President Obama has nominated Army Lt. Gen. Charles Jacoby for his fourth star for assignment as commander of NORAD and US Northern Command at Peterson AFB, Colo., announced the Pentagon Tuesday. Jacoby would replace Adm. James Winnefeld, who’s been tapped to be the Joint Chiefs’ vice chairman. Jacoby is currently the Joint Staff’s director of strategic plans and policy.
U.S. Southern Command recently announced its first lethal strike on a suspected narco-trafficking vessel in two months, and the first under a newly formed permanent counter-cartel task force. The U.S. is also reportedly planning to transfer MQ-9 drones to Colombia to bolster its counter-cartel efforts.