President Obama has nominated Adm. Cecil D. Haney to succeed Air Force Gen. Robert Kehler as commander of US Strategic Command. Kehler has led STRATCOM—one of the Defense Department’s nine unified commands—since January 2011. Haney, a 1978 Naval Academy graduate, served as STRATCOM’s deputy commander before assuming his current position as commander of US Pacific Fleet. The President also has nominated Vice Adm. Harry Harris Jr. for his fourth star and to succeed Haney as US Pacific Fleet commander. Harris currently serves as the assistant to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. (AFPS report)
The U.S. military is maintaining a beefed-up presence in the Middle East, including fighters and air defense assets, following the U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities June 22 and subsequent retaliation by the Iranians against Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar.
