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Mullen: No JCS enlisted adviser

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff has decided not to name a new senior enlisted adviser, saying he’d rather reach out on his own for input and advice from the military’s enlisted community.

The decision leaves vacant a position established by Adm. Mike Mullen’s predecessor, Marine Gen. Peter Pace, and filled by Army Command Sgt. Maj. William Gainey for 2½ years before his April retirement after 33 years of service.

“He’s made this decision after long and careful consideration, and consultation with the senior enlisted advisers of the four services,” said Navy Capt. John Kirby, Mullen’s spokesman. “He has decided that it would serve him best to not necessarily fill that position with an individual, but continue to reach out on a regular and concerted basis with the senior enlisted advisers of the services and the combatant commands.”

Gainey spent the final seven months of his tour advising Mullen. Kirby said Mullen’s Oct. 1 decision had nothing to do with the quality of Gainey’s service or Pace’s decision to create the job.

“They had a very good working relationship, and Adm. Mullen has nothing but respect for Sgt. Maj. Gainey, his service and the job that he did here on the Joint Staff,” Kirby said.

Mullen’s decision is not a statement on Pace’s original concept or Gainey’s performance in the job, Kirby said. “This has nothing to do with them,” he said. “This has to do with Adm. Mullen’s particular leadership style, and the goals and objectives he set as chairman.”

Kirby said Mullen took so long to decide whether to fill the job after Gainey retired — five months — because “he really wrestled with it. … He wanted to make sure that he was making it for the right reasons.”

One of Mullen’s concerns, Kirby said, was that the chairman did not want to take any of what he called “these top, hard-charging enlisted leaders” and “bring them to the Pentagon in a time of war and great uncertainty for the troops and their families if he couldn’t ensure that that position was going to be 100 percent impactful. I think he came to the conclusion that that senior enlisted talent is better placed in the field and in the fleet.”

Mullen will tap into that expertise “as often as he can, rather than have one of those talented individuals simply reside here in the Pentagon with him,” Kirby said.

The top enlisted Marine said he has no quarrel with that decision.

“The chairman knows his situation best,” said Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps Carlton Kent. “If he feels the mission can be accomplished without filling that billet, I have full confidence in that decision. Admiral Mullen has made it known that he wishes to work closely with the senior enlisted of all services, so I stand ready to give my support and sound advice when called upon.”

The Navy’s top sailor said he is also comfortable with Mullen’s decision.

“Admiral Mullen has voiced a desire to establish a closer relationship” with the services’ senior enlisted advisers, said Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy Joe Campa.

“I wholeheartedly support that,” Campa said. “Our services are working more jointly than at any time in our nation’s history, and we have the responsibility to ensure our men and women are well supported through a broad spectrum of operations. Feedback from the senior enlisted leaders working in our combatant commands and our joint task forces is equally critical.”

Mullen has a habit of reaching out personally to enlisted service members. On trips to the field, he frequently makes time to meet not only with senior enlisteds of all the services but with younger troops and their families — meetings in which they are encouraged to speak candidly.

“His main job is to advise the secretary of defense and the president on issues of military matters and national security,” Kirby said. “This is a question he asks every day — how best do I give that advice? And he does believe that input from the troops and their families is vital to him being able to give that advice.”

Kirby said Mullen has spoken with the services’ senior enlisted advisers and met with them just prior to making his decision to “explain his thought process.”

“He does intend to reach out to them on a more frequent, regular basis, now that he’s made this decision,” Kirby said, adding that Mullen understands and respects the relationship between the service chiefs and their enlisted advisers and will not try to circumvent that.

DISCUSS: Right move for Mullen?