Navy Admiral as Joint Chiefs

This is an interesting turn in the midst of a major war. From GovExec:

Switching course, Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced Friday
he has recommended Adm. Mike Mullen, currently chief of naval operations, to
replace Gen. Peter Pace as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Gates
said he had originally intended to seek another two-year term for Pace, but
concluded that would have resulted in a divisive Senate confirmation focusing on
the Iraq War.
"It would be a backward looking and very contentious process,"
Gates said at a Pentagon news conference.

This may be good for the war effort, but not so good for the Navy which is having its own troubles , with fewer warships and shoddy workmanship on the new ones they do get. The fleet has been going downhill since the end of the Cold War, without a clear blue-water threat. Mullen might have turned things around where he was at. I like his ideas about a "thousand ship navy".