US President Donald Trump on Monday named Lieutenant General Herbert Raymond McMaster as his new national security adviser, again turning to the US military to play a central role on his foreign policy team.
McMaster is a highly regarded military tactician and strategic thinker, but his selection surprised some observers who wondered how the officer, who is known for questioning authority, would deal with a White House that has not welcomed criticism.
“He is highly respected by everybody in the military and we’re very honored to have him,” Trump told reporters in West Palm Beach where he spent the weekend. “He’s a man of tremendous talent and tremendous experience.”
McMaster replaces a Trump loyalist. Michael Flynn, a retired Army lieutenant general, was fired as national security adviser on 13 February after reports emerged he had misled Vice President Mike Pence about speaking to Russia's ambassador about US sanctions before Trump's inauguration.
The ouster, coming so early in Trump's administration, was another upset for a White House that has been hit by miscues, including the controversial rollout of a travel ban on people from seven Muslim-majority countries, since the Republican president took office on 20 January.
Trump also named Keith Kellogg, a retired US Army General who has been serving as the acting national security adviser, as chief of staff to the National Security Council.
His first choice, retired Vice Admiral Robert Harward, turned down the job last week.
The national security adviser is an independent aide to the president and does not require confirmation by the US Senate.
The role has varied from administration to administration, but the adviser attends National Security Council meetings along with the heads of the State Department, the Department of Defense and key security agencies.
McMaster, 54, is a PhD in US history from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He was listed as one of Time magazine's 100 most influential people in 2014, partly because of his willingness to buck the system.
A combat veteran, he gained renown in the first Gulf War - and was awarded a Silver Star - after he commanded a small troop of the US 2nd Army Cavalry Regiment that destroyed a much larger Iraqi Republican Guard force in 1991 in a place called 73 Easting, for its map coordinates, in what many consider the biggest tank battle since World War Two.
As one fellow officer put it, referring to Trump's inner circle of aides and speaking on condition of anonymity, the Trump White House "has its own Republican Guard, which may be harder for him to deal with than the Iraqis were."
The Iraqi Republican Guard was the elite military force of ousted dictator Saddam Hussein.
McMaster’s fame grew after his 1997 book “Dereliction of Duty” criticized the country’s military and political leadership for poor leadership during the Vietnam War.
Trump's pick was praised by one of the president's strongest backers in the US Congress, Republican Senator Tom Cotton, who called McMaster "one of the finest combat leaders of our generation and also a great strategic mind. He is a true warrior scholar, and I'm confident he will serve both the president and the country well."
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