White House Announces Six Names for Top Pentagon Positions

The White House announced Thursday six new names for top political appointments at the Pentagon, including Deputy Defense Secretary.

The bunch has vast experience in the defense world: Three have congressional staff experience on defense-related committees, two have prior military experience, and four have prior government experience under the Bush administration.

The nominee for deputy defense secretary, Patrick M. Shanahan, boasts long-time business experience at Boeing, one of the largest defense contractors in the country.

Pentagon spokesman Navy Capt. Jeff Davis said the nominees were personally recommended by Defense Secretary Jim Mattis. He said:

These are all highly qualified individuals who were personally recommended by Secretary Mattis to the President for nomination. Secretary Mattis is grateful to Deputy Secretary Bob Work for agreeing to continue serving until his successor is confirmed. His steady leadership is critical during this time of transition, and Secretary Mattis continues to have full confidence in him as he carries out crucial work in managing in the Department.

They are as announced:

Robert Daigle of Virginia will serve as Director of Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation (CAPE), Department of Defense. Mr. Daigle previously served in CAPE during the Bush Administration as Director of Program Resources and Information Systems Management Division. Mr. Daigle earned a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Mathematics from the University of Vermont. He was granted an MBA in Finance from Columbia Business School and a Master of Science in International Security Studies from Georgetown University. Mr. Daigle is a Professional Staff Member on the House Armed Services Committee and was the Executive Director of the Military Compensation and Retirement Modernization Commission. He previously served in the United States Army.

Elaine McCusker of Virginia will serve as Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense, Comptroller. Ms. McCusker is the Director, Resources and Analysis, Headquarters U.S. Central Command, MacDill Air Force Base, FL.  Previous to this position, she served as a professional staff member on the Senate Armed Services Committee, with the Department of Navy Headquarters, and with the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller). Ms. McCusker previously worked in the private sector and academic community, including with Argonne National Laboratory/Department of Energy and the University of Washington.

David L. Norquist of Virginia will serve as Under Secretary of Defense, Comptroller. Mr. Norquist is a Partner with Kearney and Company, a Certified Public Accounting firm.  He has 27 years of experience in Federal financial management beginning as a Federal employee in 1989 with the Department of the Army.  He has also served on the professional staff of the House Appropriations Committee, Subcommittee on Defense and as Deputy Under Secretary of Defense in the office of the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller).  He was the first Senate confirmed Chief Financial Officer for the Department of Homeland Security where he established a formal process to eliminate pervasive weaknesses in DHS’s financial statement and put the Department on its path to a clean audit opinion.  Mr. Norquist attended the University of Michigan where he received both a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and a Master of Public Policy in 1989.  He also received a Master of Arts in National Security Studies from Georgetown University in 1995.  He is a Certified Government Financial Manager (CGFM).

Kenneth P. Rapuano of Virginia will serve as an Assistant Secretary of Defense, Homeland Defense and Global Security. Mr. Rapuano has a long career in national security and homeland security affairs in the private, public and academic sectors.  He currently serves as Senior Vice President and Director of the Studies and Analysis Group at the ANSER Corporation, and previously led the Homeland Security Studies and Analysis Institute. Mr. Rapuano served as White House Deputy Homeland Security Advisor from 2004-2006, has served in numerous roles with the departments of Energy and Defense, and has deployed numerous times on Active Duty, Reserves Duty with the United States Marine Corps and as a civilian with the U.S. Department of Defense.

Patrick M. Shanahan of Washington will serve as Deputy Secretary of Defense. Mr. Shanahan is senior vice president, Supply Chain & Operations at the Boeing Company, where he is responsible for oversight of the company’s manufacturing operations and supplier management functions. Mr. Shanahan came to this position from Boeing Commercial Airplanes, where he served as senior vice president of Airplane Programs and oversaw the management of profit and loss for the 737, 747, 767, 777 and 787 programs. Previously, Mr. Shanahan was vice president and general manager of Boeing Missile Defense Systems and vice president and general manager for Rotorcraft Systems in Philadelphia, where he was responsible for all U.S. Army Aviation, including the Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey tiltrotor, the CH-47 Chinook and the AH-64D Apache attack helicopter. Mr. Shanahan is a Royal Aeronautical Society Fellow, Society of Manufacturing Engineers Fellow, and American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Associate Fellow. He serves as a Regent at the University of Washington and participates in numerous professional and charitable organizations, including the Washington Roundtable. Mr. Shanahan holds a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering from the University of Washington and two advanced degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology: a Master of Science in mechanical engineering, and an MBA from MIT’s Sloan School of Management.

David Joel Trachtenberg of Virginia will serve as Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense, Policy. Mr. Trachtenberg is the President and CEO of Shortwaver Consulting, LLC, a national security consultancy.  Prior to this role, Mr. Trachtenberg was the Vice President and head of Strategic Analysis Division at CACI-National Security Research. Mr. Trachtenberg previously served in several roles at the Department of Defense, most recently as the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Policy where he was responsible for issues relating to NATO, Europe, Russia and Eurasia, technology security, counterproliferation, missile defense, nuclear forces, and arms control.  Additionally, Mr. Trachtenberg was a professional staff member with the House Armed Services Committee. Mr. Trachtenberg holds a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations from the University of Southern California and a Master of Science in Foreign Service from Georgetown University.