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Army secretary enron { May 2 2003 }

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   http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A2900-2003May1.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A2900-2003May1.html

Air Force's Roche Picked to Head Army
Surprise Decision Is Viewed as Continuation of Rumsfeld's Attempt to Revamp Service

By Thomas E. Ricks
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, May 2, 2003; Page A29


Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, making another of the startling personnel changes that are becoming a hallmark of his tenure at the Pentagon, has chosen the secretary of the Air Force, James G. Roche, to become the next secretary of the Army, Pentagon insiders said last night.

Roche's selection is unusual for several reasons. Most notably, he is a career Navy officer, now named to oversee the Army; and he is a former Democratic staff director of the Senate Armed Services Committee, now being appointed by a Republican administration.

His selection appeared to signal that Rumsfeld is determined to impose sweeping changes on the Army, which he has come to see as the most resistant of the services to his agenda of "transforming" the military so it can better fight in the 21st century.

In a related personnel move that promises to further stun the top brass, Rumsfeld is contemplating promoting to four stars the three officers who commanded the service components in the war in Iraq and moving them into the No. 2 position in their respective services, the insiders said.

Under that plan, Lt. Gen. David D. McKiernan, who commanded ground forces in the war, would become vice chief of the Army. Lt. Gen. T. Michael "Buzz" Moseley, who oversaw the air campaign, would become vice chief of the Air Force. And Vice Admiral Timothy J. Keating would become the deputy chief of naval operations. Rumsfeld has been traveling in the Middle East this week and is believed to have used the trip to discuss this move with the three officers.

All the moves would be intended to convey emphatically to the armed services Rumsfeld's conclusion that they must fight "jointly," reinforcing each others' combat efforts. Historically, the services have fought their own wars, with little interaction on the battlefield. But participants in the Iraq campaign have reported that it was unusually integrated, with, among other things, Air Force and Navy warplanes flying constantly in support of ground operations.

"Rumsfeld in particular likes that Roche has pushed the Air Force in more of a joint direction, made it support air-to-ground operations," said one Pentagon official familiar with the decision to move Roche. "He also sees Roche as a guy who brings a strategic perspective to the job, and who has a background in the Navy, in the Air Force and on the Hill."

Roche has been secretary of the Air Force for the past two years. Before that, he was a senior executive at Northrop Grumman Corp. for 16 years. He was seen there as one of the people who helped turn around the defense contractor, in part by helping it focus not on "old defense" work, such as making airplanes and tanks, and instead on "new defense" jobs, such as making electronic sensors and other gear that capitalized on the computer revolution.

While in the Navy, Roche earned a master's degree from the Harvard Business School. He also commanded the USS Buchanan, a guided missile destroyer, and according to his official biography, "was awarded the Arleigh Burke Fleet Trophy for the Navy's most improved combat unit in the Pacific in 1974."

Roche retired from the Navy in 1983 as a captain to become a senior staffer on the Senate Armed Services panel.

Roche could not be reached for comment, and an Air Force spokesman declined to comment. Bryan Whitman, a spokesman for Rumsfeld, said, "That's a matter for the secretary and the president. There has been no announcement of a replacement for the secretary of the Army."

The news of Roche's selection was first reported last night by InsideDefense.com, a trade Web site.

The current secretary of the Army is Thomas E. White, 59, whom Rumsfeld ousted last week immediately before leaving for the Middle East. White's office initially had indicated that he would formally leave the position in June, but the Associated Press reported yesterday that his departure had been accelerated to the end of next week. Deputy Defense Secretary Paul D. Wolfowitz told White that he should leave earlier rather than later, the AP said.

White, a retired Army general who later was an executive at Enron Corp., had planned to leave in June at the same time that Gen. Eric K. Shinseki retires as chief of the Army. No successor has been announced for Shinseki, who also had strained relations with Rumsfeld. The leading contender is believed to be Gen. Tommy R. Franks, the overall commander in the Iraq war.

The changes are being made following a year of tension between Rumsfeld and the Army. "Rumsfeld doesn't hate the Army," a Pentagon official said last night. "He is frustrated with tendencies he sees in the Army to be impervious to change."


© 2003 The Washington Post Company


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