Member of the Joint Chiefs to Resign in Protest?

Member of the Joint Chiefs to Resign in Protest?

Top Senator Says Commanders Frustrated with Defense Cuts

February 28, 2014

By Dustin Walker

http://www.realcleardefense.com/articles/2014/02/28/military_service_chief_about_to_resign_in_protest_107115.html

One member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is considering resigning in protest over recent defense cuts, says Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.).

The ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee told reporters at a Defense Writers Group breakfast on Thursday that the nation’s top military officers have privately expressed their discontent with the continuing budget uncertainty at the Defense Department.

Time magazine's Mark Thompson asked Inhofe, “How close do you think [the chiefs] are to saying, ‘Screw this, I'm out of here?’”

“I'm not going to tell you who they are, but there's one who's very close to doing just what you're suggesting,” responded Inhofe. His role on the Senate Armed Services Committee entails frequent meetings with top military commanders.

Defense cuts enacted in the 2011 Budget Control Act, which could total up to $1 trillion, have forced difficult decisions for the service chiefs. On Monday, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel previewed the Pentagon’s FY15 defense budget proposal. Hagel’s proposal would cut the Army to as low as 440,000 soldiers, sideline half the Navy’s cruiser fleet, and retire a number of Air Force aircraft whose replacements are years away. Hagel is also calling for far-reaching changes to military compensation and benefits.

Since the proposal comes from the Pentagon, many defenders of such cuts are framing the issue by saying the military has signed off on the proposals and can live with them. But Senator Inhofe and Rep. Buck McKeon (R-Calif.), who was also at the breakfast, say it’s more complicated than that. They see the chiefs as saluting dutifully even as they have their reservations.

Indeed, both Republicans told reporters that the chiefs oppose many of the defense budget proposals. They specifically referenced Gen. Ray Odierno, the Army’s chief of staff, who they described as forced to sell drastic cuts to Army force structure and programs.

The other members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff include its chairman General Martin Dempsey; its vice chairman Admiral James Winnefeld; Air Force Chief of Staff General Mark Welsh; Marine Corps Commandant General James Amos; and Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Jonathan Greenert.

Joint Chiefs of Staff

Edmund P. Giambastiani Jr. was the vice chairman for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, an admiral for the U.S. Navy, and is a director at the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank).

Note: Joseph W. Ralston was the vice chairman for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, a general for the U.S. Air Force, is an advisory board member for the Wheelchair Foundation, and a director at the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank).

Mikhail Gorbachev is an advisory board member for the Wheelchair Foundation, was the general secretary for the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, and the president of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).

Robert S. Strauss was the U.S. ambassador for the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), and is a partner at Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, LLP.

James F. Collins was a senior advisor for Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, LLP, and is a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank).

Gregory B. Craig is a trustee at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank), James E. Cartwright’s attorney, was the White House counsel for the Barack Obama administration, and Kofi A. Annan’s lawyer.

James E. Cartwright’s attorney is Gregory B. Craig, a director at the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank), was the vice chairman for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and a general for the U.S. Marine Corps.

Open Society Foundations was a funder for the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank), and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank).

George Soros is the founder & chairman for the Open Society Foundations, a board member for the International Crisis Group, and was the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society.

Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank), the International Rescue Committee, and the Brookings Institution (think tank).

Kofi A. Annan’s lawyer was Gregory B. Craig, is a board member for the International Crisis Group, a trustee at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank), and an overseer at the International Rescue Committee.

Colin L. Powell is an overseer at the International Rescue Committee, an honorary director at the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank), and was the chairman for the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

William A. Owens was the vice chairman for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), and an admiral for the U.S. Navy.

Chuck Hagel was the chairman for the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank), a sergeant in the U.S. Army, and is the secretary at the U.S. Department of Defense for the Barack Obama administration.