NATION : Joint Chiefs Leader Crowe to Retire : Adm. Crowe Won’t Extend His Tour as Leader of Joint Chiefs of Staff
WASHINGTON — Adm. William J. Crowe Jr. will retire when his second two-year term as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff expires at the end of September, defense officials said today.
The officials confirmed a report by the industry publication Air Force Times that Crowe, 64, was asked by Defense Secretary Dick Cheney to extend his tour by at least a year but declined.
“He hasn’t formally announced that he’s going to retire,” a spokesman for the Joint Chiefs of Staff said. But other defense officials who requested anonymity said Crowe--now on a tour of the Soviet Union--has decided to retire at the end of this term.
Air Force Times said some Pentagon staff members are speculating that Cheney will urge President Bush to name Army Gen. Colin L. Powell to succeed Crowe. Powell served as national security adviser to former President Ronald Reagan.
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