Obama nominates Army head to serve as new Joint Chiefs chairman

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Source: CNN

Washington (CNN) -- President Barack Obama on Monday nominated Gen. Martin Dempsey, the relatively new Army chief of staff, to be the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The term of the current chairman, Adm. Michael Mullen, ends in September.

Obama also nominated Adm. James Winnefeld, the current head of the U.S. Northern Command, to serve as vice chairman. He tapped Gen. Ray Odierno to replace Dempsey as the Army's chief of staff.

The president, speaking at the White House, urged the Senate to confirm the three men "as swiftly as possible" in order to help ensure a "seamless" Pentagon transition.


Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2011/POLITICS/05/30/joint.chiefs.chairman/index.html?hpt=T1&iref=BN1