New acting Defense secretary on first day: I look forward to carrying out Trump's vision at...

MY COMMENT: The Commander's intent (vision) is paramount in any military course of action. Military officers and planners know this. Without it, the courses of action reflect the staff's intent. In the United States, civilian leadership runs our military. The Joint Chiefs of Staff do not decide how things will go; they advise the civilians who make the decisions. With this in mind, it makes sense that the new civilian head of the Department of Defense pledge his allegiance to the Commander in Chief. He will push and pull with the military side of the DoD, but in the end, civilians will decide which course of action to take. This is vitally important because in a democracy (Constitutional Republic), for us to be successful, our military and political goals must be the same. If they are different, we are in deep trouble, and will fail. Despite the ideological differences between the Commander in Chief and the former Secretary of Defense, we were able to improve our worldwide prestige and influence. Under a new SEC DEF who recognizes his role and function, we should enjoy an extremely high level of success and progress.