New Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley gave notice Monday that the Boston sports jones, spread at the Pentagon by his predecessor, Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford, would continue under his leadership.
After taking the oath from Dunford, Milley, of Winchester, Massachusetts, let it be known that Dunford's unblinking reverence for all things Red Sox, Patriots, Celtics and Bruins would set the tone for his own tenure.
In his remarks at the ceremony, Milley, a hockey defenseman at Princeton University, took note of the presence in the audience of members of his old team "who barely won a game" and relatives "from the holy land of Boston."
Dunford, from South Boston by way of Quincy, was known to berate, in quite vivid language, defense reporters who unthinkingly dared to show up in his presence wearing the colors of another team -- let's say the New York Mets.
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Milley does the same for any rival team.
As noted by colleague Marcus Weisgerber of Defense One, the general took exception to a sports radio host wearing a New York Jets jersey during an interview before the 2017 Army-Navy football game.
"Take that Jets shirt off," Milley commanded.
-- Richard Sisk can be reached at Richard.Sisk@Military.com.
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