New Defense Secretary Robert Gates has recommended to President Bush that Gen. George Casey take over the Army as Chief of Staff, replacing Gen. Peter Schoomaker, who gets to retire for the second time. (Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld brought Schoomaker back from retirement when he ousted Gen. Eric Shinseki.) 
Casey has served both as Vice Chief of Staff and most recently as commander of the Multi-National Force Iraq. To replace Casey, Gates wants to promote Army Lt. Gen. Dave Petraeus. And, completing a top Iraq war leadership sweep, Gates wants to make Adm. William Fallon the new head of US Central Command, replacing Army Gen. John Abizaid, who will retire. In Gates’ view, the three new commanders have a “mix of experience, skills, creativity, and strategic vision [that] make the whole greater than the sum of the individual parts.”
A B-52H bomber launched a simulated AGM-183 Air-launched Rapid Response hypersonic missile at a target some 600 miles away during the ongoing Northern Edge exercise in Alaska, the Air Force said. The simulated shot was a success and demonstrated Airborne Battle Management System techniques to facilitate the kill chain for…