The leaders of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff have been nominated to stay in their positions, the Defense Department announced on May 19.
The Pentagon said in a statement that Air Force Gen. Paul Selva has been nominated for reappointment as vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs, and Marine Corps Gen. Joseph Dunford as chairman. Selva has served in his position since July 2015, Dunford since September 2015. The Senate must approve the nominations for second two-year terms for both generals.
Previously, Selva served as commander of U.S. Transportation Command at Scott Air Force Base in Illinois, while Dunford was commandant of the Marine Corps.
The Air Force manages two legs of the U.S. nuclear triad: the intercontinental ballistic missiles and the bomber and air-launched cruise missile forces. The Pentagon is modernizing all three legs of the aging triad at an estimated cost of $1 trillion over 30 years.
The Defense Department last month officially began preparing a new Nuclear Posture Review to set U.S. nuclear policy for up to 10 years. The department said the review is being led by the deputy secretary of defense and the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs, alongside interagency partners – which places Selva at the center of the process.
Selva in March called attention to Russia’s violation of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, confirming on Capitol Hill that Moscow has deployed a land-based cruise missile in material violation of the accord. The Nuclear Posture Review will outline U.S. response options to the breach, he said.
Dunford during his 2015 confirmation hearing called Russia the greatest threat to U.S. national security because of its status as a nuclear power. He also previously spoke in support of modernization of the Energy Department’s nuclear weapons complex, calling the U.S. nuclear deterrent the “nation’s top military priority.”
