Three Defense Ministry Officials Resign Following Trump's Firing Of Defense Minister Mark Esper

White House (Everett Stric / Unsplash)

JAKARTA - Deputy Chief of Staff to the Secretary of Defense of the United States (US) Alexis Ross has resigned from his position. This was conveyed directly by a US defense official. His resignation came not long after US Defense Secretary Mark Esper was sacked by US President Donald Trump.

Quoting CNN, Friday, November 12, Alexis Ross resigned along with the resignation of chief of staff Jen Stewart and supervisor of policy and intelligence James Anderson. The three of them submitted their resignations on Tuesday November 10.

The many changes in the US Department of Defense in recent days have made other officials nervous and sparked anxiety among military and civilian officials. They worry what will happen next. The move is likely to only add to the chaos following Trump's ouster of Esper via a Twitter post.

Jen Stewart has been replaced by Kash Patel, who recently served as senior director of counterterrorism on the White House National Security Council. Patel is seen as far more ideological and has a close relationship with Trump.

Meanwhile, the Esper position has been replaced by Christopher Miller, who is the director of the National Counterterrorism Center. Trump fired Esper two days after his Democratic opponent, Joe Biden, was projected to be the winner of the presidential election. Trump publicly rejected the election results.

An unidentified source said that the White House is now focused on putting pressure on the Defense Department government that was previously under Esper's command. The sources said the effort was possible because Esper and his team refused to withdraw troops from Afghanistan.

They will not withdraw troops in Afghanistan until the necessary conditions on the ground are met and resolve other pending security concerns.

While top officials have been dealing with Trump's unpredictable decision making since taking office. The current level of uncertainty has steadily increased since the election. Concern is growing that a chaotic transition period could undermine national security.

Among those landing a new role at the Defense Ministry this week is the controversial Brigadier General. General Anthony Tata, who moved into the top Pentagon policy role. He took over the duties of James Anderson who resigned.

Tata has been nominated to be Deputy Defense Minister for policy this summer but his candidacy was withdrawn because of the bipartisan opposition. Meanwhile retired Navy Vice Admiral Joseph Kernan, Deputy Minister of Defense for Intelligence, also left his position. It was not immediately clear whether Kernan was stepping down or being fired, but his departure was hastened.