Dunford to replace Dempsey
Last year, we announced that General Joseph Dunford would replace General James Amos as the Commandant of the Marine Corps. This year, he’s replacing Marty Dempsey as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs. Just like last year, General Dunford has an easy act to follow. From the Associated Press;
“I know Joe, I trust him,” Obama said. “He has already proven his ability to give me his unvarnished military advice based on his experience on the ground.”
Obama made the announcement at the White House Tuesday. Dunford is expected to be easily confirmed by the U.S. Senate.
His selection signals that even as the U.S. puts more focus on Asia and looks ahead to high-tech cyber and space threats, the administration still believes a strong ground force commander is needed to work through the ongoing conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria and across the Middle East and Africa.
As we noted last year, Dunford cut his military teeth as an infantryman. From his official bio;
General Dunford’s assignments in the operating forces include Platoon and Company Commander, Co K, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines; Company Commander, Co A, 1st Battalion, 9th Marines; and Company Commander, Co L, 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines. He served as the Operations, Plans, and Training Officer in 2d ANGLICO and the Regimental Executive Officer, 6th Marines. He commanded the 2nd Battalion, 6th Marines and the 5th Marine Regiment. He served as the Chief of Staff, 1st Marine Division.
[…]
General Dunford is a graduate of the U. S. Army Ranger School, Marine Corps Amphibious Warfare School, and the U. S. Army War College. He holds an M.A. in Government from Georgetown University and an M.A. in International Relations from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.
As opposed to Dempsey who has a Master’s degree in literature.
Category: Big Pentagon
“’I know Joe, I trust him,’ Obama said.”
That is how you know a good leader has changed.
Damned with faint praise.
From http://security.blogs.cnn.com/2012/12/06/new-afghanistan-commander-brings-quiet-steady-leadership-to-drawdown/
“He is considered a leader who gets things done. Sources tell the story of Dunford as a colonel commanding his Marines in Iraq on the march up to Baghdad in 2003 when one of his tanks became disabled. He wanted to ensure the safety of the crew and was running between tanks getting messages to the tank commander while Iraqi forces were shooting rocket-propelled grenades at him. The move was risky and unusual for a senior commander, let alone any other Marine.
The move earned him the nickname “Fighting Joe,” which some who know him are pretty sure he is not happy about because it takes away from his troops and the mission. Sources say Dunford was put up for a Navy Cross – one grade below the Medal of Honor – but it was downgraded several times because, as one source put it, “Silver Stars are for troops who are blowing up machine gun nests, and colonels are not really doing that.” Dunford does wear the Legion of Merit with combat valor for recognition of that event.
Dunford does not talk about the incident, sources say, and that attitude is part of why he is so widely admired by staff and colleagues.”
He came to see us at FOB Apache on Christmas Day os 2013. He wanted to see the troops on that special day. I’ll never forget it and he impressed me, which is not an easy thing to do.
My first reaction was a snarky, ‘Now if he can just keep his hands off his biographer…’
My second reaction is more considered. I wouldn’t want — and couldn’t do — the job he has, his job will directly effect our troops at all levels, and I pray that he does well — for THEIR sake.
What I’ve heard so far sounds very good, but one thing gives me pause: he essentially skipped the 2-star rank.
IMO that worked out OK in the case of Al Haig (who skipped LTG). But it does make me wonder why he rose that quickly. Let’s hope it was because he’s that much better than his peers vice due to pure political influence.
Hondo,
Not to sound ignorant but if *I* have the question, someone else certainly has the same thought….”Skipped the 2 star rank”…Are you saying that he was promoted to Major General and then on to Lieutenant General in or as close to the minimum time in grade that promotion required?
It seems that what you’re suggesting is that many of use are/were promoted and then had to serve a lengthy time at that rank quite past the minimum TIG and TIS requirements and have to await a slot or exceptional performance on our own part to then, be recognized….vice “kneepads” 😀 (as you say.)
Also from http://security.blogs.cnn.com/2012/12/06/new-afghanistan-commander-brings-quiet-steady-leadership-to-drawdown/
“He spent his second tour in Iraq as a one-star general after being confirmed in 2004, commanding the 5th Marine Regiment. He moved up the ranks quickly after that, recognized for his superior planning and commanding in combat.
In December 2007, Dunford was selected for a second star and was quickly promoted to a lieutenant general only two months later, even before Congress could confirm him for his second star.”
ChipNASA: no. According to Wikipedia, he was nominated for a second star in Dec 2007. However, before he was confirmed by the Senate as an O8 he was appointed (Feb 2008) to a 3-star position, then confirmed for both 2-star and 3-star positions in Apr 2008 (don’t have the precise date, but I believe both were done on the same day, and possibly at the same time).
I think that means he was never a 2-star GO, but it’s possible that means he was technically a 2-star for the brief period between the approval of the two appointments – or for less than 1 day.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Dunford#Career
There is no TIG/TIS requirement for anything above O8. Two star is the highest “permanent” rank an officer can attain. All others are billet specific. Should an officer leave that billet without either retiring or moving to another billet that requires that rank, they must be returned to the two-star rank for further duties.
I’ve known a couple of Navy one-stars to be selected for two, then promoted to three to fill a position that required that paygrade. I believe Admiral Clemins went straight from one to three to command SEVENTHFLT and then four to head PACFLT It’s unusual, but not unheard of.
Yep, good old Al “I’m in control here” Haig.
“Keep the engines on those bombers at a high idle, Cap. I’m trying to talk to the VP, but commo is breaking up”
Another wonderful day in America’s history.
Oh, Yeah, a big Thank You goes out to the people who played “football keep-away” with Al for four hours.
Claw131: that incident was a press “hatchet job” on Haig. Reality was quite different than what the press portrayed.
Here are Haig’s exact words. Remember, at the time the VP was still in the air somewhere over the USA, and was not present in DC.
Sounds to me like a deputy acting in place of his boss during a crisis situation while the boss is enroute back, not like someone trying to usurp authority. And Haig was indeed the senior member of the Administration physically present in DC that day. As the senior person present, he did what he’d been trained to do all his life: took charge of a confused situation and created order from it.
Technically, Haig was wrong in one respect: the Speaker of the House and President Pro Tempore of the Senate were next in line – should both the VP and POTUS be killed. However, neither at the time was a member of the Reagan Administration (both were from the opposing party). And there was no way in hell anyone in Reagan’s Administration was going to defer to a member of the other party in that situation unless both the POTUS and VP were dead. Had they done so, they’d have been fired – justifiably.
Haig rubbed many the wrong way, and ended up justly leaving office early as a result. But that was a partisan hack job by the press – bigtime.
Hondo, I knew all that. Just trying to throw a little jocularity into the mix.
That was a very hectic time and at least somebody professed to knowing what was going on and did take charge until the VP made it back to DC.
Big Smiles and thanks for all you do.
Gotcha, amigo. Sorry, I misread your earlier comment as being serious vice levity.
The only problem I had with Al was the statement: “Constitutionally, gentlemen, you have the President, the Vice President, and the Secretary of State, in that order,”
It’s The President, The Vice President and The Speaker Of The House. The Sec of State is after the Senate Majority Leader/President of The Senate.
Hondo, time will tell.
However, another officer skipped some ranks to get to the top. Chester Nimitz. He went straight from 2 star to 4 star to become CINCPACFLT. According to Wikipedia, he jumped over a couple dozen other more senior officers. He didn’t turn out too badly.
If Fleet Admiral Nimitz is any indicator, Dunford will do A-OK.
I think the same thing happened to Ike (skipped LTG) on his way up the ladder to General of the Armies.
Eisenhower promoted to LTG (AUS) in 1942. Ike’s permanent regular army rank was only LTC when he rapidly rose through the ranks from temporary colonel (AUS) in 1941 to 4 star (AUS) in early 1943 (eventually 5th star in 1944). Ike was made regular army BG & MG in late 1943. Eisenhower knew getting sacked in 1943 could have meant going from 4 stars back down to colonel.
MG George Patton in 1943 would needle Ike that his 2 stars were permanent, while Eisenhower was a RA colonel wearing 4 stars.
The skipped star might also be because the USMC is quite a bit smaller than the Big 3 services.
From what I understand, once a USMC officer gets past Col, all promotions are, more or less, to put the Marine on par with his/her job slot rather than the usual migration patterns of lower ranks.
Grimmy, promotion to any GO position requires (1) a vacancy, and (2) Senate confirmation. The USMC is no exception. The vacancy can be either service-specific or joint.
Both vacancies to which Dunford was appointed in late 2007/early 2008 appear to have been Joint Staff assignments, so they were almost certainly joint billets.
Either way, Senate confirmation is mandatory. When it comes to Generals, “They ain’t pinnin’ on that thar star until the Senate says they is.” (smile) Only possible exception would be frocking, and I’m not sure that’s even authorized for GOs.
In order for an officer to be frocked he must be confirmed by the senate.
This actually happens quite often at the GO level.
Appreciate the info re: GO/FO frocking. Didn’t know enough about that to do more than speculate.
Zero confidence here in the General officers. They are all political beasts. It comes with their job.
If McChrystal was the General that got in trouble for talking shit about pResident Obama, and McChrystal was the WORST General I have ever happened to serve under (remember his RoE?)then what do you think I can expect from a GEN he calls “his friend”???
I can only hope that he keeps the lives of the men and women that serve under his leadership in the forefront of this administration.
It’s no secret that most of us here have no love lost with O and his band of sycophantic merry men, women and whatever is in between.
This man could help those stuck in Afghanistan under impossible ROE’s to protect themselves and the others that they guard.
I pray for them that he performs that mission well.
“Meet the new boss, same as the old boss..”
Please prove me wrong, standing by.
Gen Dunford has a delicate dance to do, as his first term as CJCS will significantly overlap the next administration. Has to be careful not to get too attached to the Obama team policies, and ingratiate himself w/ the lead horses as next POTUS if he wants to get renominated for a second term or maybe he doesn’t (only Pete Pace has failed to serve at least two terms as chairman).
Pace is the only CJCS in the last 50 years to not serve at least parts of 2 terms as CJSC (the CJCS is normally appointed for a 2-year term by the POTUS). However, he’s not the only CJCS to serve a single term.
Both Lemnitzer and Taylor served only a single term (2yrs or less) as CJCS. For Lemnitzer, that was from 1 Oct 60 to 30 Sep 62; for Taylor, from 1 Oct 62 to 1 Jul 64. If I recall correctly, Lemnitzer was forced out due to disagreements with Kennedy over Cuba policy. Taylor left early as CJCS because of Lodge’s resignation as Ambassador to Vietnam; Taylor was appointed to replace him.
Thanks for the correction. I remember GEN Max Taylor getting singled out for some fearsome criticism in the book “Dereliction Of Duty” many years ago.
About Taylor and Dereliction of Duty – agreed. He doesn’t get treated that kindly in Karnow’s Vietnam: A History, either.