash at Shaw Air Force Base, S.C., in June, accident investigators said in a new report released Nov. 9. “This accident is a tragic reminder of the inherent risks of fighter aviation and our critical oversight responsibilities required for successful execution,” Air Combat Command boss Gen. Mark D. Kelly said in a release. “The [Accident Investigation Board] report identified a sequence of key execution anomalies and material failures that resulted in this mishap.”
Two special operations CV-22 Osprey pilots and a special missions aviator on Nov. 3 received valor awards for evacuating forces before and after the Jan. 7 Iranian ballistic missile attack on al-Asad Air Base, Iraq. The attack, which came in response to the U.S. killing of Iranian Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani, injured more than 100 personnel and heavily damaged al-Asad. U.S. forces near Erbil also were targeted. During the ceremony at Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M., Lt. Col. Adam C. Darrow, 58th Operations Group Detachment 1 commander, and Technical Sgt. Samuel T. Levander, 71st Operations Squadron operations section chief, received the Distinguished Flying Cross. Additionally, Lt. Col. John R. Leachman, an Osprey pilot with the 71st Operations Squadron, received the Bronze Star for his role in the evacuation and other missions during his deployment.
An A-10 pilot with the Michigan Air National Guard received the Distinguished Flying Cross on Nov. 5 for dramatically guiding his Warthog to a belly landing in 2017 after a catastrophic gun malfunction blew the aircraft’s canopy off and prevented the landing gear from functioning properly. Maj. Brett DeVries, then a captain with the 107th Fighter Squadron at Selfridge Air National Guard Base, Mich., was flying a training flight on July 20, 2017, when the aircraft’s GAU-8 Avenger cannon malfunctioned, sending a “donut of gas” through the aircraft, and blowing off the canopy while flying at 325 knots. DeVries linked up with his wingman and a team of maintainers via radio, who helped guide him to a smooth belly landing at a nearby airfield. The pilot “demonstrated a level of Airmanship to which we should all aspire,” 127th Wing Commander Brig. Gen. Rolf E. Mammen said in a release.
