Chimera

Very soon, the command structure in middle east military operations will change. The outgoing command consists of groundwar veteran military leadership....which has been for the most part ignored, and circumvented in opinion and planning, in favor of ...well....what we have right now.
The incoming command consists of a man who drives ships, and flies airplanes....WTF?


The next commander of U.S. Groundforces in Iraq and Afghanistan
ADMIRAL WILLIAM J. FALLON, USN
Commander, U.S. Pacific Command

Admiral William J. Fallon was raised in Merchantville, N.J. A 1967 graduate of Villanova University, he received his commission through the Navy ROTC Program and was designated a naval flight officer upon completion of flight training in December 1967.

Admiral Fallon began his Naval Aviation service flying in the RA-5C Vigilante with a combat deployment to Vietnam, transitioning to the A-6 Intruder in 1974. He served in flying assignments with Attack Squadrons and Carrier Air Wings for twenty-four years, deploying to the Mediterranean Sea, Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans embarked in USS Saratoga, USS Ranger, USS Nimitz, USS Dwight D. Eisenhower and USS Theodore Roosevelt. He has logged more than 1,300 carrier arrested landings and 4,800 flight hours in tactical jet aircraft.

Admiral Fallon commanded Attack Squadron SIXTY FIVE embarked in USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, Medium Attack Wing ONE at NAS Oceana, Virginia, and Carrier Air Wing EIGHT in USS Theodore Roosevelt during a combat deployment to the Arabian Gulf for Operation Desert Storm in 1991. Assigned as Commander, Carrier Group EIGHT in 1995, he deployed to the Mediterranean as Commander, Theodore Roosevelt Battle Group and commanded Battle Force SIXTH Fleet (CTF 60) during NATO’s combat Operation Deliberate Force in Bosnia. Admiral Fallon served as Commander, SECOND Fleet and Commander, Striking Fleet Atlantic from November 1997 to September 2000.

Shore duties included assignment as Aide and Flag Lieutenant to the Commander, Fleet Air Jacksonville, and to the staffs of Commander, Reconnaissance Attack Wing ONE; Commander, Operational Test Force, and Commander, Naval Air Force, U.S. Atlantic Fleet. He has served as Deputy Director for Operations, Joint Task Force, Southwest Asia in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and as Deputy Director, Aviation Plans and Requirements on the Staff of the Chief of Naval Operations in Washington, D.C. His first flag officer assignment was with NATO as Assistant Chief of Staff, Plans and Policy for Supreme Allied Commander, Atlantic. He was then assigned as Deputy and Chief of Staff, U.S. Atlantic Fleet followed by assignment as Deputy Commander in Chief and Chief of Staff, U.S. Atlantic Command. Admiral Fallon served as the 31st Vice Chief of Naval Operations from October 2000 to August 2003. He was the Commander, U.S. Fleet Forces Command and U.S. Atlantic Fleet from October 2003 to February 2005.

Admiral Fallon is a graduate of the Naval War College, Newport, R.I., the National War College in Washington, D.C., and has a Master of Arts Degree in International Studies from Old Dominion University. His awards include the Defense Distinguished Service Medal, Distinguished Service Medal, Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit, Bronze Star, Meritorious Service Medal, Air Medal, Navy Commendation Medal, and various unit and campaign decorations.

The Current commander of Ground Forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.

JOHN ABIZAID

Commander, U.S. Central Command
General Abizaid assumed duties as the Commander, U.S. Central Command on July 7, 2003.

General Abizaid was commissioned a second lieutenant of Infantry upon graduation from the United States Military Academy in June 1973. He started his career with the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, where he served as a rifle and scout platoon leader. He commanded companies in the 2nd and 1st Ranger Battalions, leading a Ranger Rifle Company during the invasion of Grenada.

General Abizaid commanded the 3rd Battalion, 325th Airborne Battalion combat Team in Vicenza, Italy, during the Gulf crisis and deployed with the battalion to Kurdistan in Northern Iraq. His brigade command was the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 82nd Airborne Division. He served as the Assistant Division Commander, 1st Armored Division, in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Following that tour, he served as the 66th Commandant at West Point. Later, he commanded 1st Infantry Division, the “Big Red One,” in Wurzburg which provided our first ground forces into Kosovo. He served as the Deputy Commander (Forward), Combined Forces Command, US Central Command during Operation IRAQI FREEDOM.

Staff assignments include a tour with the United Nations as operations officer for Observer Group Lebanon and a tour in the Office of the Chief of the Staff, U.S. Army. European staff tours include assignments in both the Southern European Task Force and Headquarters, U.S. Army Europe. General Abizaid also served as Executive Assistant to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Director of Strategic Plans and Policy (J5) on the Joint Staff and Director of the Joint Staff.

General Abizaid’s military education includes Infantry Officer Basic and Advanced courses, Armed Forces Staff College, and a U.S. Army War College Senior Fellowship at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University. In his civilian studies, he earned a Master of Arts degree in Area Studies at Harvard University, and was an Olmsted Scholar at the University of Jordan in Amman, Jordan.

His decorations include the Defense Distinguished Service Medal with one Oak Leaf Cluster, the Distinguished Service Medal, the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Legion of Merit with five Oak Leaf Clusters and the Bronze Star. He earned the Combat Infantryman’s Badge, Master Parachutist Badge with Gold Star, Ranger Tab and the Expert Infantryman’s Badge

I just don't get it...Do any of You?

reconmike

Welcome to let's find anything we can to bash the current administration boards.
First of all you dont understand how someone with maybe 4 months of total combat experience, (and let us just assume he has even been shot at) is being replaced by a Naval Officer.
How can Abizaid command all those naval ships, aircraft that are giving support to the ground if he never flew a plane or commanded a ship?
Fallon appears to have MORE combat experience plus looks to have attended
more combat schools.

So your point is?

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Chimera

Well....lets see....My point is I Do Not Understand It. Thus...the question:

"I just don't get it...Do any of You?"

To which you were kind enough to lend your wonderful opinion, and demeanor. That aside, (though I do appreciate your input), I was questionong a descision to help me understand the logic behind it as it will in many ways affect combat operations, as well as inadvertently foreign policy depending on next weeks direction change.
If this was taken as Administration Bashing....it was not intentional, or at least not primarily. I just do not see the logic in removing the experienced team, and replacing it with a team not trained in the guerilla warfare currently taking place in Iraq. I suppose I am a bit worried this is about to escalate toward a more intense conflict, involving Naval technologies (cruise missle/bombing/etc....), with an eye toward Iran.
But, I did not intend to get you all pissy from a simple question....in fact I was sorta hoping for actual opinion, rather than knee jerking. But I suppose, if the president has lost confidence in his commanders, he does need to try someone new. Hope it works.

The_Jazz

Chimera - the current commanders basically retired. There's a large backlog of general officers waiting to be promoted, and that's a large factor in his decision.

As far as the ground troops vs. ships and aircraft arguement, you need to review the definitions of "strategic" and "tactical" and rethink your question.

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Chimera

ok....I can do that.

dc_dux

As Commander in Chief, it is Bush's perogative to replace his military leaders in Iraq....but he should expect that some will perceive the timing as political rather than strategic if his plan is to announce next week that he wil send more troops to Iraq.

Bush has said repeatedly over the last three years:

"As we determine the right force level, our troops can know that I will continue to be guided by the advice that matters: the sober judgment of our military leaders (june 05)
...

"I'm going to continue to rely upon those commanders, such as General Casey, who is doing a fabulous job and whose judgment I trust, and that will determine -- his recommendations will determine the number of troops we have on the ground in Iraq." (jan 06)
...

"And my decisions on troop levels will be made based upon the conditions on the ground, and the recommendations of our military commanders -- not artificial timetables set by politicians here in Washington, D.C." (march 06)

Perhaps it has become more politically expedient to replace them rather than accept their advice.

__________________
"The perfect is the enemy of the good."
~ Voltaire