Admiral Mike Mullen is, or is about to be, the 17th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He is the fourth admiral to hold that post. His predecessors were Arthur Radford, Thomas Moorer, and William Crowe. Each of the three saw active service in World War II. Indeed, Tom Moorer had the distinction of being shot down and sunk the same day in the process of winning a Silver Star for valor.
As with his predecessors, Mullen was appointed by a Republican president. Dwight Elsenhower, Richard Nixon, and Ronald Reagan named the other three. And like his predecessors, Mullen enters office in the midst of crisis.
Radford took over just as the Korean War was drawing to a close. It was his job to guide the transition from war to peace and to help implement the Eisenhower strategy of massive retaliation, principally relying on strategic nuclear weapons to deter and contain the Soviet Union.
Moorer took office as the Vietnam War was winding down, but the conflict still dominated our thinking, much as Iraq does today.
Although Crowe may not have sensed it when he was sworn in as Chairman in 1985, the Cold War was entering its final stages. The close bond Crowe established with his Soviet counterpart, Marshal Sergei Akhromeyev, went a long way toward convincing the Soviet armed forces of America's military might and in its way contributed to the dissolution of the USSR.
As Chairman, Mullen becomes the principal military adviser to the President and the secretary of Defense. But he is not in the chain of command, nor does he command anything. That chain runs from the President to the Defense secretary to the combatant commanders. By tradition and practice, operational orders routinely go through the Chairman although that is not always the case.
Mullen's challenge will be at least as difficult as those his predecessors encountered. He must deal with conflicts that do not fit neatly into the boxes we used to term "hot" or "cold" wars. Mullen's first challenge is determined by the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan and how the United States and its allies can bring both to some form of conclusion or end state that at the minimum avoids disaster.
The second challenge will be sustaining a professional and highly capable military force. Mullen, from prior tours as the Navy's chief budget officer and as Vice Chief and then Chief of Naval Operations, understands the coming strategyforce structure-budget crisis. This year alone, Congress will appropriate $750 billion for defense-nearly $300 billion in emergency supplemental budget requests. That level of spending cannot continue indefinitely.
The third challenge is a subset of the above. The Army is stretched to the breaking point, and the Marines are getting there. Mullen must address the difficult matter of reshaping and resetting our ground forces with harsh objectivity and the keenest judgment. While Army and Marine generals will have much to say in that regard, it will take strong leadership by the Chairman to cope with these lifeand-death issues.
Finally, unlike his naval predecessors who served only one president, Mullen must focus on the next administration. Helping the new White House team in January 2009, whatever its political coloration, will be close to all-consuming given the impending collision over force structure made inevitable by looming political, personnel, and budget constraints that will mandate a major redirection of strategic priorities.
For that, Mullen is well equipped in terms of personal and professional skills. Perhaps the assignment that taught him most about the shape of this emerging world was as Commander, Naval Forces Europe, and what was then NATO's southern command. In that post, Mullen confronted many of the challenges he will face as chairman-from NATO and its operations in Bosnia and the Mediterranean to Africa and Central Asia as well as Europe and Russia. Mullen gained a wealth of experience he put to great use in his two years as CNO, and that he is certainly going to need as he takes on the greatest test of his distinguished career.
Mr. Ullman is the author of numerous books and articles on national security.