Admiral Mullen To Stay

Admiral Michael Mullen will remain in his post of Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff for at least the first year of the new presidency.The admiral will lead the effort to brief the incoming officials on global hotspots and the options for dealing with them.Admiral Mullen will utilize two charts.One of them shows historical challenges incoming presidents have faced,such as the Bay of Pigs invasion of 1961 and the 9-11 attacks.The other chart is classified and depicts current threats.The Joint Staff transition team supporting the admiral is headed by Marine Corps Brigadier General Kenneth F. McKenzie,Jr..Admiral Mullen sees presidential transitions as periods of alarming risk.He is doing his best to smooth out the international situation.Last week,he held talks with his Russian counterpart,General Nikolai Makarov.They discussed the future of NATO and missile defense in Europe in a businesslike way.