WASHINGTON - US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has made his recommendation for the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to President George W. Bush, moving to fill the top leadership position in the US military, a senior defense official said Wednesday.
The Washington Post reported that Marine General Peter Pace, currently the vice chairman, has been chosen to succeed Air Force General Richard Myers, who is due to retire in September after four years as chairman.
Bryan Whitman, a Pentagon spokesman, declined to comment on the Post report, saying "This is a personnel decision the White House will announce."
A senior defense official, who asked not to be identified, confirmed that Rumsfeld has made his recommendation to the president, and said a White House announcement was "imminent."
Other defense officials close to Pace said they had no reason to doubt the Post report, but could not officially confirm it.
A Rumsfeld favorite, the 59-year-old Pace has long been considered the front-runner for the job. He would be the first marine to become chairman.
As the president's top military adviser, the chairman has a powerful voice in decisions over the use of military force, strategy and the future shape of the military.
If nominated and confirmed, he would assume leadership of a wartime military that has been strained by a much longer and bloodier insurgency in Iraq than anticipated, even as it faces a long war against Islamic extremists, potential nuclear threats from North Korea and Iran and the rising military might of China.
During his nearly four years as vice chairman, Pace has been at the center of Rumsfeld's efforts to transform the military into a leaner, more expeditionary force capable of responding quickly to global crises.
Along with outgoing Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, Pace currently heads a comprehensive review that is conducted every four years to determine how the military should be positioned to deal with future threats.
Many critics fault Rumsfeld and his aides for not fielding an army large enough to handle both Iraq and other global security commitments.
But the choice of Pace as chairman would ensure both continuity in reform efforts and that Rumsfeld's influence will be lasting, even if he has a short second term.
The Post said Admiral Edmund Giambastiani, another Rumsfeld protege, would likely replace Pace as vice chairman.
Giambastiani, who served as Rumsfeld's chief military assistant during his first year in office, is currently commander of the Joint Forces Command in Norfolk, Virginia, where he has led efforts to make the military services operate more closely together.
With those two positions, the most important pieces of Rumsfeld's second term team would be in place.
Navy Secretary Gordon England appeared headed for confirmation as deputy defense secretary after a hearing Tuesday before the Senate Armed Services Committee. He will replace Wolfowitz who has been named president of the World Bank.
England singled out as a pressing challenge the dramatic increase in costs of new weapons systems and how the Pentagon's acquisitions system should be changed to bring them under control.
04/20/2005 18:00 GMT