Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Thursday he is recommending that President Obama nominate Marine Corps Gen. James Mattis to be the next commander of US Central Command. Mattis—oftentimes outspoken and a critic of the Air Force-championed concept of effects-based operations—has led US Joint Forces Command since November 2007. If nominated and then confirmed by the Senate, Mattis would replace Army Gen. David Petraeus, who left CENTCOM in late June to lead US and NATO forces in Afghanistan after a leadership shake-up. Gates made the announcement during a Pentagon briefing. He said Mattis at the helm of CENTCOM would mean that there would be two Marines occupying the top leadership spots in the combatant command. The other is Lt. Gen. John Allen, CENTCOM’s deputy commander since July 2008 and its acting commander since June 30. Gates said he feels comfortable with that arrangement “for a period of time.” (Gates transcript)
An important U.S. Air Force E-3 Sentry AWACS command and control plane was among the aircraft damaged in a March 27 Iranian missile and drone attack on Prince Sultan Air Base, Saudi Arabia, people familiar with the matter told Air & Space Forces Magazine.