For Gen. Dan Caine, the new chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Thursday was a homecoming of sorts.
An F-16 pilot with 150 combat flight hours, General Caine has also served in several highly secretive intelligence and special operations assignments, some in the United States and some overseas.
So it came as no surprise that he picked a friendly audience — the sprawling annual special operations conference, or SOF Week — to make his first public remarks as chairman.
“I’m most at home with this tribe,” General Caine told hundreds of American and allied military and civilian personnel, as well as industry contractors, who gave him a standing ovation at the beginning and end of his 15-minute remarks.
General Caine — who was sworn in last month after President Trump fired Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., a four-star fighter pilot known as C.Q. — played it safe in his prepared comments. He emphasized combat readiness, working closely with allies and arming U.S. troops with the most advanced weaponry and equipment.
The general takes charge of the American military at a time when the world is in “a dynamic and dangerous place,” he said. And his role, he added, will be to help weave together the combat capabilities of U.S. and allied forces to “create dilemmas” for “the Chinese and others.”
General Caine did not mention the U.S. air war in Yemen, whether the Pentagon would deliver additional aid to Ukraine beyond what President Joseph R. Biden Jr. approved or any other specific challenges facing the United States. He played it safe. He took no questions
Indeed, he has kept a low profile since assuming the military’s top job.
Last month, General Caine made an unannounced visit to the southwestern border to get a firsthand look at the military’s growing role in helping to stem migrant crossings, a top priority for Mr. Trump.
That General Caine made his first official trip to the border as chairman underscores the importance of the mission to the White House, and the Pentagon, even as crossings have dropped precipitously during the Trump administration.
Being chosen by Mr. Trump caught him off guard. General Caine had retired at the end of December after completing the final job in his military career — as the Pentagon’s liaison to the C.I.A. — and joined Shield Capital, a firm in Burlingame, Calif., specializing in cybersecurity and artificial intelligence.
But then came the call from the White House, the Senate confirmation process, his swearing in on April 14, and now his grappling with myriad challenges the world is hurling at him.
“I am, you know, still trying to find my way around the Pentagon and learning my job,” he told the audience.
Eric Schmitt is a national security correspondent for The Times, focusing on U.S. military affairs and counterterrorism issues overseas, topics he has reported on for more than three decades.
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