Over the weekend President Obama completed an overhaul of his national security team by nominating Army General Martin Dempsey to be the new Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.Gen. Dempsey had recently been confirmed as Army Chief of Staff, this is highly unusual to move someone into the chairmanship after just being appointed to a high military command, but the president was leaning toward Marine Corps General James Cartwright, the Vice Chairman, and the presidents trusted military adviser. Unfortunately, the president informed Gen. Cartwright last week that he would not be getting the job because of opposition from outgoing Chairman, Adm. Mike Mullen, and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates.
For the first time since being elected the president, Obama now has in place his own national security team, as Adm. Mullen and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates where holdovers from the Bush administration.
Early this month the president selected CIA Director Leon Panetta to replace Robert Gates as Secretary of Defense, and General David Petraeus as Director of the CIA.
Numerous challenges await Obama's new national security team with how to begin the presidents draw down of forces in Afghanistan, and reducing the the defense department's budget, all the while maintaining U.S. overseas commitments.
Let's see how they do!
http://militarybriefingbook.com/browse.cfm?category=Defense%20Policy%20and%20Budget&subcategory=Military%20Transformation
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