Casey takes charge as Army chief of staff
By Gina Cavallaro - Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Apr 10, 2007 15:24:13 EDT

Under a blustery mid-spring sky, Gen. George W. Casey became the Army’s 36th chief of staff Tuesday, marking the second time since operations began in Afghanistan and Iraq that the senior uniformed officer has changed.

During the star-studded change of responsibility ceremony at Fort Myer, Va., Casey, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Acting Army Secretary Pete Geren and retiring Chief of Staff Gen. Peter Schoomaker gave short speeches with a common theme: the caliber of soldiers who comprise the Army and the sacrifices they have made in the past five years.

“The quality of men and women in uniform is the best I’ve seen in 36 years in the Army,” said Casey, 58, who ascended the steps to the podium relying on a cane he’s using because of recent surgery to replace a tendon in his left leg.

He described the wars the Army is fighting as “the most demanding combat environment” for soldiers andforecast a protracted battle with the enemy because, he said, “we are locked in with a global extremist network.”

“We’ve been at war for over five years. We are in this war to win. We’ve fought like this since 1775 and we always will,” Casey said, offering only a glimpse of what he expects to achieve during his tenure, saying, “I am committed to maintaining our preeminence as a worldwide force.”

Unlike a change of command ceremony where an officer takes charge of an Army unit, the ceremony today at Fort Myer was called a change of responsibility because of the nature of the position.

“The chief of staff of the Army is the senior officer in the United States Army. It is not technically a command position; he is the senior person in charge of Title X for the Army,” said Army spokesman Col. Dan Baggio.

The Army’s chief of staff is responsible for the training, equipping and readiness of the Army’s active, reserve and National Guard components.

Ellie