Gen. Martin Dempsey on Monday became Army Chief of Staff, succeeding Gen. George Casey. “Whatever challenges confront us in the future, your Army will respond with the same courage and resolve with which it has responded over the past 235 years,” said Dempsey at his assumption-of-command ceremony at Fort Myer, Va. Defense Secretary Robert Gates praised Dempsey at the event for his “keen mind, strategic vision, quiet confidence, and the energy he brings to every assignment.” Dempsey comes to the Army Chief post from Army Training and Doctrine Command, which he led since December 2008. Prior to that, he was US Central Command’s deputy commander and then acting commander for six months after Navy Adm. William Fallon resigned in March 2008. Casey, who had been Army Chief since April 2007, is retiring after more than 40 years in uniform. (AFPS report by Jim Garamone)
When Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Air Force Gen. Dan Caine described the 150 aircraft used in Operation Absolute Resolve, the mission to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, he referenced many by name, including the F-35 and F-22 fighters and B-1 bomber. Not specified, however, were “remotely piloted drones,” among them a secretive aircraft spotted and photographed returning to Puerto…
