U.S. President-elect Joe Biden’s pick for the Pentagon is creating a quiet stir among some experts, who say his past military experience lacks any obvious overlap with North Korea.

On Tuesday, Biden penned an op-ed detailing his decision to nominate retired Army Gen. Lloyd Austin as the first Black U.S. secretary of defense in American history. Austin was also the first Black commander of the U.S. Central Command, leading military operations in the Middle East under President Barack Obama and overseeing the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq in 2011.