New Defense Secretary Robert Gates has recommended to President Bush that Gen. George Casey take over the Army as Chief of Staff, replacing Gen. Peter Schoomaker, who gets to retire for the second time. (Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld brought Schoomaker back from retirement when he ousted Gen. Eric Shinseki.) 
Casey has served both as Vice Chief of Staff and most recently as commander of the Multi-National Force Iraq. To replace Casey, Gates wants to promote Army Lt. Gen. Dave Petraeus. And, completing a top Iraq war leadership sweep, Gates wants to make Adm. William Fallon the new head of US Central Command, replacing Army Gen. John Abizaid, who will retire. In Gates’ view, the three new commanders have a “mix of experience, skills, creativity, and strategic vision [that] make the whole greater than the sum of the individual parts.”
Celebrating 100 Years of Liquid-Fueled Rockets
March 11, 2026
March 16, 2026, marks 100 years since Dr. Robert H. Goddard launched the world’s first liquid-fueled rocket. Over the past century, new and ever more capable liquid-fueled rockets have literally propelled humanity into space. Why liquid-fueled rockets?