Giambastiani Replaces Pace as Vice Chairman

By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Aug. 12, 2005 – Joint Chiefs Chairman Air Force Gen. Richard B. Myers swore in Adm. Edmund P. Giambastiani Jr. as the nation's seventh vice chairman during a ceremony here today.

Adm. Edmund P. Giambastiani, left, is administered the oath of office as the 7th vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff by Air Force Gen. Richard B. Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, during a Pentagon ceremony on Aug. 12. Giambastiani succeeds Marine Gen. Peter Pace as the nation's second highest-ranking military officer. Photo by Tech. Sgt. Kevin J. Gruenwald, USAF   (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available.

Giambastiani replaces Marine Gen. Peter Pace. Pace will replace Myers as chairman at the end of September.

During the small, private ceremony in Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld's Pentagon office, Giambastiani assumed responsibilities as the second-highest ranking member of the U.S. military. The vice chairman has a full vote as a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, which includes all the uniformed service branch heads.

The admiral had been commander of U.S. Joint Forces Command and NATO'S Allied Command Transformation until he relinquished those offices Aug. 1.

Giambastiani is originally from Canastota, N.Y., and is a 1970 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, Md. He is a career submariner serving aboard the USS Puffer, USS Francis Scott Key and the USS Richard B. Russell. The admiral commanded the NR-1, the Navy's only nuclear-powered, deep-diving ocean and engineering submarine.

The admiral also has served in various capacities ashore, including assignments with the Navy's Recruiting Command, on the staff of the Chief of Naval Operations and as the senior military assistant to Rumsfeld.