美國陸軍上將馬丁·登普西就任參謀長聯席會議主席

U.S. Army General Martin Dempsey will be sworn as the new chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Friday.

President Barack Obama will be in attendance when the 37-year veteran becomes the nation's top uniformed officer, replacing retiring Navy Admiral Mike Mullen. Mr. Obama nominated Dempsey to succeed Mullen in May, only a month after Dempsey assumed the post of chief of staff of the Army.

Dempsey's career includes two tours of duty in Iraq, and serving as acting commander of all military operations in the Middle East.

Dempsey is moving into his new role at a time when the military is facing deep budget cuts to help trim the massive U.S. debt. During his confirmation hearing last month, he warned lawmakers that cuts of $800 billion or more would be 揺xtraordinarily difficult and very high risk.

The president has asked the Defense Department to cut $400 billion from its budget over the next 12 years.

Dempsey is also taking over amid strained U.S. relations with Pakistan over that country's apparent failure to dismantle Islamic extremist groups. Mullen recently described the Haqqani terrorist network as a 搗eritable arm?of Pakistan's intelligence agency.美國總統奧巴馬將出席登普西接任美國最高軍職的就職儀式。有37年軍齡的登普西的前任是即將退休的海軍上將邁克·馬倫。

奧巴馬在5月份提名登普西接替馬倫，當時登普西出任陸軍參謀長剛剛一個月。

登普西的軍旅生涯包括兩次在伊拉克履職，以及擔任美軍中央司令部代司令，負責美軍在中東地區的全部軍事行動。

在登普西出任新一任美軍參謀長聯席會議主席之際，美軍面臨大規模預算削減以減少美國鉅額國債。在上個月他的任命聽證會上，登普西提醒國會議員說，削減8千億或更多軍費將使會美國國防面臨“極大的困難和很高的風險。”