Why General Mark Milley and Why Now?
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By Daniel Gouré
December 11, 2018
At Saturday’s Army-Navy Game, President Donald Trump took the unusual step of announcing that he would be replacing the current Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Marine Corps General Joseph Dunford, with the Chief of Staff of the Army, General Mark Milley. One reason the announcement is viewed as unusual is that the change will not take effect until October 2019 when General Dunford’s current appointment ends. Another reason is that it breaks the customary pattern of cycling the chairmanship between the services. Since General Dunford is a Marine and his predecessor, General Martin Dempsey, was Army, the logical choice would be to appoint a Navy Admiral or Air Force General. Since the last Air Force officer to hold the position was General Richard Myers between 2001 and 2005, one could make a good case that the next Chairman should wear a blue suit.
https://www.realcleardefense.com/articles/2018/12/11/why_general_mark_milley_and_why_now_114017.html
