During a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on Tuesday, retired Army Gen. Lloyd Austin stressed the importance of civilian control of the military, addressing extremism within the ranks, and the military’s posture towards the coronavirus pandemic.
“I look forward to working with the chairman, but I have no desire to be the chairman of the Joint Chiefs,” said Austin.
“I understand and respect your reservations about having another retired general atop the Pentagon,” he said. “The safety of our democracy requires subordination of military power to the civil.”
Gen. Austin was the first Black general to command an Army division in combat and the first to oversee an entire theater of operations (U.S. Forces in Iraq). Austin ran U.S. Central Command before retiring in 2016.
Lawmaker who opposed Austin’s nomination did not assert any reservations to Austin’s qualifications for the post, but rather voiced caution in granting a second waiver in four years to a retired military personnel to take the post.
“I pledged to my colleagues that if they choose to pass an exception to statute I will consider your nomination fairly and on its merits,” said Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill. during the hearing.
Austin, who serves on the board of Raytheon Co., pledged he would resign his board seat at the company and withdraw from company decisions for four years if confirmed.
Furthermore, Austin said his chief of staff would not be retired military. “If confirmed, I will surround myself with experienced and capable civilian leaders… and ensure strategic and operational decisions are informed by policy.”
Photo by Carolos Bongioanni/Stars and Stripes
