US Army General Martin Dempsey, a former English literature teacher who commanded an armored division in key battles in Iraq, was expected to be named new chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on Monday, a US source said.
The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said President Barack Obama was “expected” to promote Dempsey to the top uniformed military job on Memorial Day, the annual holiday set aside to remember America’s war dead. The White House earlier issued an advisory saying the president, who is on his way back from Europe, would make Department of Defense “personnel announcements” in the White House Rose Garden.
Secretary of Defence Robert Gates and National Security Adviser Tom Donilon will attend the ceremony, the release said. Dempsey had been considered the most likely candidate to succeed the outgoing holder of the US military’s top job, Admiral Mike Mullen, after Obama’s “favorite general” James Cartwright was passed over amid concerns over his standing among fellow officers.
Nominating Dempsey would be an unusual move and suggested that earlier plans were scrapped, given that the four-star army general took over as chief of the US Army only in April. Dempsey served in the Iraq war, commanding the 1st Armored Division in Iraq in 2003-04, and later led training efforts for Iraqi forces.
