US finally gets new chief for Pentagon

Esper brings ballast to the department after Mattis' shock departure last year

WASHINGTON - Former soldier Mark Esper was sworn in as US secretary of defense on Tuesday after earning Senate confirmation, filling the country's longest Pentagon leadership vacuum as Washington faces mounting tensions with Iran and struggles to end the long-running Afghanistan war.

US President Donald Trump's second Defense Department chief takes over nearly seven months after the shock departure of former Marine Corps general Jim Mattis, who broke with Trump over policy on the Middle East and Afghanistan.