KB
03-20-2006, 09:20 PM
DoD, senators differ on spec ops command structure
By Sean D. Naylor
Times staff writer
Confusion reigns among the Defense Department, the Senate and U.S. Special Operations Command over the leadership and chain of command of the nation’s most elite special operations units.
As a result, Army Lt. Gen. Stan McChrystal, one of the nation’s most seasoned special operations generals, now occupies what a special ops officer at Fort Bragg, N.C., described as “a fictitious billet,” while Delta Force, SEAL Team 6 and other elite units appear to have a “confusing” chain of command, according to a Senate source.
At the center of the controversy is the recently promoted McChrystal. Senate sources say the position to which the Pentagon asked them to confirm McChrystal is not the one Special Operations Command says he now occupies.
If McChrystal continues to fill that billet, rather than the different one to which the Senate confirmed him, the military will be breaking the law, according to a Senate source.
Until March 1, McChrystal commanded Joint Special Operations Command at Pope Air Force Base, N.C., which commands and controls the military’s most elite special mission units.
When the Pentagon announced McChrystal’s nomination for promotion in February, SOCom — JSOC’s higher headquarters — said McChrystal would continue to head JSOC, which would become a three-star command.
But confusion has spread in the past month between the Pentagon, SOCom and the Senate, which had to confirm McChrystal’s appointment and new title, concerning what that title is — and who commands JSOC.
Much of the confusion stems from the wording of a Feb. 6 Pentagon announcement that said McChrystal was being nominated “for appointment to the grade of lieutenant general and assignment as commander, Joint Special Operations Command, U.S. Central Command Forward, U.S. Special Operations Command.”
That wording — particularly the phrase “U.S. Central Command Forward” — has led to different interpretations among institutions that are supposed to share a common understanding of the issue.
Ken McGraw, a spokesman for SOCom, JSOC’s higher headquarters, wrote in a Feb. 6 e-mail to Marine Corps Times that the Pentagon announcement, which the Defense Department did not allow SOCom to review prior to posting, was “confused” and that the reference to “Central Command Forward” was “wrong.”
In an e-mail the next day, McGraw wrote that the initiative to make the JSOC commander post a three-star position “has been underway for some time,” and that McChrystal has been nominated for promotion to lieutenant general “to fill that position.”
Not so, according to two Senate sources.
“That’s not what they said to Congress,” said one of the sources, each of whom said the Pentagon told the Senate Armed Services Committee that JSOC was not being made a three-star command.
The Pentagon insisted to the committee representatives that despite the inclusion of the phrase “commander, Joint Special Operations Command” in McChrystal’s new title and chain of command, the addition of the phrase “U.S. Central Command Forward” meant he would no longer command JSOC at Pope, but rather that he would lead a JSOC element assigned to Central Command, according to one Senate source.
The picture is no clearer in the corridors of the Pentagon.
“The story that we’ve been hearing is that this is a temporary deal, and that it was as much to award Stan McChrystal a deserved third star, and then the dodge, if you will, was to create this temporary war-fighting position,” a Pentagon source said.
Central Command spokesman Maj. Matt McLaughlin said that he concurred with the Feb. 7 statement from SOCom’s McGraw that JSOC would become a three-star headquarters led by McChrystal.
But if the Pentagon wants to make the JSOC commander’s billet a permanent three-star position, it will either have to cut a three-star position elsewhere, or petition Congress for an increase to the statutory limit on the number of three-star slots each service is allowed by law.
This is because McChrystal was promoted under a special provision that allows the president to exceed those statutory limits in time of war or national emergency, according to Senate sources.
McChrystal is one of about 50 current flag officers whose promotions and assignments have been made under these “national emergency” conditions, according to one of the Senate sources.
“If we ever get to the point where we’re not in a national emergency, all those temporary positions will go away,” the source said.
“If they want that to be a real, no kidding three-star, they’ve got to harvest a three-star somewhere,” he said. “USASOC is in danger of becoming a two-star command with a couple of one-star deputies.”
Spokesmen for the Defense Department and the Senate Armed Services Committee did not return calls by deadline.
By Sean D. Naylor
Times staff writer
Confusion reigns among the Defense Department, the Senate and U.S. Special Operations Command over the leadership and chain of command of the nation’s most elite special operations units.
As a result, Army Lt. Gen. Stan McChrystal, one of the nation’s most seasoned special operations generals, now occupies what a special ops officer at Fort Bragg, N.C., described as “a fictitious billet,” while Delta Force, SEAL Team 6 and other elite units appear to have a “confusing” chain of command, according to a Senate source.
At the center of the controversy is the recently promoted McChrystal. Senate sources say the position to which the Pentagon asked them to confirm McChrystal is not the one Special Operations Command says he now occupies.
If McChrystal continues to fill that billet, rather than the different one to which the Senate confirmed him, the military will be breaking the law, according to a Senate source.
Until March 1, McChrystal commanded Joint Special Operations Command at Pope Air Force Base, N.C., which commands and controls the military’s most elite special mission units.
When the Pentagon announced McChrystal’s nomination for promotion in February, SOCom — JSOC’s higher headquarters — said McChrystal would continue to head JSOC, which would become a three-star command.
But confusion has spread in the past month between the Pentagon, SOCom and the Senate, which had to confirm McChrystal’s appointment and new title, concerning what that title is — and who commands JSOC.
Much of the confusion stems from the wording of a Feb. 6 Pentagon announcement that said McChrystal was being nominated “for appointment to the grade of lieutenant general and assignment as commander, Joint Special Operations Command, U.S. Central Command Forward, U.S. Special Operations Command.”
That wording — particularly the phrase “U.S. Central Command Forward” — has led to different interpretations among institutions that are supposed to share a common understanding of the issue.
Ken McGraw, a spokesman for SOCom, JSOC’s higher headquarters, wrote in a Feb. 6 e-mail to Marine Corps Times that the Pentagon announcement, which the Defense Department did not allow SOCom to review prior to posting, was “confused” and that the reference to “Central Command Forward” was “wrong.”
In an e-mail the next day, McGraw wrote that the initiative to make the JSOC commander post a three-star position “has been underway for some time,” and that McChrystal has been nominated for promotion to lieutenant general “to fill that position.”
Not so, according to two Senate sources.
“That’s not what they said to Congress,” said one of the sources, each of whom said the Pentagon told the Senate Armed Services Committee that JSOC was not being made a three-star command.
The Pentagon insisted to the committee representatives that despite the inclusion of the phrase “commander, Joint Special Operations Command” in McChrystal’s new title and chain of command, the addition of the phrase “U.S. Central Command Forward” meant he would no longer command JSOC at Pope, but rather that he would lead a JSOC element assigned to Central Command, according to one Senate source.
The picture is no clearer in the corridors of the Pentagon.
“The story that we’ve been hearing is that this is a temporary deal, and that it was as much to award Stan McChrystal a deserved third star, and then the dodge, if you will, was to create this temporary war-fighting position,” a Pentagon source said.
Central Command spokesman Maj. Matt McLaughlin said that he concurred with the Feb. 7 statement from SOCom’s McGraw that JSOC would become a three-star headquarters led by McChrystal.
But if the Pentagon wants to make the JSOC commander’s billet a permanent three-star position, it will either have to cut a three-star position elsewhere, or petition Congress for an increase to the statutory limit on the number of three-star slots each service is allowed by law.
This is because McChrystal was promoted under a special provision that allows the president to exceed those statutory limits in time of war or national emergency, according to Senate sources.
McChrystal is one of about 50 current flag officers whose promotions and assignments have been made under these “national emergency” conditions, according to one of the Senate sources.
“If we ever get to the point where we’re not in a national emergency, all those temporary positions will go away,” the source said.
“If they want that to be a real, no kidding three-star, they’ve got to harvest a three-star somewhere,” he said. “USASOC is in danger of becoming a two-star command with a couple of one-star deputies.”
Spokesmen for the Defense Department and the Senate Armed Services Committee did not return calls by deadline.