Politico recently lost Morning Defense Editor Chuck Hoskinson to The Navy Times. He’s the third Morning Defense Editor to bolt in less than two years. But leave it to Politico Pro Editor Tim Grieve to paint a glowing picture and inflate the newbie coming in to replace him. That would be Austin Wright — we’ll see how long he wants to hack it. We get it — what’s Grieve supposed to do, run bets with colleagues on how long this one will last? Instead, it’s Wright is a “natural” for “Morning Defense.” Riiight. We’re sure the others were too.

Read the memo…

Email to staff today from Politico Pro editor Tim Grieve:
If you read Morning Defense, you already know what I’m about to tell you: Starting tomorrow, the very talented Austin Wright will have the conn.

Austin is a natural for Morning Defense.  He’s a graceful writer with excellent news judgment, and he’s got a solid background in defense issues. Before joining POLITICO, he was an associate editor at National Defense magazine, and he’s contributed frequently to our defense coverage here.  Austin has been working closely with Chuck Hoskinson on the transition – and we owe Chuck a real salute for making it a very smooth one.

This is the first step in a series we’ll be taking to expand POLITICO’s defense coverage, and we’ll have more to announce on the beat soon.  Stay tuned.