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Gen. Franks Says "No" To Army Chief of Staff
Aired May 12, 2003 - 15:39 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, this just in to CNN. Since Operation Iraqi Freedom, a lot of talk about the commanding officers within that war about promotions, moving on to other jobs within the military leadership ranks.
Our Jamie McIntyre live from the Pentagon. A bit of news about Tommy Franks.
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's right, Kyra.
General Tommy Franks, winner of two wars for the United States, in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to sources, was offered the job of army chief of staff. That would technically be the highest ranking officer in the army, a member of the joint chiefs. But sources say that General Franks has told Secretary Rumsfeld he would rather not take the job and would prefer to retire.
Now sources won't say exactly what Franks' reasoning is. It's often the case that senior military officers, after a career in the military, are anxious to make more money in the private sector. However, people who know franks insist that's not his primary motivation, that as a combatant commander, I think he just feels like, they say, that it's time to retire and say that he accomplished what he wanted to accomplish.
This leaves Rumsfeld in a little bit of a lurch. He is in the middle of trying to shake up the army. He just appointed a new army secretary, a close confidant, the air force secretary, Jim Roach, to try to shake things up. He was hoping to General Keane, the vice chairman, or Tommy Franks into the job as the army chief of staff, when General Shinseki retires next month. Now he's got to look elsewhere.
Sources say one likely candidate is another star of the recent military action, General John Abazade, one of Franks' deputies. He's a three-star general. He'd have to be elevated to four stars to take the post.
It's up to Rumsfeld to recommend to President Bush, but only the president can actually nominate one of the members of the joint chiefs, and of course the Senate has to confirm that -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Well, Jamie, let's talk about what could possibly be next for Tommy Franks, if indeed he has turned down this position. What are the options? Of course, you know, you start to think about speaking tours and books. Maybe we can get him for an -- as an analyst on CNN. Wouldn't that be nice?
MCINTYRE: Well, a lot of retired generals do turn up as analysts on various network shows.
There really aren't many assignments that you can accept as a four star combatant commander. One of the members of the joint chiefs is one of the few military assignments. It's -- in the military it's called up or out. You either get promoted or leave.
But of course, he's had a distinguished career. He could have any number of job options, many of them which could be quite lucrative, either serving on the boards of directors, any number of jobs that could trade in on his expertise. And of course, he probably would be a very popular and -- speaker on the speaker's tour. He may even want to write a book. Who knows? That's what Colin Powell did when he left office as the very popular chairman of the joint chiefs.
So it will be up to Tommy Franks to say what Tommy Franks wants to do next.
PHILLIPS: Well, it should be interesting to see what he does do next. Jamie McIntyre, thank you so much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired May 12, 2003 - 15:39 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, this just in to CNN. Since Operation Iraqi Freedom, a lot of talk about the commanding officers within that war about promotions, moving on to other jobs within the military leadership ranks.
Our Jamie McIntyre live from the Pentagon. A bit of news about Tommy Franks.
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's right, Kyra.
General Tommy Franks, winner of two wars for the United States, in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to sources, was offered the job of army chief of staff. That would technically be the highest ranking officer in the army, a member of the joint chiefs. But sources say that General Franks has told Secretary Rumsfeld he would rather not take the job and would prefer to retire.
Now sources won't say exactly what Franks' reasoning is. It's often the case that senior military officers, after a career in the military, are anxious to make more money in the private sector. However, people who know franks insist that's not his primary motivation, that as a combatant commander, I think he just feels like, they say, that it's time to retire and say that he accomplished what he wanted to accomplish.
This leaves Rumsfeld in a little bit of a lurch. He is in the middle of trying to shake up the army. He just appointed a new army secretary, a close confidant, the air force secretary, Jim Roach, to try to shake things up. He was hoping to General Keane, the vice chairman, or Tommy Franks into the job as the army chief of staff, when General Shinseki retires next month. Now he's got to look elsewhere.
Sources say one likely candidate is another star of the recent military action, General John Abazade, one of Franks' deputies. He's a three-star general. He'd have to be elevated to four stars to take the post.
It's up to Rumsfeld to recommend to President Bush, but only the president can actually nominate one of the members of the joint chiefs, and of course the Senate has to confirm that -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Well, Jamie, let's talk about what could possibly be next for Tommy Franks, if indeed he has turned down this position. What are the options? Of course, you know, you start to think about speaking tours and books. Maybe we can get him for an -- as an analyst on CNN. Wouldn't that be nice?
MCINTYRE: Well, a lot of retired generals do turn up as analysts on various network shows.
There really aren't many assignments that you can accept as a four star combatant commander. One of the members of the joint chiefs is one of the few military assignments. It's -- in the military it's called up or out. You either get promoted or leave.
But of course, he's had a distinguished career. He could have any number of job options, many of them which could be quite lucrative, either serving on the boards of directors, any number of jobs that could trade in on his expertise. And of course, he probably would be a very popular and -- speaker on the speaker's tour. He may even want to write a book. Who knows? That's what Colin Powell did when he left office as the very popular chairman of the joint chiefs.
So it will be up to Tommy Franks to say what Tommy Franks wants to do next.
PHILLIPS: Well, it should be interesting to see what he does do next. Jamie McIntyre, thank you so much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
