President Obama nominates new chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

The Joint Chiefs of Staff are the principle military advisors to the US president and the security team that includes National Security Advisor Susan Rice, Secretary of Defence Ash Carter and Vice President Joe Biden.

President Obama praised General Dempsey and Admiral Winnefeld for their services during the last number of years. They were part of the White House team to end the American combat mission in Afghanistan and the set up the international coalition to fight ISIL. They also had to deal with humanitarian operations in the aftermath of the typhoon in the Philippines and the team that fought Ebola in West Africa. During their tenure in the White House, the team of General Dempsey also had to deal with the challenges of budgetary restriction.

General Joe Dunford is a seasoned veteran of the American forces as a commander of the Marines during the invasion of Ira as he led Marines in the charge to Baghdad. More recently, General Dunford was the Commander of American and Coalition Forces, which included the Lithuanian military, in Afghanistan were he navigated the challenging transition from the Coalition to Afghan forces taking over responsibility for security and the drawdown of US forces.

The president praised Dunford as a “proven leader of our joint force, including our troops in Afghanistan and one of our military’s most highly regarded strategic thinkers”. It is expected that the US Senate will quickly approve General Dunford.