But Obama informed Cartwright on May 21 that he wouldn’t get the job because of opposition from Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and outgoing chairman Admiral Mike Mullen, who butted heads with Cartwright over strategy for the war in Afghanistan.
Speaking at the White House before he headed to Arlington National Cemetery to lay a wreath in honor of the nation’s war dead, Obama did not explain why he bypassed Cartwright, but he showered the general with praise, saying he had “benefited enormously from [his] advice and counsel.’’
In turning to Dempsey, Obama had to pull him out of a high-ranking position — Army chief of staff — that he had appointed him to just last month. Obama called Dempsey “one of our nation’s most respected and combat-tested generals.’’
To fill the fresh vacancy of Army chief of staff, Obama said he would appoint General Raymond Odierno, another veteran four-star commander from Iraq who has served for the past year as head of the Joint Forces Command, based in Norfolk, Va.
The Pentagon is closing the Joint Forces Command as part of a broader money-saving restructuring plan.
Obama also named Admiral James “Sandy’’ Winnefeld Jr., head of the military’s Northern Command, to take over as vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs.
All of the appointments are subject to Senate confirmation. If approved, Dempsey will take over Oct. 1 from Mullen, who is scheduled to retire four years after Bush named him to the job.
Cartwright’s term as vice chairman ends in August.
Obama said Dempsey and Winnefeld would make “an extraordinary team’’ on the Joint Chiefs of Staff. “Between them they bring deep experience in virtually every domain,’’ he said. “Land, air, space, sea, and cyber. Both of them have the respect of our troops on the front lines, our friends in Congress, and allies and partners abroad.’’
The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is the highest-ranking officer in the armed forces and the principal military adviser to the president.
