WASHINGTON — Some of the nation’s war heroes are taking the unusual step of publicly urging President Trump to choose their preferred candidate for Army secretary, as Pentagon insiders describe the contest to replace Dan Driscoll as a “knife fight.”
Four of the 65 living Medal of Honor recipients spoke to The Post about the race. Two advocated for dark-horse candidate Marc Andersen, the Army’s comptroller and assistant secretary for financial management, while the other two endorsed Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell.
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth recommended last week that Trump select either Parnell or Dane Hughes, the department’s legislative affairs chief, to succeed Driscoll, whose tenure ended after a bitter power struggle with Hegseth.
Andersen’s apparent status outside the front-runner spot prompted two Medal of Honor recipients to make a public case for his selection.
“[Trump] shouldn’t go with the easy button pick. He should pick the person that is going to build him an Army that is capable of dominating on any battlefield,” said Britt Slabinski, who received the Medal of Honor from Trump in 2018 for leading a daring rescue mission in Afghanistan after his helicopter was shot down.
“There’s guys that get in these roles — guys and girls — and they use it for personal gain. They get in there and they just kind of do this caretaker role,” said Slabinski, who serves as president of the Congressional Medal of Honor Society.
“My sense is that Marc’s not an elitist.”
Andersen, a former venture capital and consulting executive, has built a broad support network through his work with veterans’ charities. Since last October, he has overseen the Army’s nearly $200 billion budget, with an emphasis on modernization projects.
“Most of the time you get people in these positions who are just consumers. They’re consumers of time, of our resources. … I think he’s going to be a contributor to the Army and more so to the nation,” Slabinski said. “We have enough people that start things. We don’t have enough finishers.”
Leroy Arthur Petry, who received the Medal of Honor in 2011, said Andersen “has a total care and passion for service and the family and the troops.”
Petry earned the nation’s highest military honor after grabbing and throwing a grenade away from his fellow soldiers during a firefight in Afghanistan, even though he had already suffered gunshot wounds to both legs.
The grenade exploded as he released it, destroying his hand.
“There’s two things I judge my friends off of: character and merit only. … Performance and personality and especially his character should carry him forward,” Petry said of Andersen. “He’s already doing a phenomenal job in his position. But I think he would make an excellent choice for secretary of the Army.”
“The troops love him, and he loves the troops. He’s a family man, so he understands that perspective of how hard it can be to be not only a soldier in the Army, but to have a family in the Army as well.”
Petry said that if he were serving in the Army, “I would pick him.”
‘I’m actually a Parnell guy’
Medal of Honor recipient Earl Plumlee, who was referred to The Post to speak in Andersen’s favor, instead said, “I’m actually a Parnell guy.”
Plumlee said Parnell would be the stronger choice because of “the vast amount of experience that he’s going to have in interacting with the industry.” Plumlee suffered severe injuries while fighting off a surprise attack by 10 Afghan insurgents and carrying a wounded soldier to safety.
“The nuclear weapon of our age is going to be machine learning and AI data centers, and none of that’s possible without the Army Corps of Engineers really planning out and getting the power there to run all those systems,” he said.
“The majority of the fight is avoiding any kind of actually kinetic conflict by winning that race, and so that’s the race the Army has to win.”
Plumlee called Andersen a strong second choice and expressed frustration over the infighting that has troubled the Pentagon.
“We’ve got enough enemies. We don’t need to be fighting internally, and you know, I really admired and liked Driscoll, and it really broke my heart that him and Secretary Hegseth were fighting all the time because you know, what a waste of talent,” he added.
Dakota Meyer, who received a Medal of Honor for rescuing wounded Afghans and recovering the bodies of fallen US troops during an attack, said in a statement he strongly supports Parnell.
“I’ve known Sean Parnell for more than a decade, and I can say without hesitation that he is exactly the kind of leader I want serving as Secretary of the Army,” he said.
“I know there is no substitute for having led men in war, carried the weight of their lives on your shoulders, and lived with the consequences of decisions made far above you. Sean has done that. And now he knows his way around the Pentagon, too.
Meyer explained that Parnell understands “both the warfighter on the ground and how decisions get made at the highest levels.”
He’s a warrior, a proven leader and a man of character. I fully endorse Sean Parnell for Secretary of the Army. Put him in the job,” he continued.
Parnell has also received backing from Sens. Dave McCormick (R-Pa.) and Tim Sheehy (R-Mont.).
“I have full confidence that if Sean is given the honor of serving in this role, he will do so with courage and distinction,” McCormick wrote in a Thursday post on X.
But abuse allegations from Parnell’s ex-wife could torpedo a Senate confirmation, however, with Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-ND) saying: “His record, particularly the spousal abuse stuff, is just a bridge too far for the vast majority of people. There are other good people.”
Republicans hold a 53-47 majority in the Senate, and a bare majority is required for confirmation.
Parnell, who is still a favorite among longtime Trump allies, has had a rocky relationship with Hegseth’s powerful chief of staff Ricky Buria, a Biden administration holdover who has stoked in-fighting among Pentagon leadership throughout Trump’s second term.
It’s unclear if Buria has a favorite candidate.
Driscoll, a close friend and law school classmate of Vice President JD Vance, resigned on Sept. 2 after months of tension with Hegseth, who had fired Army chief of staff Randy George and other leading generals in a mounting showdown.
An administration official told The Post “it is a knife fight for the position between the candidates.”
A different official said there’s an internal perception that “Marc is a Driscoll guy,” and ridiculed Andersen’s self-labeling as the “Colonoscopy King” in a pro-preventative screening social media post.
This official accused Andersen of associating with Trump critics such as former Reps. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) and Barbara Comstock (R-Va.), though the extent of the alleged association was unclear.
Andersen’s critics within the administration “don’t want to bring in wolves in sheep’s clothing that will undermine the president and Hegseth,” the second official said.
“Marc is a nobody and a non-factor in this race for Army secretary, but he’s attempting to raise his profile nonetheless.”
Slabinski, who leads the Medal of Honor association, said Andersen wasn’t among the upper tier of officials under Driscoll and could be counted on to make reforms while soothing tensions.
“I hope just by having the presence of him there is is what’s going to bring some stability,” he said.
“My hope is for Marc is that he’s going to transform the Army and make it into a very lethal force that never needs to be used. That’s what I would tell the president.”
Meanwhile, a White House official said: “President Trump will announce a nominee for the next Secretary of the Army at a time and place of his choosing. There are many qualified candidates who are interested in supporting the mission of our Commander-in-Chief.”
