This time he really means business. Gates sounded the death knell for U.S. Joint Forces command at the beginning of the week and by the end of the week he had his sites trained on the Marine Corps. In a speech at the Marines’ Memorial Club and Hotel in San Francisco on Thursday, he ordered a thorough force structure review of the Marine Corps. It’s no news that the Corps is prepared to draw down its personnel after operations in Afghanistan wind down. But this goes deeper. He said he wants to determine what an expeditionary force in readiness should…
Browsing: U.S. Joint Forces Command
With the Pentagon’s announcement Monday that Army Gen. Ray Odierno is President Obama’s pick to lead U.S. Joint Forces Command, all eyes in the Corps turn to the man who has held that post since 2007: Gen. Jim Mattis. In case you missed it, Marine Corps Times asked Mattis in April whether he intended to retire once his hitch at JFCom is over in the fall. He wouldn’t bite, saying only that his next move would be decided by Obama and DoD’s senior leadership. It’s widely speculated that Mattis is on the short list of candidates to become the Corps’…