Hegseth’s body man’s qualifications questioned

Colonel Ricky Buria (back when he was a mere Lt. Col)

SECDEF Hegseth’s office is in the midst of a couple of scandals. We talked recently about his troubles with using the app Signal for potentially sensitive information, but there’s also an IG investigation in leaks to the media. This has led to a few people in Hegseth’s inner circle being fired or reassigned. Of those close to the SECDEF is now-former Marine Colonel Ricky Buria, an MV-22 Naval Aviator. He was Junior Military Assistant (JMA) until recently, as he’s now retired from the Corps to take on a civilian role in the SECDEF’s office. The JMA is an aide-de-camp position for the secretary, and is the type of posting a field grade officer would secure that has the potential to wear stars (and probably more than one on each collar).

Naturally, the media that thought a lieutenant colonel knew more about American foreign policy than the President of the United States (*cough* Vindman *cough*) thinks that a promising field grade officer selected by the previous administration for this sensitive post is of questionable bona fides for a role in the current administration.

Defense Times throws shade on the Colonel here;

How a Lloyd Austin aide became Pete Hegseth’s ‘only guy standing’

In early April, after Pete Hegseth returned from a trip to Panama, the last person to step off the plane before the defense secretary himself was a colonel wearing slacks and a pullover.

This was Ricky Buria, Hegseth’s junior military assistant and one of the only holdovers from the last secretary’s team.

Buria, who has sharp black hair with a gray streak in the front, has gained unique status in the last three months — not only in the secretary’s inner circle but perhaps the entire Pentagon. He was appointed under the last administration but has rapidly gained Hegseth’s trust, and with it newfound power.

Last week, Buria resigned his post in the Marine Corps and is now transitioning into a new role as one of Hegseth’s senior civilian advisors. Multiple sources who spoke for this story said he’s being considered for a higher position, potentially even chief of staff.

And yet, his ascendance remains a mystery to many current and former defense officials, some of whom were allowed to speak anonymously for this story to avoid retaliation.

Over the last week, Hegseth has fired two handpicked aides and longtime friends, ostensibly over a leaks investigation, which they deny. His chief of staff, Joe Kasper, will also soon transition to a new role, Hegseth said Tuesday.

In the meantime, Buria has gone from carrying the secretary’s bags to now attending meetings with foreign counterparts and giving Hegseth advice on matters from personnel to media strategy. Some current and former officials are wondering whether he’s qualified for the new job, and how a secretary so intent on removing Biden-era appointees came to trust one so much.

“Proximity is power,” a source familiar with the internal dynamics said. “He was around the secretary more than anybody else.”

‘Body man’

Buria started the year as the secretary’s junior military assistant, a post he took on last April for Hegseth’s predecessor, Lloyd Austin.

The role — abbreviated as “JMA” — is a prestigious assignment, often reserved for promising young officers destined for successful careers in the military services. But in practice much of the work is procedural.

Multiple sources described the job as a “body man,” tasked with shepherding the secretary’s documents and equipment nearly at all times. If Hegseth needs to take a call, for example, it’s Buria’s responsibility to get him the phone.

That’s where the role ends, though. Unlike more senior military or civilian aides, the JMA doesn’t usually shape the substance of the secretary’s work.

Two former defense officials described Buria as apolitical, industrious and professional, even if he at times showed interest in more senior jobs.

“He would have preferred other roles to the junior military assistant,” one former official said of Buria. “That much was clear.”

Still, the former official continued, working directly with the secretary of defense is a competitive environment that rewards ambitious people. It’s normal for those on the team, even at more junior levels, to want more.

His opportunity to do so came in January, when Hegseth was narrowly confirmed as Austin’s replacement.

Hegseth entered the job with no experience in government and a relatively junior military career, retiring as a major. As a media personality, he often argued that general and flag officers had themselves become political, obsessed with diversity under the Biden administration.

In February, when Hegseth began firing such officers — including the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the chief of naval operations and Air Force vice chief of staff — he also removed his own senior military assistant, who was first appointed by Austin.

Buria survived the firings, and in a highly unusual move became the acting senior military assistant, normally reserved for three-star officers.

It keeps going on like this. The media’s take always seems to be; When the Trump Admin fires Biden Admin appointees, that’s wrong and evil, and when the Trump Admin retains Biden Admin appointees, that too is wrong and evil.

Category: Marines, Politics, Veterans in politics, Veterans in the news