Senator Mark Green No Longer Army Secretary Nominee

Tennessee state Sen. Mark Green (R), President Trump's former nominee for Army secretary said he withdrew his name from consideration last month because he was blackballed by a senator, whom he declined to name, promised to use a procedural “blackball” to prevent Green’s nomination from moving to a vote. The Tennessee Star reported.

Green said he chose to withdraw his name from the nomination process because he believed the hold placed on his nomination could have remained in place for months or longer, leaving the Army without its top civilian post and delaying important policy-making decisions. “The thought that the president would not have his chosen appointee on the ground leading the Army and that our soldiers would be left without a secretary who could advocate for them and secure the resources they need to do their jobs safely and successfully, shifted the process from being about the needs of the Army to being about me,” Green told the Star.

Green graduated from U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1986. From 1987 through 1990, Green served as an infantry officer in the United States Army. His first duty assignment following graduation from the US Army Ranger School was with the 194th Armored Brigade at Fort Knox. There he served as a rifle platoon leader, scout platoon leader and battalion adjutant for an Infantry Battalion. Following the Infantry Officer's Advance Course, then Captain Green served with the 82nd Airborne Division as a rifle company commander and in the Batalion Battle Staff.

Following a traumatic event where his father's life was saved by a team of surgeons and critical care doctors, Green requested the US Army send him to medical school. He attended Boonshoft School of Medicine at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio and did his residency in emergency medicine at Fort Hood, Texas. After his residency Dr. Green was selected to serve as the Flight surgeon for the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (The Night Stalkers).

What is little known about Mark Green is that he was the special operations flight surgeon during Operation Red Dawn, the military operation that captured Saddam Hussein. Green sat with Hussein for the first 24 hours of his capture, and interrogated him for six hours. Following his military service, he authored a book, titled A Night With Saddam, detailing the capture of Hussein and the medical care Green administered. Green's awards and ecorations include the Bronze Star, the Meritorious Service Medal, the Army Commendation Medal, the Achievement Medal, the Air Medal, the Ranger Tab, Combat Medical Badge, Parachutists Badge, Air Assault Badge and the Flight Surgeon Badge.

What led to the former Army Ranger and Special Operations Physician medic withdrawing his name from consideration for secretary in early May was fierce opposition from Democrats and advocacy groups over allegations of derogatory comments about the LGBT (homosexuals and gender changers) community and opinions on other issues.