New Advice

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel is slated to get a new military adviser in Army Maj. Gen. Robert Abrams. His nomination for the job, which would come with a promotion to lieutenant general, was announced by the Defense Department today. Online Senate records carry a date of July 24 for the nomination.

Abrams is serving as commanding general of the 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Stewart, GA.

If approved by the Senate, Abrams would replace Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Thomas Waldhauser, who is at the center of several news stories that broke yesterday, July 25. According to reports by CNN and the Marine Corps Times, Waldhauser has recently alleged to military authorities that Marine Commandant Gen. James Amos pressured him to “crush” four Marines depicted urinating on insurgent corpses in Afghanistan in 2011. Amos wanted the Marines kicked out of the service, which Waldhauser, the convening authority for the case at the time, said would be unlikely, according to the reports. Amos then proceeded to relieve Waldhauser from the job of overseeing the investigation.

On the same day of the Abrams nomination, Waldhauser was nominated to serve as the director for operations plans and joint force development, J-7, on the Joint Staff.