First Time

The Senate Armed Services Committee held a July 19 hearing to consider the nomination of Army National Guard Lt. Gen. Frank Grass for the position of National Guard Bureau chief. This marked the first time the committee held a nomination hearing for the National Guard Bureau chief. Legislation passed last year made the bureau chief a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff "with the specific responsibility of addressing matters involving nonfederalized National Guard forces in support of homeland defense and civil support missions," Sen. Carl Levin, the committee's chair noted at the hearing. Grass is the deputy commander of U.S. Northern Command.