The Senate Armed Services Committee has confirmed Marine Corps Gen. Christopher Mahoney as vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Legislators voted to install Mahoney to the military’s second-highest ranking officer on Friday, according to records on Congress.gov.
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Who Is the Joint Chiefs’ New Vice Chair?
President Donald Trump nominated Mahoney to serve as the next vice chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in June. At the time, Mahoney was still the assistant commandant of the Marine Corps, a role he has held since November 2023.
He briefly performed the duties of Marine Corps commandant, a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, while Gen. Eric Smith was recovering from a cardiac arrest episode and open-heart surgery.
Mahoney also previously served as deputy commander of U.S. Marine Forces Pacific, director of strategy and plans at Headquarters Marine Corps, deputy commander for the U.S. Forces Japan and commanding general of the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing. He has deployed to the Indo-Pacific, Italy and Iraq.
The military leader is a graduate of the Navy Fighter Weapons School, also known as TOPGUN, and has logged over 5,000 hours of flight time piloting the A-6 Intruder, F-5 Tiger, F-18 Hornet and F-35 Lightning II fighter aircraft.
Gen. Christopher Mahoney’s Priorities
At his confirmation hearing, Mahoney told lawmakers that he will pursue electromagnetic spectrum “dominance or exploitation.” He also highlighted the need for investments and training and education on electromagnetic spectrum operations.
“Use of exploitation of and the ability to manipulate the EM spectrum is part of your warfighting function of fires, of intel, etc. And you have to be able to do that … from a training perspective in order to apply it, should we have to fight,” Mahoney stated via DefenseScoop.
