--- title: Adm. Ronny Jackson: Trump Hires Another High-Ranking Officer description: President Trump fired Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin, announcing he would nominate White House doctor Ronny Jackson to the post canonical: https://time.com/5219779/adm-ronny-jackson-trump-hires-generals-officers-military/ author: Katie Reilly article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-03-28T23:39:23.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T19:48:32.483Z article:section: Politics og:title: President Trump Just Picked Another Military Leader for a Top Job og:description: Ronny Jackson, a Navy rear admiral, has been tapped to be Veterans Affairs Secretary og:url: https://time.com/5219779/adm-ronny-jackson-trump-hires-generals-officers-military/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd585b2fff033ec20/69892c47bc6cfc34f63e5805/ronny-jackson-veterans-affairs-trump.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: US-POLITICS-TRUMP og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: President Trump Just Picked Another Military Leader for a Top Job twitter:description: Ronny Jackson, a Navy rear admiral, has been tapped to be Veterans Affairs Secretary twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd585b2fff033ec20/69892c47bc6cfc34f63e5805/ronny-jackson-veterans-affairs-trump.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Adm. Ronny Jackson Is the Latest Military Leader Trump Has Tapped for a Top Job  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Mar 28, 2018 11:39 PM UTC  White House physician Rear Admiral Ronny Jackson speaks at the press briefing at the White House in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 16, 2018. White House physician Rear Admiral Ronny Jackson speaks at the press briefing at the White House in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 16, 2018.Nicholas Kamm—AFP/Getty Images  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Mar 28, 2018 11:39 PM UTC President Trump on Wednesday fired Veterans Affairs Secretary [David Shulkin](http://time.com/5219737/trump-fires-veterans-affairs-secretary-david-shulkin-admiral-ronny-jackson/) and announced on Twitter that he would nominate Ronny Jackson, the White House physician, to the post. Jackson, a Navy rear admiral, has been a White House physician since 2006, first becoming physician to the president under Barack Obama in 2013. Shulkin’s firing is the latest in a series of recent [staffing shakeups](http://time.com/5203918/donald-trump-white-house-firing-staffing/) in Trump’s White House. And Jackson’s appointment is the latest example of Trump hiring a [high-ranking officer for a top position](http://time.com/4585503/why-trump-is-interviewing-generals-for-his-cabinet/) in his administration. Retired four-star Marine Corps General James Mattis is currently serving as Secretary of Defense. Retired four-star Marine Gen. [John Kelly](http://time.com/4894987/why-general-john-kelly-trump-last-hope/), who was originally Trump’s Homeland Security secretary, is now White House chief of staff. Refore [resigning last week](http://time.com/5211928/hr-mcmaster-resign-john-bolton-trump-white-house-national-security-advisor/), Army Lt. Gen. H. R. McMaster served as national security adviser. And retired Army Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn — now a [focus of the investigation](http://time.com/5045291/michael-flynn-donald-trump-russia-investigation-robert-mueller/) into Russian election meddling — briefly served as national security adviser before resigning and [setting a record](http://time.com/4670486/michael-flynn-resignation-record/) for the shortest tenure in the role. Jackson first appeared in the spotlight in January while [holding a long press conference](http://time.com/5105096/donald-trump-physical-exam-transcript/) in which he discussed [Trump’s physical and mental health](http://time.com/5104183/donald-trump-health-ronny-jackson/). He began his active duty naval service in 1995 at the Portsmouth Naval Medical Center in Virginia, according to his U.S. Navy [biography](http://www.navy.mil/navydata/bios/bio.asp?bioID=953). Adm. 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