Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman says that the transition from outgoing Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to nominee Robert Gates will work smoothly with all Pentagon staffers focusing on the job at hand. Whitman elaborated: “We are engaged in combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. We’re in the midst of a budget cycle, so the personnel of the department are going about their business in the serious type of fashion that the American people would expect them to.” Rumsfeld, he said, will remain in his job until replaced. The Senate is not slated to reconvene until Nov. 13, and one of the first things on the Senate Armed Services Committee’s agenda for the lame duck session currently is a Nov. 15 status session on the situation in Iraq and Afghanistan.
As commander of Air Forces Central, Lt. Gen. Alexus G. Grynkewich has been at the heart of almost all U.S. military action in the Middle East, from overseeing airstrikes against Iranian proxy groups to protecting troops as America’s air defense commander for the region. Just before handing over his command to…