Rumsfeld names retired admiral for new position

National Guard, Dec 2001

Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld has announced the establishment of the Office of Force Transformation within the Office of the Secretary of Defense and the appointment of retired Navy Vice Adm. Arthur K Cebrowski as its director.

Cebrowski will report directly to the secretary and deputy secretary of Defense.

In the Quadrennial Defense Review and Defense Planning Guidance, Rumsfeld called for the establishment of the office as part of President Bush's broad mandate to transform the Defense Department.

Cebrowski has been called the "father of network-centric warfare," one of the centerpieces of the department's transformation planning. He retired from the U.S. Navy in October after serving as the president of the Naval War College in Newport, R.I.

Cebrowski will lead the effort in evaluating the transformation activities of each of the military departments. He will recommend steps needed to integrate them into other ongoing transformation activities.

He will also monitor ongoing experimentation programs encompassing activities involving risk management and associated metrics. These efforts will link transformation to the broad elements of national and departmental strategy.

The Office of Force Transformation will work closely with the Offices of the Under Secretaries of Defense for Policy and Acquisition, Technology and Logistics.