WASHINGTON (AP) – President Barack Obama is choosing a widely respected, combat-hardened commander who led the Afghanistan war coalition during a key transitional period during 2013-14 as the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
U.S. officials say he is nominating Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford Jr. to the post to succeed Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, who will have served four years as chairman.
Obama plans to make the announcement at the White House Tuesday, said officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly ahead of the announcement. Dunford is expected to be easily confirmed by the U.S. Senate.
Dunford’s service as the commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps will be cut short after he began that job last October. But the rapid promotion is one of several that have marked Dunford’s fast-tracked military career, which saw him leap from a one-star general to four stars in about three years.
Officials also said Obama is tapping Gen. Paul J. Selva, a top Air Force officer and pilot, to serve as vice chairman. Selva, who has clocked more than 3,100 hours piloting transport and refueling aircraft, is currently the head of U.S. Transportation Command at Scott Air Force Base in Illinois.