| Bush Nominates Gen. Myers to Chair JCS | |
|
Dateline 08/24/01
President Bush today officially nominated Air Force Gen. Richard Myers, a proponent of the high-tech battlefield, to become the new chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS).
Gen. Myers, who headed the Air Force Space Command from August 1998 to February 2000, is recognized as a leading expert in space warfare and development of computerized warfare.
In his announcement, President Bush referred to the 59-year old Myers as "the right man to preserve the best traditions of our armed forces while challenging them to innovate to meet the threats of the future." Myers is currently assisting Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld with a major study of advanced arms and battlefield tactics currently in research and development by the military.
Also speaking at the nominating ceremony, Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld said of Gen. Myers, "From service as a fighter pilot in Vietnam to commander of the U.S. Space Command, his career is the embodiment of the transformation with which he will be charged as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff."
Myers will advance from his current post as vice-chairman of the Joint Chiefs under Army Gen. Henry Shelton in September, when Gen. Shelton retires.
Myers is an advocate of the national missile defense system backed by President Bush.
At the announcement ceremony held on President Bush's central Texas ranch, Myers told the audience, "Like the hard working Americans here in the heartland of Texas, I'm ready to roll up my sleeves and eager to get back to work to building the kind of military that President Bush envisions."
Myers entered the Air Force from the ROTC program at Kansas State University and served as a jet fighter pilot in the Viet Nam war.
Born in Kansas City, Missouri, Gen. Myers graduated from Kansas State University in 1965, and earned a Masters in Business Administration from Auburn University. He is married and has three children, two daughters and a son.
The Senate must still confirm the nomination of Myers, who would become the first non-Army general to chair the Joint Chiefs in over a decade.
The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is the principal military adviser to the President, Secretary of Defense, and the National Security Council (NSC),
Complete information about the organization, history and duty of the Joint Chiefs of Staff can be found on the JCS Web site: http://www.dtic.mil/jcs/
