Since Biden took office, he has rarely seen Biden visit abroad, except for Biden's visit at the G7 summit, Biden's staff has many opportunities to show their faces. Secretary of State Blinken, in particular, is busier than Pompeo. Among Biden's staff, there is another person who is active, and that person is Black Defense Secretary Austin. Compared with the Trump administration's defense secretary, Austin frequently travels abroad, and often sees Austin in Europe and Asia.
In our impression, the status of black Americans is very low, such as during the Trump period, the American police knelt to kill black people, and did not sentence the death penalty, it is estimated that the policeman has been released. Why did Austin become U.S. Secretary of Defense and where did he come from?
1. Graduated from a prestigious school
Austin's first impression was that his skin was too dark, he was a purebred black man. Black Americans range from the descendants of slaves who were trafficked from Africa during the colonization of the Americas and those who immigrated to the United States from Africa in recent decades. And Austin is not from Africa, but a black man born in the United States. He was born in 1953 in the southern U.S. state of Alabama, which is also the predominantly black state in the United States, accounting for 27 percent.
Judging by Austin's stature, he's more like those blacks among American NBA players. Therefore, his ancestors should be descendants of African slaves. If slavery had not been abolished in the United States, blacks would have had a very low status in the United States. And Austin's father worked his own, graduated from West Point Military Academy, became a US military, and also entered the American elite. Therefore, Austin also sought his father's path to the military and was admitted to West Point Military Academy, and he worked for 41 years.
There is not much aura in Austin, but there are many "bests" he has created. For example, he is the first black secretary of defense in the history of the United States, and when he was promoted to division commander, he was also the first black army division commander, and after being promoted, he was the first black army commander in the history of the United States, promoted to theater commander, still made history, and became the first black theater commander in American history. Austin later served as Deputy Chief of Staff of the Army, still the first black Deputy Chief of Staff of the Army. When he served as Central Commander, he was the first black Central Command commander.
From the perspective of these "firsts" created by Austin, it is not that blacks are scarce, but that blacks have such a low status in American society that few people can enter the American elite.
Austin is dark, tall and fat, and looks like a typical military man, and there should not be much culture. Austin graduated from a prestigious American school, and he has a lot of ink in his stomach.
After graduating from West Point in 1975, Austin entered the U.S. Army Command College, Staff College, and War College. In addition, he obtained a master's degree in education from Auburn University and a master's degree in business administration from Webster University. The many degrees he earned also laid the foundation for his later entry into the U.S. government.
2. Rich resume
After graduating from West Point, he was sent to Germany as a platoon commander, and then from company commander, battalion commander, brigade commander, division commander, theater commander, and then to the US military as a staff officer, and also served as the commander of the most important Central Command in the United States. The U.S. Department of Defense has five major commands, namely the center, north, south, Indo-Pacific, and Europe, and the central command has an important position and is an important combat force to guard the U.S. homeland.
Austin also participated in actual combat, participating in the Iraq War in 2003, when Austin was deputy commander of the Third Infantry Division, which is said to have launched the first attack on Iraq, and entered the Iraqi capital Baghdad in 22 days.
Austin then spent another two years in Afghanistan, and in 2008 he was promoted to commander of the Multinational Force in Iraq, commanding 150,000 United Nations troops fighting in Iraq. After Obama became president in 2008, Austin, who was also black, was also appreciated by Obama. And Austin also knew Biden. Become a person in a circle.
During his time in office, Obama advocated the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, and the head of the withdrawal was Austin, who coordinated with Biden to complete the task of withdrawing U.S. troops. It was this collaboration that made Austin make an impression on Biden.
In 2013, Austin, who was 60 years old, was promoted again as commander of Central Command. This position is not only prominent, but also one of a million. After 3 years as commander, Austin retired.
In 2016, after Trump took office, Austin began to work in the business world, he and Blinken established a private defense industry enterprise, and was also an executive of Raytheon, the largest arms dealer in the United States. Austin became an arms dealer. If according to mainland regulations, he had a business experience, and later could not have become the minister of defense. But this problem does not exist in the United States. Just as Trump is a businessman, he is still president.
There is no democracy and human rights in the United States, and there are also human accidents, precisely because Austin is familiar with Biden, because Biden chose Austin when he elected defense secretary.
At this time, Austin was making a lot of money in the arms business. Now that he has become the defense minister, he can be said to have gained both fame and fortune and reached the peak of his life.
3. Be tough on China
Austin's favorite thing to call him "the first" was even after his career in business, and he was excited at the mention of Obama being the first black president. Now that he has become the defense minister, he is even more beautiful.
When Austin was nominated by Biden as secretary of defense, there was also an episode, because US law stipulates that US military personnel cannot serve as secretary of defense for 7 years after retirement. The main concern is military interference in politics. But that wouldn't be the case if it had been specifically approved by Congress. Austin retired for only 5 years, so he had to pass a vote of the Senate and House of Representatives to serve as defense secretary.
It is said that before the vote, Austin also had to go through an interview with a member of parliament. At that time, during the interview, a Republican lawmaker asked Austin how big a threat China posed to the United States and how to deal with China's challenge. Austin said that "the serious threat from China is the biggest challenge facing the United States, and he will focus on responding to any provocation to demonstrate American deterrence." He also said that both China and Russia are threats, but Russia's status is declining and China's is rising.
After passing the interview, Austin also passed the votes of both houses, became the first black defense secretary, and took the oath to Harris.
Austin had military experience, but no service in Asia, and after he became defense minister, he is said to have studied Asian military affairs regularly. Moreover, after Austin visited Southeast Asian countries, he expressed a tough attitude towards China. The black defense secretary will likely continue to be tough on China, but whoever is the defense secretary will do no good if he confronts China.