USA — Gates Recommends Amos for Top Marine Post

WASHINGTON, June 22, 2010 — Defense Sec­re­tary Robert M. Gates has rec­om­mend­ed to Pres­i­dent Barack Oba­ma that he nom­i­nate Gen. James F. Amos, a career avi­a­tor, to serve as the next com­man­dant of the Marine Corps, Pen­ta­gon offi­cials announced yes­ter­day.

If he’s nom­i­nat­ed and con­firmed, Amos — now the service’s assis­tant com­man­dant — would be the first avi­a­tor to lead the Marine Corps. He would suc­ceed Gen. James T. Con­way, who is retir­ing in the fall after four decades of con­tin­u­ous service. 

Amos com­mand­ed a Marine air­craft wing and a Marine expe­di­tionary force dur­ing Oper­a­tion Iraqi Free­dom. He went on to lead the Marines’ Com­bat Devel­op­ment Com­mand and served as deputy com­man­dant for com­bat devel­op­ment and inte­gra­tion before assum­ing his cur­rent post in July 2008. 

Gates also has rec­om­mend­ed that Lt. Gen. Joseph F. Dun­ford Jr. be pro­mot­ed to replace Amos as assis­tant com­man­dant. Dun­ford com­mands the 1st Marine Expe­di­tionary Force and U.S. Marine Corps Forces Cen­tral Com­mand, with respon­si­bil­i­ty for all Marines serv­ing in Iraq and Afghanistan. 

“I came to these lead­er­ship deci­sions after a thor­ough process that con­sid­ered sev­er­al out­stand­ing can­di­dates,” Gates said in a state­ment. “I am con­vinced that Gen­er­al Amos and Lieu­tenant Gen­er­al Dun­ford are the right team to lead the U.S. Marine Corps at this time, espe­cial­ly as it bal­ances the capa­bil­i­ties need­ed to sup­port cur­rent oper­a­tions, its unique mar­itime her­itage and its future role defend­ing America.” 

Source:
U.S. Depart­ment of Defense
Office of the Assis­tant Sec­re­tary of Defense (Pub­lic Affairs)