Marine could be next chairman of the Joint Chiefs

March 5, 2005, 10:03PM


Top military spot soon vacant

Marine could be next chairman of the Joint Chiefs

By ERIC ROSENBERG
Copyright 2005 Hearst News Service



WASHINGTON - President Bush and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld will soon make one of the most important decisions of the administration's second term when they select the successor to Gen. Richard Myers as the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the top uniformed officer in the nation.

Myers, 63, a four-star Air Force general, is due to retire at the end of September after 19 months as vice chairman and four years as chairman.

Four senior military officers are considered the top candidates, with many military analysts giving the nod to Marine Corps Gen. Peter Pace, currently vice chairman.

Pace, 59, would be the first Marine to hold the top job.

The new chairman immediately will face a slate of hot-button national security issues: the insurgency in Iraq and an expected resurgence of the Taliban in Afghanistan; the war on terrorism; modernization of the U.S. armed forces; management of recruitment shortfalls; and defending another round of contentious military base closings later this year.

The chairman, who requires Senate confirmation, is the principal military adviser to the president, the defense secretary and the White House's National Security Council. By law, the pool of military officers considered for the job is small.

The officers must have served in one of 14 other senior-level positions: either as one of the nine unified combatant commanders responsible for directing U.S. military operations in their geographic regions or areas of specialization, or the chiefs of the four military services, or the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Theoretically, Bush and Rumsfeld could select a retired officer who has served in such a position.

The defense secretary has shown a willingness to do the unexpected on personnel matters. For example, instead of selecting among a dozen or so senior active-duty Army officers, he called back to active duty retired Gen. Peter Schoomaker to serve as Army chief of staff in 2003, the same year he named Gen. James L. Jones as the first Marine officer to serve as NATO commander.

Thomas White, the Houstonian who served as Army secretary in Bush's first term, said Pace is the best qualified among the four.

"His advantage is that he has been in the senior policy debates for the last four years," said White. "He understands the secretary of defense well and is already a very well-known commodity. The fact that he's a Marine and that we've never had a Marine as chairman might enhance his chances some."

[Vulture6]

General Pace would be an excellent choice.

[66MP1]

I have only seen him at Pentegon briefings, and he appears to handle himself very well. He probably would be a good choice.

[USMCRET6391]

A Small amount of levity here, if he is made CJCS, will that make the Navy part of the USMC Dept?

[USMC0861]

You know that the Army, Navy and Air Force will never let this happen.

[USMCRET6391]

Originally Posted by USMC0861

You know that the Army, Navy and Air Force will never let this happen.

I am not sure this is true anymore. More and more Marine Generals are filling billets that have been dominated by the Army. It started when General Boomer became the CG of Southern Command in the late 1980s.

[Field_Sailor]

God help us all. A Marine in charge and a Republican in office. Time to fight the real Battles.

[USMCRET6391]

^lmao

[cincymarsdad]

If a Marine could be NATO cmdr, why not?

Who was the first Air Force CoS? I'm sure folks thought that would never happen either!

I realize the Marines are numerically small of course and part of the Navy Department. It is amusing to consider him giving an order to the CNO!

First Acts of General Pace:

Dump the F-14s over the side. We're replacing them with MEUs!
Eject the Tridents from the subs. We're replacing them with Force Recon units.
What is this SEAL business anyway?
When we need to go somewhere, the Navy's job is to give us a ride!
Army?!?!? Whadda we need an army for?
Retreat hell, we're attacking in a different direction.

[Hoss68]

Originally Posted by field_sailor

God help us all. A Marine in charge and a Republican in office. Time to fight the real Battles.

LMFAO! This could be very interesting!

[ColeGyreneJROTC]

Originally Posted by cincymarsdad

I realize the Marines are numerically small of course and part of the Navy Department. It is amusing to consider him giving an order to the CNO!

First Acts of General Pace:

Dump the F-14s over the side. We're replacing them with MEUs!
Eject the Tridents from the subs. We're replacing them with Force Recon units.
What is this SEAL business anyway?
When we need to go somewhere, the Navy's job is to give us a ride!
Army?!?!? Whadda we need an army for?
Retreat hell, we're attacking in a different direction.

hell yes!