IT HAPPENED ON THIS DATE - SEPTEMBER 20, 1989! On this date, the Senate Armed Services Committee unanimously voted General Colin L. Powell the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. During his military career, Powell served as National Security Advisor (1987–1989), as Commander of the U.S. Army Forces Command (1989) and as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (1989–1993), holding the latter position during the Persian Gulf War. He was the first, and so far the only, African-American to serve on the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and was the first of two consecutive African American office-holders to hold the key Administration position of U.S. Secretary of State. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (CJCS) is, by U.S. law, the highest-ranking military officer in the United States Armed Forces and is the principal military advisor to the President of the United States, the National Security Council, the Homeland Security Council, and the Secretary of Defense. While the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff outranks all other officers, he does not have operational command authority over the Armed Forces; however, the Chairman does assist the President and the Secretary of Defense in exercising their command functions. The Chairman convenes the meetings and coordinates the efforts of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), an advisory body within the Department of Defense comprising the Chairman, the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the chiefs of staff of the United States Army and United States Air Force, the Chief of Naval Operations, the Commandant of the Marine Corps, and the Chief of the National Guard Bureau. The Joint Staff is under the exclusive direction of the Chairman. Photo 1: Gen. Colin Powell testifies on Capitol Hill on Sept. 20, 1989 in Washington before the Senate Armed Service Committee which was holding hearings on his nomination to become chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Photo 2: Powell in November 1989, on his official Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff portrait.
Posted on: Fri, 20 Sep 2013 23:13:43 +0000
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