Gen. James F. Amos

Commandant of the Marine Corps

Why He Matters

Defense Secretary Robert Gates likes to buck tradition. He did so yet again in summer 2010 when he nominated Amos to be the next Marine Corps commandant. The nod made Amos the first Marine from the service's aviation arm to become commandant at a time when the Marines are fighting a ground war in Afghanistan and battling behind-the-scenes to sustain their amphibious warfare roots.

What's more, Amos "has relatively less experience in waging counterinsurgency warfare than other candidate considered for the job." In a 2010 speech, Gates said the next commandant would have to impress upon him a vision for how the Corps would differentiate itself from the Army and fit into future wars. Explaining just how the Marines will not become a second U.S. ground force, as some experts have contended has been the result of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, will be among Amos' challenges, as will helping shape the Pentagon's Afghanistan strategies.

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Background

At a Glance

Career History: Commanded several Marine aviation squadrons/wings, II Marine Expeditionary Force, senior NATO command positions, assistant USMC commandant
Deployments: Balkans, Operation Iraqi Freedom I, OIF II
Hometown: Wendell, Idaho
Alma Mater: University of Idaho

Spouse: Bonnie
Office: Pentagon
Web site

Path To Power

Amos was born Nov. 12, 1946 in Wendell, Idaho, later graduating from the University of Idaho.

His career as a "Leatherneck" is a mix of fighter jock posts and prominent operational and staff posts.

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The Issues

Part of the Marine Corps' storied warrior ethos is to charge straight into the fight. That's the exactly what Amos did when asked about the military's "Don't ask, Don't tell" policy on gays serving in the military right before the Defense Department released a late 2010 report concluding that repealing the policy wouldn't significantly harm troops currently serving in two wars.

Gays in the Military

Amos took office on Oct. 22, 2010. By Nov. 6, the Marine Corps commandant had publicly voiced his opposition to a proposal to change the policy to allow gays to openly serve in uniform. Speaking to reporters that day in San Diego, the new commandant said "now is not the time to overturn the don't ask, don't tell policy prohibiting gays from openly serving in the military," The Associated Press reported. "'This is not a social thing. This is combat effectiveness,'" Amos said.He went on to say there is "risk involved" with ending the current policy.

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Amos, in typical Marine fashion, held nothing back, but less than 20 days into the job, the new commandant was publicly rebuked by senior Pentagon leaders. Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters he was shocked by Amos' comments. "'Actually I was surprised. I was surprised what he said, surprised he said it publicly,' Mullen told reporters at a briefing in Melbourne," reported Agence France-Presse. Mullen added that service chiefs are expected to "privately" share their advice with senior leaders.

On Nov. 30, the Pentagon released a report stating lifting its ban on openly gay troops would have limited impact. Defense Secretary Gates and Mullen urged Congress to lift the ban, further placing Amos at odds on this issue with his bosses.

By a 65-31 vote on the third try in 2010, the Senate passed repeal the week before Christmas, effectively ending a 17-year policy banning open service of homosexuals in themilitary.

Expeditionary Vehicle

The Marine Corps has for years bet its future -- to the tune of $40 billion -- on the EFV, a highly- advanced amphibious troop-hauling vehicle designed to quickly take Marines from sea to shore. But the service and the company leading the EFV program, General Dynamics, have had numerous problems developing the various technologies that are slated for the vehicle. The result: years of costly delays. Because the EFV program is so far behind schedule, the new timeline has placed it right in the middle of Pentagon officials' -- and independent debt-reducing panels' -- budget-cutting cross hairs.

What's more, Defense Secretary Gates has publicly questioned whether there is a strategic need to plan to send Marines ashore in such amphibious war machines.

Meanwhile, program managers are working overtime to prove the EFV is almost ready for prime time. "The Marines started reliability growth testing (RGT) for the EFV on Nov. 15 [2010] and should be finished by late January. The tests should show whether the vehicle's improvements work as they are supposed to-and whether the EFV is meeting the requirements to be the Marines' next-generation amphibious vehicle," according to Aviation Week, a trade magazine. "But whether there will be enough time to analyze the test results before the Pentagon has to decide on its budget is an open question."

As commandant, Amos will be a key player in whether the vehicle-development effort is terminated. If Amos advises Gates to extend the program another lifeline, he will have to explain why the defense secretary should ignore recommendations put forth by two high-profile debt-reduction panels that recommended killing the EFV. One panel was formed by President Obama and the other was created by the Bipartisan Policy Center.

The Network

Amos joins other current and former Marines in top national security jobs inside the Obama administration. Gen. James Mattis, the Marines' own "warrior-scholar," is U.S. Central Command chief, and Gen. James Cartwright is the vice chief of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS). If Cartwright is elevated, as rumored, to commander of the JCS when Adm. Michael Mullen retires, Amos would find a fellow "Devil Dog" at the head of the table in "The Tank," the Joint Chiefs official conference room in the Pentagon's E-Ring.

Across the Potomac River, retired Gen. James Jones, himself a former Marine Corps commandant, is the outgoing national security advisor at the White House. How have Marines fared thus far in the Obama administration? Jones has been cast as never broaching Obama's inner circle, as struggling to foster policy consensus among the various security agencies, and as being somewhat run over by the Pentagon. The very mention of Cartwright as the next chairman speaks to his success. Defense insiders say he is a favorite of Gates, and has gained Obama's confidence.

Campaign Contributions

Like all senior military officials, Amos has not donated to any political candidates, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

Additional Resources