Dan Driscoll, an Army veteran and businessman, told senators that he would serve as the soldiers’ secretary of the Army, “not of the generals or of the bureaucracy,” if he is confirmed as President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the largest military service.

One was Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., whose son attended Yale Law School with Driscoll, and who read an endorsement of the candidate at the start of the hearing. “As a lawyer, we follow the facts and the law, and that's what Dan Driscoll will do as secretary of the Army,” Blumenthal said.

The nominee for Army secretary faced questions about new tech and politics in the military, but little was said about rank-and-file concerns.

Army secretary nominee Dan Driscoll on Thursday shed light on his planned approach for bolstering munitions production capacity and defense innovation