From the Associated Press and posted by our media partner at WOOD TV:
WASHINGTON (AP) — On his final day as defense secretary, Jim Mattis on Monday urged all Pentagon employees, military and civilian, to "hold fast" in defense of the nation.
Mattis, who submitted his resignation on Dec. 20 and was, in effect, fired by President Donald Trump three days later, was working in the Pentagon on Monday and preparing to hand off his duties at midnight to Deputy Secretary Patrick Shanahan. Trump picked Shanahan, a former Boeing Co. executive with no previous government or military experience, to serve as acting defense secretary, pending a decision on who would be nominated to serve in a more permanent capacity.
Mattis has not said publicly what he intends to do next. He has mused about returning to his roots in Washington state. He was born in Pullman and raised in Richland. He graduated from Central Washington University in 1971 and then entered the Marine Corps, where he began as a second lieutenant and rose to the rank of four-star general.
Click for more on the story courtesy of the Associated Press.