As a general rule: Trump administration adds another military general to civilian leadership
President Donald Trump’s administration has appointed a slew of former US generals to his cabinet and to lead executive agencies. Now, another military man is being brought on board, this time to direct the federal prison system.
On Tuesday, former Army General Mark S. Inch was announced as the new director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP).
“General Mark Inch has served this country at home and abroad for 35 years,” Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who announced Inch as the new BOP chief, said in a Department of Justice statement.
“As a military policeman for nearly a quarter of a century and as the head of Army Corrections for the last two years, General Inch is uniquely qualified to lead our federal prison system.”
The Trump administration has appointed many other generals to high-level posts. There is former Marine Corps General James Mattis as defense secretary and former Marine Corps General John Kelly as the new White House chief of staff, after serving briefly as homeland security secretary.
Trump’s national security advisor Army Lieutenant General H.R. McMaster replaced Army Lieutenant General Michael Flynn. The National Security Council chief of staff is retired Army Lieutenant General Keith Kellogg.
Most recently, Inch held the post of Provost Marshal General and Commanding General of the Criminal Investigation Command and Army Corrections Headquarters for the Department of the Army.
Inch was the “principal military advisor” to the secretary of the Army and the Army’s chief of staff. He also dealt with “all policing matters,” according to the DOJ press release.
Inch has also been a commanding general in Afghanistan, where he was “responsible for detainee operations and rule of law development within the Army's Security Sector,” the press release stated.
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The announcement from Sessions comes on the heels of a tumultuous month for the attorney general, with Trump publicly criticizing him on more than one occasion.
Despite the president’s criticism, Sessions has stated that he plans to stay in his position.
Thomas Kane has been Acting Director of the BOP since January 2016.
