On Friday, the Senate confirmed Lt. Gen. Dan “Razin” Caine as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Congratulations to Dan “Razin” Caine on his confirmation in the Senate as the next Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Your leadership will be a welcomed/vital part of ensuring we return the Dept. of Defense back to the American warfighter. pic.twitter.com/TFmTrc6MUa — Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth (@SecDef) April 11, 2025   Caine, a graduate of the Virginia Military Institute and a former Air Force pilot with 2,800 flight hours, served two tours in Iraq. By 2003, he served as the CIA’s Associate Director for Military Affairs (ADMA), the CIA Director’s principal advisor on military matters and the primary man-in-the-middle between the CIA and the Department of Defense. He commanded the air defense of Washington, D.C., after the 9/11 attacks. “I remember telling the wingman that I was going to fly with that day, ‘Don’t shoot anybody. I’ll make the decision,’” Caine said in 2003. “If we got it wrong, or if we missed somebody and we did not shoot, the consequences of that could be catastrophic, not only for the people on the ground, but for the country as a whole.” “There are certain days in our nation’s history that really are days of infamy,” he said. “And December 7th and September 11th are certainly days of infamy. And when I talk to young officers here at the Agency or I talk to young military officers and walk through that day, I ask them to never forget that there’s a reason for all of the things that we’ve been through as a country for the last 20 years. And in those examples of courage, maybe they can find some courage to make difficult decisions or take the hard road and not the easy road and find purpose and passion for why they serve.” Caine “led counterterrorism strategy for the Homeland Security Council. He also developed the U.S. military’s plan to counter Iraq’s Scud ballistic missiles during the 2003 invasion; Saddam Hussein’s forces did not manage to fire a single Scud during the war,” USA Today noted. In 2019, President Donald Trump recalled the first time he met Caine: I said, “What’s your name? “Sir, my name is Raisin.” What the hell kind of a name? I said, “Raisin, like the fruit?” He goes, “Yes, sir, Raisin.” “What’s your last name?” “Caine. Raisin Caine.” I said, “You got to be kidding me.” It’s true. Raisin Caine.” He continued, saying he asked Caine how quickly ISIS could be defeated. “Sir, we can have it totally finished in one week,” Caine answered. “One week? I was told two years,” Trump said. “One week?” “That’s right, sir. We’re only hitting them from a temporary base in Syria. But if you gave us permission, we could hit them from the back, from the side, from all over — from the base that you’re right on, right now, sir. They won’t know what the hell hit them. They won’t know what the hell hit them, sir,” Caine answered. “Why didn’t my other generals tell me that? Why didn’t they tell me that?” Trump asked, adding, “Did you tell them that?” “Not our place to say it, sir,” Caine replied. “They come in from Washington, sir. We have to take orders. You’re the first one to ask us our opinion.”