Admiral Mullen to be next Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff

Washington, Jun 9 (UNI) US Defence Secretary Robert Gates has announced that Admiral Mike Mullen will be the next Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the US armed forces.

Admiral Mullen who will be nominated to succeed General Peter Pace, has been Chief of US Naval Operations for nearly two years.

He has also served as commander of US and NATO naval forces, and graduated from an advanced management programme at Harvard University.

''I have become well acquainted with Admiral Mullen over the past six months, and believe he has the vision, strategic insight, experience and integrity to lead America's armed forces," Gates told newsmen yesterday.

General Pace who has been Chairman or Vice-Chairman of the Joint Chiefs for the last six years, will retire when his term ends in September, after more than 40 years in the US Marines.

Gates said he would also ask President Bush to nominate Marine Corps General James Cartwright to be Vice-chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. General Cartwright is a pilot, and has been serving as commander of US strategic bomber and missile forces for the last three years.

Secretary Gates said the current Vice-Chairman, Admiral Edmund Giambastiani, could not continue in his post once another admiral was chosen as chairman.

Gates said he offered Giambastiani another senior job, but the Admiral declined and decided to retire.

The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is the senior military adviser to the president and the defence secretary.

He also chairs the committee made up of the chiefs of the four US military services, who are responsible for managing the services and recruiting, training and equipping forces for assignment to operational commanders around the world.

Earlier, the Defence Secretary said he wanted to recommend to the President that General Pace be re-nominated for another two-year term as chairman.

But, after consultation with Republican and Democratic Party members of the senate he learned that this confirmation process would have been contentious.

UNI