The Word on the street...USMC commandant

 

I have worked with Gen Amos in the past. He is a true professional.

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Defense Secretary Robert Gates has recommended that Gen. James Amos will be the next commandant of the Marine Corps, POLITICO has learned. Lt. Gen. Joseph Dunford has been recommended to be assistant commandant. (hat tip Politico 44/Seamus etc etc)

President Obama has not yet nominated either individual, according to defense sources, but the recommendations were recently sent to the White House.

Amos, already the Corps’ No. 2 officer, would be the first aviator to lead the service. The selection of Amos is a huge upset since the choice was thought to be between two known infantry officers: Dunford, and Gen. James Mattis. Both men had long been considered frontrunners and brought to the job different reputations and backgrounds at a time when the Corps endeavors to re-establish its sea-service identity after more than eight years of fighting wars in largely landlocked regions.

Gates was expected to want a leader who would help focus that effort. But the deliberations over who would lead the Corps also included discussions on whether gays and lesbians should be allowed to serve openly as well as well as the future of the Corps’ favorite ground combat vehicle, the General Dynamics-made Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle, say officials in and outside of the Pentagon.

Also under consideration for the Corps’ top job was Lt. Gen. John Allen, now the deputy commander of U.S. Central Command. Defense News reported that Lt. Gen. Richard Natonski was under consideration but a source close to the process said he was not.

Amos will be seen as a strange choice for the Corps as it fights two land campaigns. One retired senior officer said Amos would probably make a good leader of the service even as he expressed reservations about his background as an aviator.

“He’ll do fine, he’ll have a good team surrounding him and he won’t go off the edge any which way or the other,” the retired officer told POLITICO.

But during a period of intense ground operations for the Corps, the retired officer wondered why the Obama White House would choose a Marine officer with no ground combat experience.

“The Marine Corps as an institution doesn’t owe anyone anything,” the retired officer said. “But should there be more consideration to a ground guy when you’re in the middle of a couple of ground wars? I think you might want to do that.”

But Mattis said he “could not be more pleased” that his “shipmate and friend” would lead the Corps in an e-mail to POLITICO.

“By all means quote me: Tamer Amos and Fighting Joe Dunford will be the best possible team,” said Mattis, using nicknames for the two officers.

Typically, the Corps’ second officer, known as the assistant commandant of the Marine Corps, is an aviator who never rises to the top job. But the choice of Amos, considered a reserved senior officer not known for the force of his personality, may be the result of a combination of factors. Those likely include his thinking on how and if gays and lesbians should serve openly in the Marine Corps, as well as potentially being open to cancelling the EFV, a multibillion-dollar program that is behind schedule and over budget. Gates appears to have the vehicle in his budgetary cross-hairs.

Other members of the Pentagon leadership have questioned the Corps’ wisdom in pursuing the program when the writing appears to be on the wall that Gates wants to start in a new direction even as many Corps leaders cling to the platform. Likewise, the Corps’ stable of senior officers may believe that repealing 'don’t ask, don’t tell' is not a wise thing to do at this time, taking a cue from the current commandant, Gen. James Conway, who has been an outspoken opponent of repeal.

Comments

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S/F
Taco
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[ffxiv gil]

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Amos, already the Corps’ No. 2 officer, would be the first aviator to lead the service. The selection of Amos is a huge upset since the choice was thought to be between two known infantry officers: Dunford, and Gen. James Mattis. Both men had long been considered frontrunners and brought to the job different reputations and backgrounds at a time when the Corps endeavors to re-establish its sea-service identity after more than eight years of fighting wars in largely landlocked regions.

Gates was expected to want a leader who would help focus that effort. But the deliberations over who would lead the Corps also included discussions on whether gays and lesbians should be allowed to serve openly as well as well as the future of the Corps’ favorite ground combat vehicle, the General Dynamics-made Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle, say officials in and outside of the Pentagon.