Report: Trump offers national security post to retired admiral Bob Harward, who is mulling decision. Christopher Wilson
According to Foreign Policy magazine, President Trump has offered retired Vice Adm. Bob Harward the position of national security adviser, left vacant after retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn’s resignation on Monday. Harward is said to be weighing the job.
Harward, 60, is chief executive in the United Arab Emirates for Lockheed Martin, the aerospace company. He has worked with Secretary of Defense James Mattis, serving as his deputy commander at the United States Central Command, which oversees the military’s operations in the Middle East. A Washington Post report stated that Harward remains an “ally and friend” of Mattis. He also has spent time on the National Security Council, serving as the director of strategy and policy for the Office for Combating Terrorism during the George W. Bush administration.
According to his official biography, the retired vice admiral comes from a Navy family. He graduated from the Tehran American High School in Iran, and speaks Farsi. After earning his bachelor’s degree from the U.S. Naval Academy, Harward embarked on a lengthy career that included time serving as the commander of SEAL Team 3 and as head of a special operations task force in Kandahar, Afghanistan. He holds a master’s degree in international relations and strategic security affairs.
According to the New York Times, Harward is obsessed with physical fitness:
As the head of detainee operations in Afghanistan, he would lead weekly hikes in the mountains outside Kabul, outpacing colleagues who were 20 years younger, and has been known to challenge them to push-up contests that left them vomiting.
Tommy Vietor, spokesman for the National Security Council under President Barack Obama, referred to Harward as an “impressive (and nice) guy” on Twitter when his name was initially rumored for the position.
Harward wrote a 2013 column for the Huffington Post espousing the importance of improving education opportunities for women across the globe. The former SEAL parachuted into his 2015 retirement ceremony: