Tornado Alley (PROG)

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Here are the backgrounds of the last nine SecDefs:

Lloyd Austin: Vice chief of staff of the Army, commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, commander of CENTCOM.

Mark Esper: Deputy assistant SecDef, senior leader at Raytheon, secretary of the Army.

Jim Mattis: Supreme Allied Commander of NATO, commander of CENTCOM.

Ash Carter: Congressional Office of Technology Assessment, Kennedy School of Government, under SecDef for acquisition, technology, and logistics.

Chuck Hagel: Founder of a technology company, chair of the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board, U.S. senator for twelve years.

Leon Panetta: Member of Congress for sixteen years, White House chief of staff, director of CIA.

Robert Gates: Deputy national security advisor, director of CIA.

Donald Rumsfeld: Member of Congress for six years, head of White House Office of Economic Opportunity, ambassador to NATO, White House chief of staff.

William Cohen: U.S. senator for eighteen years (preceded by six years in the House of Representatives), including serving on the Senate’s Intelligence, Armed Services, and Government Affairs Committees.
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Then there’s Hegseth, whose CV reads:
* Served in the Army National Guard.
* Briefly led a small, failing nonprofit.
* Helped host a weekend show on Fox News.