long term political and government appointments have resulted in the creation of "power fiefdoms" for senior princes, such as those of king abdullah, who had been commander of the national guard since 1963 (until 2010, when he appointed his son to replace him), former crown prince sultan, minister of defence and aviation from 1962 to his death in 2011, former crown prince prince nayef who was the minister of interior from 1975 to his death in 2012, prince saud who had been minister of foreign affairs since 1975 and current king salman, who was minister of defense and aviation before he was crown prince and governor of the riyadh province from 1962 to 2011. the current minister of defense is prince mohammad bin salman, the son of king salman and crown prince.