Joint Chiefs Pick Will Be Gen. Myers

President Bush has selected Air Force Gen. Richard B. Myers, an expert on missile defense with broad service in the Pacific region, as his choice for chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, senior Pentagon officials said Wednesday.

Pentagon officials said they expect Bush to announce Myers as his pick for the nation’s top military post on Friday, when Myers, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and other defense experts travel to the president’s ranch in Crawford, Texas.

Myers, the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs, would replace Army Gen. Henry H. Shelton, who steps down from his second two-year term Sept. 30.

The selection of the nation’s most senior officer and chief military advisor to the president is highly anticipated as a statement of how Rumsfeld intends to carry out Bush’s military priorities, which include remaking the Pentagon’s war strategy and selling the president’s missile defense program overseas and on Capitol Hill.

In confirming that Myers is Bush’s choice, a senior Pentagon official noted his top-level experience in high-tech aerospace research and Asian security strategy. Myers also has been deeply involved for months in discussions on military transformation and missile defense.

“People say that familiarity breeds contempt,” the official said. “But familiarity breeds confidence too, especially when there’s a guy who is pretty impressive to begin with.”

The elite Joint Chiefs panel coordinates and commands the activities of the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps. The chairman is often the public face of the military at congressional hearings and White House events.

White House spokesman Ari Fleischer declined to comment on Myers’ status but noted that the Air Force general has been a regular participant in the strategic review sessions. “He’s one of the key people involved in the military transformation,” Fleischer said.

Friday’s session with Bush is a part of “the ongoing discussions of the military transformation and the strategic reviews that have been underway,” Fleischer said.

A veteran military pilot with more than 600 hours in combat, Myers had oversight in the high-tech areas of missile defense and satellite technology in his role as chief of the North American Aerospace Defense Command and the U.S. Space Command. He has also been an Air Force commander in Hawaii and Japan during his 35-year career.

Myers’ experience would underscore Rumsfeld’s emphasis on research into high-tech weapon systems and his plan for a greater focus on potential threats from Asia.

And his service as a joint chief has given him experience in uniting the sometimes fractious armed services, another Rumsfeld goal.

“Here you’ve got a guy who brings to the table three rather obviously attractive characteristics,” said Loren B. Thompson, a defense analyst at the Lexington Institute. “He already understands the job of being a joint commander. He’s not wedded to a particular service. He’s got a career’s worth of experience in the Pacific, and these guys have been talking about a shift in strategy from Europe to Asia.

“And then there’s his experience on space, the ‘final frontier.’ This is a Pentagon team that really believes very strongly in the power of aerospace forces.”

Myers and Adm. Vern Clark, the chief of naval operations, have been considered front-runners for the post for weeks. Myers, 59, has been a regular fixture at Pentagon press briefings for months, standing next to Rumsfeld and Deputy Defense Secretary Paul D. Wolfowitz.

The Bush administration has promised to transform the nation’s military but has found itself wrestling to balance improvements in benefits for American troops with buying and developing the next generation of military technology.

For two weeks, Rumsfeld has said publicly that Bush had settled on a nominee to replace Shelton. The appointment must be confirmed by the Senate.

If Bush selects Myers, it would be the first time since the end of the Cold War that the military’s top officer has not been from the Army. Shelton succeeded Gen. John Shalikashvili in 1997. Shalikashvili succeeded Gen. Colin L. Powell, now Bush’s secretary of State, in 1993. The last Air Force officer to serve as chairman was Gen. David Jones, who held the post from 1978 to 1982.

Myers has been vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs since February 2000, working with Wolfowitz in formulating the Quadrennial Defense Review, a sweeping reassessment of the nation’s armed forces.

Myers, a native of Kansas City, Mo., received a bachelor’s degree from Kansas State University and a master’s of business administration from Auburn University.

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Times staff writer Edwin Chen in Crawford, Texas, contributed to this story.