Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced last week that the command billet for US Air Forces in Europe will be for a three-star general in the future and no longer a four-star post. The same applies for the heads of the Army and Navy components of US European Command, he said. It is “no longer necessary to retain four-star service component headquarters for [EUCOM], each of which is too large and too senior given the number of troops they lead and the military operations they oversee,” Gates told reporters during a Pentagon briefing discussing Defense Department-wide changes to shed excess overhead. Accordingly, he said, “These commands will be reduced to the three-star level, with concurrent streamlining in the headquarters and personnel staff.” Overall, Gates said he intends to eliminate or downgrade more than 80 general- or flag-officer billets across DOD. (Gates-Mullen transcript)
Lt. Gen. Dan Caine, nominee to be chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that the Defense Department needs to upgrade its electronic warfare capability and its EW training ranges; just as his predecessor said at his own confirmation hearing.