Military Chiefs Are Bumped in Doomsday Plan
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WASHINGTON — The three military service chiefs have been dropped in the Bush administration’s doomsday line of Pentagon succession, pushed beneath three civilian undersecretaries in Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld’s inner circle.
A holiday week executive order from President Bush moved the Pentagon’s intelligence chief to the No. 3 spot in the succession hierarchy behind Rumsfeld. The second spot would be the deputy secretary of Defense. The Army chief, who long held the No. 3 spot, was dropped to sixth.
The changes are the second in six months and mirror the administration’s new emphasis on intelligence gathering.
Technically, the line of succession is assigned to specific positions, rather than the individuals holding those jobs.
But in its current incarnation, the doomsday plan moves to near the top three undersecretaries who are Rumsfeld loyalists.
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