The Senate on Thursday confirmed Adm. Christopher Grady to serve as the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Grady, who most recently was the commander of U.S. Fleet Forces, will be second-highest ranking military officer once he’s sworn into the position.
The upper chamber also confirmed Rear Adm. Collin Green to serve as the deputy commander of U.S. Special Operations Command and promoted him to vice admiral. Green has been serving as the chief of staff of Special Operations Command. The promotion makes Green the highest-ranking Navy SEAL since retired Adm. William McRaven, who served as the commander of U.S. Special Operations Command from 2011 to 2014.
Grady appeared before the Senate Armed Services Committee last week for his confirmation hearing, when he told lawmakers that a fear of failure is preventing the United States from developing weapons that can keep pace with Russia and China. The remarks echoed similar ones from his predecessor, Air Force Gen. John Hyten, who retired in November after serving as the vice chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff for two years.
“China’s breakout is indeed … spectacular and indeed, breathtaking,” Grady told the panel. “Therefore, we need to be postured to address that issue, need to think about how we would proceed with deterrence, particularly deterrence now against two peer competitors, and who need to be deterred in two different ways. And deterrence then, I think, builds on that strong nuclear triad that we just talked about. And so the modernization of the nuclear triad will be the underpinning of that deterrence effort against two nuclear competitors.”
