In early April, after Pete Hegseth returned from a trip to Panama, the last person to step off the plane before the defense secretary himself was a colonel wearing slacks and a pullover.This was Ricky Buria, Hegseth’s junior military assistant and one of the only holdovers from the last secretary’s team.Buria, who has sharp black hair with a gray streak in the front, has gained unique status in the last three months — not only in the secretary’s内部圆圈，但也许是整个五角大楼。他被任命为最后一届政府，但已迅速获得了赫格斯的信任，并随着它的新力量。lastWeek，Buria在海军陆战队中辞去了职位，现在正转变为新的角色，成为Hegseth的高级文职顾问之一。为这个故事讲话的多个消息人士称，他被考虑在更高的位置，甚至可能是参谋长。然而，他的崛起仍然是许多现任和前国防官员的谜团，其中一些人被允许匿名讲话以避免报复。赫格斯周二表示，他的参谋长乔·卡斯珀（Joe Kasper）也将很快过渡到新职位。同时，伯里亚（Buria）从载着秘书的行李到现在与外国同行的会议，并就人员从人员到媒体策略提供赫格斯斯的建议。一些现任和前任官员想知道他是否有资格担任新工作，以及秘书如何意图撤职拜登时代的任命者如此信任。 “He was around the secretary more than anybody else.”‘Body man’Buria started the year as the secretary’s junior military assistant, a post he took on last April for Hegseth’s predecessor, Lloyd Austin.The role — abbreviated as “JMA” — is a prestigious assignment, often reserved for