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Panetta, Dempsey have work cut out for them

Adm. Mike Mullen retires Sept. 30, ending his tenure as chairman of the Joint Chiefs and capping an accomplished 47-year career. He has served as chairman during challenging times, coming in with Defense Secretary Robert Gates in the aftermath of Donald Rumsfeld’s tumultuous, divisive tenure.

Together, Gates and Mullen have smoothed frayed ties with Congress, allies and others. Now they have begun the difficult process of demanding budget cuts and efficiencies from a Pentagon and industrial base that for a decade feasted on steady spending increases.

Both men had reputations for putting personal integrity ahead of political concerns, which garnered broad-based support for their programs and policies. Their successors would do well to forge the good relations and demonstrate the joint sense of purpose that has served Gates and Mullen so effectively.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and incoming JCS chairman Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, who is likely to move up when Mullen departs, will need all the support and wisdom they can get as they immediately face a wide range of difficult challenges. Among them:

• Cutting Pentagon spending. President Obama seeks another $400 billion in defense cuts over the next decade. As Mullen told Military Times reporters and editors July 7, those cuts cannot be simply “across the board,” which is a recipe for hollowing out the force. They must be based upon a clear strategy of what is expected of our military.

Panetta and Dempsey will have to oversee years of budget cuts that often will run into stiff opposition from Congress and industry. Their challenge will be to cut spending and squeeze out efficiencies while still training, equipping and fielding a superior fighting force.

• Managing cultural change. The military appears certain to go ahead with allowing gay people to serve openly. That runs counter to the values of many troops, veterans and others. There is sure to be conflict as the new policy plays out in the ranks, and it will be up to Panetta and Dempsey to show true leadership to embrace the new policy and see that implementation is as smooth as possible.

• Sustaining the will for continued war. Panetta and Dempsey inherit a military whose troops and families are exhausted by a decade of deployments, casualties and the sad legacies of suicides, brain injuries and other manifestations of emotional and physical trauma.

Although Navy SEALs killed Osama bin Laden two months ago, the mission is not accomplished in Afghanistan, or even in Iraq, where the U.S. is negotiating the possibility of staying beyond the planned Dec. 31 pullout date.

Future deployment models must protect and improve upon the time troops get at home. Dempsey and Panetta must be clear and firm about how much our service members can — and cannot — be asked to do.

Nothing will be more essential, in guiding the nation through a period of significant change, than speaking bluntly about what is needed. This might mean disagreeing with the president and lawmakers on drawdown or surge plans. It might mean opposing lawmakers on pet defense programs. It might mean giving troops and veterans a reality check on pay and benefits.

Too many people spend too much time pandering and politicking when it comes to defense issues. At a time when the nation’s economy is still in dire straits, the Pentagon buck must stop at the desks of Panetta and Dempsey.