[Steve_Seattle]

"This is an automatic event."

The general didn't think so - the article presents him as being perplexed - and I assume he would be in a position to know the protocol if this was a routine matter. To me, the clear sense of the article is that the order came from the sitting president, Obama. If there were an anti-Trump position to take, the article would have taken it. If Obama were doing something fishy, they would NOT explicitly mention his role, and they didn't. They left it ambiguous.

[DoughtyOne]

Why was he formally reappointed in 2009?

[rebrane]

The article says the order came from the Pentagon which didn’t comment on where the order came from.

The DoD obviously carries out Obama’s orders right now, but one of those orders is to work with Trump’s transition team. The 12:01 pm timing is enough to know where the order came from. Obama has no authority to tell the military to do anything on 1/20 12:01pm. (tick, tick, tick)