Obama Naming Next Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) -- President Obama is expected to name Army Chief of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey as the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on Monday.
The four-star general will succeed Adm. Mike Mullen, who will retire from the position on Oct. 1.
Dempsey served two combat tours in Iraq where he commanded the 1st Armored Division shortly after the 2003 invasion and later ran the U.S. effort to train Iraqi security forces. Dempsey also served as the acting commander of U.S. Central Command, which has responsibility for U.S. military affairs in the Middle East.
Prior to assuming the job as Army chief of staff in early April, Dempsey spent two years heading the Army's Training and Doctrine Command.
This latest change of command at the Pentagon comes as part of a broad reshuffling of the president's entire military team. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who is also set to retire, will be replaced by CIA director Leon Panetta. Panetta's position, in turn, will be filled in by the top military commander in Afghanistan, Gen. David Petraeus.
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