Obama picks Marine general as next top officer
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama will nominate Marine General Joseph Dunford as the next chairman of the joint chiefs, choosing an officer with battlefield experience in Iraq and Afghanistan for the US military's top job.
If confirmed by the Senate for the post, Dunford will be drawing on his years fighting insurgents over the past decade when he advises Obama on the US-led war against the Islamic State group.
The next chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff will also have to contend with a resurgent Russia, China's growing military might and looming automatic budget cuts that could create headaches for the military.
Dunford, 59, currently the commandant of the US Marine Corps, would replace General Martin Dempsey, an army officer who will retire after he finishes his second term as chairman in October.
Obama was expected to announce the nomination on Tuesday at the White House, officials said Monday.
The chairman of the joint chiefs does not have troops or weapons at his command but he acts as the top military adviser to the president and the defense secretary.
The job often carries hefty influence on matters of war and peace, and the chairman also is seen as the public face of the armed forces.
Officials said Obama also planned to nominate Air Force General Paul Selva to be next the vice chairman of the joint chiefs. The current vice chairman, Admiral James Winnefeld, is due to retire.
Selva is head of the military's transportation command and had served as the lead Air Force strategist. Dunford, a native of Boston who speaks with that city's distinct accent, served as the commander of NATO's International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan from February 2013 until August 2014.
During his time as commander in Kabul, Dunford oversaw a major drawdown of tens of thousands of US troops, as Afghan forces took the lead in the fight against the Taliban insurgency.
But Dunford persuaded the White House to keep a small force on the ground after 2014 instead of a total troop withdrawal.
Dunford also led troops in the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq and spent nearly two years in the country. (AFP)