The Pentagon’s First-Ever African-American Secretary Of Defence

The Pentagon has today (Friday 23) announced the appointment of its first-ever African-American to the top job of Secretary of State, when the 67-year-old retired Army General Lloyd Austin was sworn in by the US Senate, confirmed in a 93-2 vote.

Austin previously served as the Commander of the United States Central Command under Barack Obama, who retired from his position as a four-star General in 2016, as reported in The Guardian, having the claim to fame of being the first African American to lead an infantry unit into combat, and also the first to be Vice Chief of the Army.

His confirmation as Secretary of Defense comes a day after the Senate Armed Services Committee granted a rare and controversial waiver to a law that requires nominees to the position to have been retired from active duty for at least seven years.

He posted a video on Twitter last week, before his appointment, in which he said, “There is a kind of sad commentary here, and that is, it shouldn’t have taken us that long to get here. There should have been someone who proceeded me. I am enormously grateful for the service and the sacrifices of those that went before me, it’s on their shoulders that I stand here today. My goal is to not be the last”.

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