The selection of John Daniel Caine as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff may signal a new emphasis on irregular warfare, covert and clandestine operations, enabling swifter action with fewer legal constraints and less congressional scrutiny, say former military and senior defense officials who have worked in the intelligence community, special operations, the Defense Department, and the White House.
The nomination of Caine—a retired Air Force lieutenant general—and the early dismissal of Gen. CQ Brown were part of an unprecedented purge announced on Friday by President Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who also announced their intent to replace Adm. Lisa Franchetti, chief of naval operations; and the judge advocates general—essentially the top lawyers—of the Army, Navy, and Air Force. Hegseth was also reported to have fired his senior military assistant, Lt. Gen. Jennifer Short.
“General Caine is an accomplished pilot, national security expert, successful entrepreneur, and a ‘warfighter’ with significant interagency and special operations experience,” Trump said in Friday post announcing the moves.
An F-16 pilot with more than 150 combat hours and a Distinguished Flying Cross, Caine first moved into special operations when he helped hunt SCUD missiles in Iraq in 2003, CNN reported. Five years later, he was leading the Joint Special Operations Task Force – Air Directorate in Iraq, according to his official bio.
In 2016, he received his general’s star and became assistant commanding general of Joint Special Operations Command, an elite group even among special operators. From 2018 to September 2019, he was deputy commander of Special Operations Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve,
Little is publicly known about Caine’s role in Operation Inherent Resolve, which has been battling the Islamic State since 2014. But the role of air strikes, including clandestine ones, grew after September 2017, when Trump delegated airstrike approval to the operation’s commanders, effectively removing the requirement for White House oversight on such missions. Trump also designated ISIS-held territories as “active hostile zones.” Combined with the use of new sensors and AI-powered data-fusion tools, these developments intensified anti-ISIS airstrikes, according to a 2022 Defense Department review.
In 2019, Caine became the Pentagon’s director of Special Access Programs; two years later, he became associate director for military affairs at the Central Intelligence Agency—essentially, the Pentagon’s top liaison there. Both jobs put him in close proximity to some of the most highly secret missions and operations.
In a post announcing his intent to nominate Caine to be the military’s top officer, Trump called him “instrumental” in the 2019 recapture of ISIS-controlled territory.
“Many so-called ‘geniuses’ said it would take years to defeat ISIS. General Caine, on the other hand, said it could be done quickly, and he delivered,” he wrote.
One former senior White House official said Trump picked Caine for his experience and talent running clandestine operations, his understanding of expanded authorities, and the personal rapport that developed between the men during Trump’s first term as president.
Link to Article: In Pentagon shakeup, some see bid for more secret actions, less oversight