The Senate last week approved the nomination of Gen. James Amos to be the Marine Corps Commandant. He is slated to assume the post on Oct. 22. He will be the 35th leader of the leathernecks in their storied history and the first career aviator to lead the corps. President Obama in July nominated Amos for the position. Amos, who has served since July 2008 as assistant commandant, will replace Gen. James Conway, who has led the Marine Corps since November 2006 and is retiring. (See AFPS report by Donna Miles)
While U.S. defense officials have spent much of the past decade warning that China is the nation’s pacing threat and its People’s Liberation Army represents an urgent threat in the Indo-Pacific, several defense researchers are skeptical that the PLA has the human capital, the structural ability, or the political appetite…