While Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is set to retire on the last day of September, he has no plans of running for public office in the future.
Asked at an event in June what he planned to do after his retirement and whether he would consider running for public office after his retirement from the U.S. military, Milley quickly dismissed any notion that he would consider running for office.
“First of all, in all honesty, absolutely not to the second question, zero. I’m a soldier,” he said. “I can make contributions to my country after I retire in many, many different ways. Public office is not one of them for me. I respect people who do that, but it’s not for me.”
Regarding any other plans for his retirement, Milley explained that the high demands of serving as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff have prevented him from considering what his next steps will be after he steps down from his position on Sept. 30.
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“I’ve got a job to do, which is to protect and defend the Constitution, protect the American people, and it is a very, very challenging environment every single day, day in and day out, 24/7, weekends included and the whole nine yards,” Milley said. “No matter where I go, I’ve got communication teams with me and always wired in, so I literally have not had time to kind of figure all that out.”
At the time Milley was asked about his future plans in June, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff claimed that determining what his plans would be for his retirement would have to wait until the month of October.
“I retire at midnight, by law, on Sept. 30,” the general said, adding that on Oct. 1, he and his wife would “turn the chapter” and determine what to do next. “But right now, we don’t even know where we’re gonna live,” he concluded.
Air Force Gen. Charles Brown Jr., who was confirmed by the Senate last Wednesday, will become the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff after Milley steps down on Sept. 30.
