United States Department of Defense News Release On the web: Media contact: +1 (703) 697-5131 Public contact: http://www.dod.mil/faq/comment.html or +1 (703) 428-0711

Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld announced today 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 Department of Defense. This transformation process challenges the organizational status quo with a new architecture for American defense in order to ensure an overwhelming and continuing competitive advantage for America's military for decades to come.

"Art Cebrowski is the perfect guy to promote and analyze our transformation efforts," said Rumsfeld. "I chose him for his broad military experience, his strong credentials in joint operations and information technology and his grasp of the cultural and technical issues involved in transformation." 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 2001 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.

Cebrowski was born in Passiac, N.J., on Aug. 13, 1942. He is a 1964 graduate of Villanova University and holds a masters degree in computer systems management from the Navy Post Graduate School. He is a naval aviator and commanded Fighter Squadron 41 and Carrier Air Wing Eight. He commanded the assault ship USS Guam; the aircraft carrier USS Midway; and the USS America Battle Group. He has combat experience in Vietnam and Desert Storm. His Joint assignments included service as the director, Command, Control and Communications (J-6), Joint Staff.

The Office of Force Transformation will work closely with the Offices of the Under Secretaries of Defense for Policy and Acquisition, Technology and Logistics. They will develop strategies, processes and activities to provide a continuous and broadly focused force structure transformation and will make recommendations to the secretary and deputy secretary of Defense.

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