Opinion | We need a solution now to unfreeze military confirmations – By Gen. Robert Brown (ret.) (Defense News) / Aug 10, 2023
An unprecedented Senate freeze in confirming more than 300 senior military officers for critical jobs across the joint force demands immediate action to avoid the national security disaster that could arise from not having a full stable of senior leadership.
Leaving key vacancies in critical Pentagon leadership posts — including the Army chief of staff and Marine Corps commandant — is never wise. The Marine Corps hasn’t had a vacancy in its top leadership post since 1910-1911, according to the Pentagon, and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has said there was never before a time when both the top Army and Marine Corps leadership posts were vacant simultaneously.
This is an especially bad situation in today’s global environment. It puts the U.S. and our allies and partners at unnecessary risk, and it tarnishes America’s reputation as an unshakeable, always-ready global leader.
This monthslong blockade has steadily grown while the U.S. and the world face deepening crises and threats, from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and North Korea’s increased tests of nuclear-capable missiles to China’s threatening modernization and the unsettling recent display of Russian and Chinese warships operating together off the Alaskan coast. Times of transition, particularly among top leaders, are already dangerous. It is not hard to fathom how one or several of these threats could explode.
