Small Wars Journal

In Between Tangling with Trump, Mattis Attempts to Reshape the U.S. Military

Mon, 10/15/2018 - 12:24pm

In Between Tangling with Trump, Mattis Attempts to Reshape the U.S. Military by Paul Sonne, Dan Lamothe and Josh Dawsey – Washington Post

Not long after Defense Secretary Jim Mattis took over at the Pentagon, he set out to transform the U.S. military into a better-equipped, deadlier force that would waste less money, deepen alliances around the world, and evolve to counter Russia and China.

But President Trump soon began throwing curveballs his way.

The president has demanded a space force, a ban on transgender troops, a military parade, a National Guard deployment at the border and other politically tinged initiatives far from Mattis’s list of priorities.

Trump has launched impromptu broadsides against U.S. allies, threatened war with North Korea and pressed unconventional ideas regarding military operations, leaving Mattis scrambling to comfort U.S. partners or stop hasty decisions in their infancy. Though he hasn’t sought it out, the Pentagon chief has earned a reputation as the “reassurer-in-chief.”

The result is less time for the retired Marine Corps general to focus on the agenda he set for himself…

Read on.