thedrifter
01-06-07, 06:13 PM
Navy? Joint?? You Betcha!
Posted By Pinch Paisley
Admiral William “Fox” Fallon is a name we’ll be hearing more from in the coming months and few years. Why? He’s taking over Central Command (CENTCOM) from General John Abizaid.
Fallon to replace Abizaid at CentCom, report says
By Gordon Lubold
Adm. William “Fox” Fallon, chief of the U.S. Pacific Command has been tapped to replace Army Gen. John Abizaid as the commander of U.S. Central Command and overseer of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii. “I think it demonstrates Adm. Fallon is a person they need out there,” Inouye told a luncheon in Honolulu, as reported by The Honolulu Advertiser.
ABC News is reporting that Army Lt. Gen. David Petraeus, the well-respected Iraq commander who had begun the effort to train Iraqi security forces, will be nominated to become senior commander in Iraq, replacing Army Gen. George Casey.
Since Abizaid announced that he would leave his post in March, there had been widespread speculation as to who would replace him. Petraeus, thought to be one of the smartest commanders in Iraq, was often cited around Pentagon water coolers as one of the likeliest candidates to replace Casey.
As a sailor tapped to lead a combatant command engaged in a furious ground war, Fallon is more of a surprise. Fallon has said that one of his most important missions at Pacific Command is establishing a trusting and substantive relationship with China.
Officials at the Pentagon declined to comment on any possible changes to senior commanders.
What is unique about Fox Fallon taking over CENTCOM isn’t just the fact that a navy guy is taking the helm over a traditionally Army or Marine focused unified regional command (CENTCOM’s list of commanders reads like a who’s who of army and marine heavyweights – Schwarzkopf, Zinni, Franks, Abizaid). No – what is really unique is that the Navy has made it – they are part of this “Joint” thing now. Laugh if you must, but for the longest time the Navy was on the outside looking in on the Joint party.
For the longest time, the Navy could afford to operate autonomously – out there, all by its lonesome in the middle of the ocean, protecting those “sea lanes of communication and commerce”, keeping that Greenland-Iceland-United Kingdom (GIUK) gap open and free of Soviet interference, watching the Red Bear as it sought out a warm-water port or expanded its blue-water naval desires, training and preparing for that “war at sea” scenario (Vector Logic? Chainsaw? Phoenix missile, baby!) as the Godless Communist Hoards come over the northern horizon. The navy could afford to be “platform-centric” operatives (as opposed to the now-familiar “network-centric), a stand-alone battle-group with its own fires (battleship or cruiser or other shore-bombardment capabilities), its own air support (the air wing), its own gas (those K-A3s and K-A6s were pretty flippin’ nice to have), its own everything.
Not so anymore in the joint world of today. Back in 1986 came this thing we call “Goldwater-Nichols”, that defense department reorganization act monster that reformed and redefined practically everything from heads on ships (Navy and Marines), latrines on the land (Army), and powder rooms in VOQs (Air Force) to how we fight.
The first real-world, major application of this reorganization came in late 1990 and 1991 with Desert Shield and Desert Storm. The Navy back in those days wasn’t exactly leading the pack in this “joint” thing. In fact, we were sort of the odd-man out – the red-headed step-child – the crazy aunt in the attic – whatever you wanted to call it, we were just late to the game and didn’t play “joint” as well as the other services.
Couple all that with the fact that Desert Storm was primarily a land battle (apologies to the 6 aircraft carrier battle groups scattered throughout the region) – Iraq never did have anything that resembled anything remotely looking like a Navy, so once again this “Joint” thing just didn’t bode well for those aligned to the nautical persuasion.
Over the past 15 years, though, things have changed rather significantly. Through working closely with Army and Air Force units, the Navy team started to “get” this Joint thing, participating in many, many, many Joint, multi-service and Combined Task Force exercises, developing and honing their doctrine to enhance the jointness of combat operations (…From The Sea was the first major shift of our maritime warfare focus from an open-ocean maritime strategy toward naval expeditionary forces enhanced for joint and combined operations in the littoral). The end result? A sailor running our military operations in south west Asia.
Today, though, filling the CENTCOM job with a sailor isn’t as weird as it seems. It’s not just that Admiral Fallon is one sharp warrior, but the Navy has come full circle and is integrated seamlessly into the whole joint fabric of warfare. From integrating the carrier airwing into the Joint Force Air Component (JFACC) concept, to managing the Joint Force Maritime Component (JFMCC) from the maritime perspective to fully supporting the Marines and Army in land operations, to being the head cheese in any Joint operation or component command, the Navy is here (some might say finally).
The bottom line is that the President and his advisors, military or otherwise, would not recommend just any swinging Richard for a unified command job, much less a combatant command (COCOM) that just happens to be one of the most important ones around these days, unless they felt the candidate up to the task. Coming from PACOM (US Pacific Command) and the interactions Fallon had to have with the Chinese and other nations surrounding the Pacific, I’m sure he’s more than ready.
Good luck, Admiral!
Ellie
Posted By Pinch Paisley
Admiral William “Fox” Fallon is a name we’ll be hearing more from in the coming months and few years. Why? He’s taking over Central Command (CENTCOM) from General John Abizaid.
Fallon to replace Abizaid at CentCom, report says
By Gordon Lubold
Adm. William “Fox” Fallon, chief of the U.S. Pacific Command has been tapped to replace Army Gen. John Abizaid as the commander of U.S. Central Command and overseer of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii. “I think it demonstrates Adm. Fallon is a person they need out there,” Inouye told a luncheon in Honolulu, as reported by The Honolulu Advertiser.
ABC News is reporting that Army Lt. Gen. David Petraeus, the well-respected Iraq commander who had begun the effort to train Iraqi security forces, will be nominated to become senior commander in Iraq, replacing Army Gen. George Casey.
Since Abizaid announced that he would leave his post in March, there had been widespread speculation as to who would replace him. Petraeus, thought to be one of the smartest commanders in Iraq, was often cited around Pentagon water coolers as one of the likeliest candidates to replace Casey.
As a sailor tapped to lead a combatant command engaged in a furious ground war, Fallon is more of a surprise. Fallon has said that one of his most important missions at Pacific Command is establishing a trusting and substantive relationship with China.
Officials at the Pentagon declined to comment on any possible changes to senior commanders.
What is unique about Fox Fallon taking over CENTCOM isn’t just the fact that a navy guy is taking the helm over a traditionally Army or Marine focused unified regional command (CENTCOM’s list of commanders reads like a who’s who of army and marine heavyweights – Schwarzkopf, Zinni, Franks, Abizaid). No – what is really unique is that the Navy has made it – they are part of this “Joint” thing now. Laugh if you must, but for the longest time the Navy was on the outside looking in on the Joint party.
For the longest time, the Navy could afford to operate autonomously – out there, all by its lonesome in the middle of the ocean, protecting those “sea lanes of communication and commerce”, keeping that Greenland-Iceland-United Kingdom (GIUK) gap open and free of Soviet interference, watching the Red Bear as it sought out a warm-water port or expanded its blue-water naval desires, training and preparing for that “war at sea” scenario (Vector Logic? Chainsaw? Phoenix missile, baby!) as the Godless Communist Hoards come over the northern horizon. The navy could afford to be “platform-centric” operatives (as opposed to the now-familiar “network-centric), a stand-alone battle-group with its own fires (battleship or cruiser or other shore-bombardment capabilities), its own air support (the air wing), its own gas (those K-A3s and K-A6s were pretty flippin’ nice to have), its own everything.
Not so anymore in the joint world of today. Back in 1986 came this thing we call “Goldwater-Nichols”, that defense department reorganization act monster that reformed and redefined practically everything from heads on ships (Navy and Marines), latrines on the land (Army), and powder rooms in VOQs (Air Force) to how we fight.
The first real-world, major application of this reorganization came in late 1990 and 1991 with Desert Shield and Desert Storm. The Navy back in those days wasn’t exactly leading the pack in this “joint” thing. In fact, we were sort of the odd-man out – the red-headed step-child – the crazy aunt in the attic – whatever you wanted to call it, we were just late to the game and didn’t play “joint” as well as the other services.
Couple all that with the fact that Desert Storm was primarily a land battle (apologies to the 6 aircraft carrier battle groups scattered throughout the region) – Iraq never did have anything that resembled anything remotely looking like a Navy, so once again this “Joint” thing just didn’t bode well for those aligned to the nautical persuasion.
Over the past 15 years, though, things have changed rather significantly. Through working closely with Army and Air Force units, the Navy team started to “get” this Joint thing, participating in many, many, many Joint, multi-service and Combined Task Force exercises, developing and honing their doctrine to enhance the jointness of combat operations (…From The Sea was the first major shift of our maritime warfare focus from an open-ocean maritime strategy toward naval expeditionary forces enhanced for joint and combined operations in the littoral). The end result? A sailor running our military operations in south west Asia.
Today, though, filling the CENTCOM job with a sailor isn’t as weird as it seems. It’s not just that Admiral Fallon is one sharp warrior, but the Navy has come full circle and is integrated seamlessly into the whole joint fabric of warfare. From integrating the carrier airwing into the Joint Force Air Component (JFACC) concept, to managing the Joint Force Maritime Component (JFMCC) from the maritime perspective to fully supporting the Marines and Army in land operations, to being the head cheese in any Joint operation or component command, the Navy is here (some might say finally).
The bottom line is that the President and his advisors, military or otherwise, would not recommend just any swinging Richard for a unified command job, much less a combatant command (COCOM) that just happens to be one of the most important ones around these days, unless they felt the candidate up to the task. Coming from PACOM (US Pacific Command) and the interactions Fallon had to have with the Chinese and other nations surrounding the Pacific, I’m sure he’s more than ready.
Good luck, Admiral!
Ellie