3 acting chiefs, 3 black boxes: Army, Navy to join Marines without confirmed chief

Updated 8/4/23 at 10:46 am EST with comments from Austin.

WASHINGTON — When US Army Chief of Staff Gen. James McConville ceremonially turns over the service’s reins to his vice chief, Gen. Randy George, on Friday, staffers inside the Pentagon will head for the hallway displaying the sitting Joint Chiefs of Staff to replace McConville’s portrait with an empty black box.

The reason: George will become the second member of the joint chiefs to serve in an acting position, joining Marine Corps Assistant Commandant Gen. Eric Smith, who is also awaiting confirmation to helm his service. And the department is just days away from adding a third black box to the wall.

The Army ceremony at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall in Virginia is formally dubbed a “relinquishment of responsibility” since the Senate has not confirmed George as the 41st Army chief of staff. George “will continue in his current capacity as vice chief of staff of the Army and will perform duties as prescribed by the secretary of the Army,” US Army spokeswoman Madison Bonzo told Breaking Defense on Thursday.

On Aug. 14 the Navy will follow suit when Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michael Gilday travels to Annapolis, Md., to formally step aside for Vice Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti to become the “acting chief of naval operations.”

Up until recently, the notion of “acting” service chiefs was a rare occurrence. But an ongoing standoff on Capitol Hill between Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., and the Pentagon’s political leadership left the Marine Corps in June with its first “acting commandant” in more than 100 years, Smith. The sight of a black box where the commandants’ portraits are supposed to welcome visitors to the Pentagon has since become a symbol of the nomination process holdup.

With the Senate having left Washington last month for its summer recess, it is now a certainty that no viable pathway remains for either the Army or the Navy to avoid this same dilemma, meaning three of the eight joint chiefs billets will be filled with acting officers.

A spokesman for the Naval History and Heritage Command, the service’s official agency charged with recording its past, told Breaking Defense the last time the Navy lacked a Senate-confirmed leader was in May 1996, following the death of Adm. Michael Boorda; his successor Adm. Jay Johnson was promptly confirmed in August of that year. Prior to that, Adm. Lynde McCormick, then the vice chief, became “acting CNO” for a little under a month in August 1951 after Adm. Forrest Sherman died suddenly from a “series of heart attacks.”

Bonzo noted that the Army has also had several instances when the vice-chief of staff has also served as the acting chief, including in 1972 when Gen. Bruce Palmer stepped into the role following Gen. William Westmoreland’s retirement, in 1974 when Gen. Frederick Weyand served in both capacities for one month after Gen. Creighton Abrams died, and, more recently, in 2003 when Gen. John Keane served as acting chief for two months after Gen. Eric Shinseki retired.

However, the open-ended nature of how long these seats will remain open is unprecedented, as is the fact three services are in the same spot at the same time. In comments at Friday’s ceremony, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin noted that “for the first time in the history of the Department of  Defense, two of our services will be operating without Senate-confirmed leadership. And 301 nominations for our general and flag officers are being held up.

“So let me be clear. In our dangerous world, the security of the United States  demands orderly and prompt transitions of our confirmed military leaders,” Austin said. “Great teams need great leaders. And we’ve got to get them on the field. That’s central to maintaining the full might of the most lethal fighting force on Earth.

“It’s vital for our global leadership—and for the trust and confidence of our  outstanding network of allies and partners. The failure to confirm our superbly qualified senior uniformed leaders  undermines our military readiness. It undermines our retention of some of our  very best officers. And it is upending the lives of far too many of their spouses,  children, and loved ones. And this disruption is the last thing that America’s military families deserve.”

That the Army’s George, Navy’s Franchetti and Marine Corps’ Smith were already the number twos in their respective services and have been nominated to become permanent leaders is a matter of coincidence. By law, if a service chief is unable to continue performing their job, the vice is expected to step in. But it’s an awkward situation, as Smith seemed to acknowledge in a new “Guidance To The Force” memo released Thursday.

At the very top of the memo, which went out to all Marines, Smith writes “Until the Senate confirms our 39th Commandant, this guidance will serve as our reference point. I cannot predict how long this process may take, but waiting is not an option for Marines, so we will move out as a team – just as we would in combat.”

What Happens With All These Acting Top Officers?

Smith in June told reporters the lack of a permanent chief has a “ripple effect” down the chain of command with every officer — including him — having to manage both their permanent billets as well as field extra work created by the vacancy at the top. For instance, the assistant commandant is routinely present at a variety of oversight boards and councils to ensure “that there’s synergy across the Marine Corps in the Marine Corps message across all forums.”

“That will be harder to maintain because it’s parceled out to four, five, six, seven officers,” Smith added.

A Navy spokeswoman did not respond by press time to questions from Breaking Defense about the mechanics of the CNO changeover or the implications Franchetti’s acting status may have. The Army did not reply to questions about implications to its top military posts.

Pentagon Spokesman Air Force Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder has not directly detailed what impact, if any, having three service chief spots filled by dual-hatted, unconfirmed military leaders will mean for day-to-day work inside the building. However, he said, “We’re going to get the job done because that’s what we do.”

“At the most macro level, in any senior leader position, often times, there are policies that require, for example, authorities that can only be held by certain individuals, certain positions, certain ranks. And so, as we move forward, that becomes harder,” Ryder told reporters during a Tuesday press conference.

“I know from my own experiences in the past… when we’ve not been able to have an officer serve in an authorized rank, a lot of times, that work has to get passed further up the chain of command, which starts to, over time, create an administrative burden but also puts friction on the unit because, as they’re trying to do their business, they can’t get quick permission to do things,” he later added.

Steve Wills, an associate at the Center for Maritime Strategy and a naval historian, told Breaking Defense the vice chiefs are closely tied to their bosses which makes them the “best qualified” candidates to take charge, at least for a limited period of time.

“Both the Navy and Marine Corps staffs have active programs of budget production, strategy, force design and other lines of effort that will continue regardless of whether or not the leader is Senate-confirmed or acting,” he said. “The real challenge is more in the ‘bunching up’ of the process of changes in command of operational units, notably fleet commands.”

Wills cited Rear Adm. Fred Kacher as one example. In January, Kacher was chosen to receive a third star and lead US 7th Fleet, a prestigious operational command in the Navy due to its size and area of responsibility centered in the Indo-Pacific. But due to the issues on Capitol Hill, Kacher is currently serving as the acting superintendent of the US Naval Academy.

“I can think of no finer officer to fill that role, but [Kacher’s] nominated role is 7th Fleet and he cannot take up his position until the hold is lifted,” Wills continued. “That’s an operational issue and of concern.”