Common Kurilla Takes Over at US Central Command

Army Gen. Michael “Erik” Kurilla, who has earned two Purple Hearts and a Bronze Star throughout his navy profession, took over management of U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) on Friday throughout an occasion on the Tampa Conference Heart, in accordance with a press launch from the command.

Kurilla beforehand commanded the XVIII Airborne Corps at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and served because the CENTCOM chief of workers from August 2018 to September 2019. He’s a graduate of the U.S. Navy Academy at West Level, with graduate levels from Regis College in Denver and the Nationwide Warfare Faculty in Washington, D.C.

“I am honored to serve alongside the troopers, sailors, airmen, Guardians, Marines, coastguardsmen and civilians of this command,” Kurilla, who was nominated by President Joe Biden in January and confirmed for his position by the Senate in early February, mentioned throughout the ceremony.

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CENTCOM oversees navy missions in 21 international locations all through the Center East, Central Asia and elements of South Asia. For the previous 20 years, it has coated the main target of U.S. operations abroad in Afghanistan and Iraq.

“U.S. Central Command will proceed to thrive beneath the steadfast management of Common Kurilla throughout a important time in a area that is still harmful and sophisticated,” Secretary of Protection Lloyd Austin, who commanded CENTCOM between March 2013 to March 2016, mentioned in a press launch.

Kurilla replaces the outgoing CENTCOM chief, U.S. Marine Corps Gen. Kenneth “Frank” McKenzie Jr. McKenzie started as commander in March 2019. On the finish of a storied profession spanning 4 many years, McKenzie was chargeable for managing the U.S. navy exit from Afghanistan, which ended within the Taliban’s final management over Afghanistan, and included the lack of 13 American service members because of a bombing throughout the evacuation and the dying of 10 Afghan civilians because of a drone strike within the waning days of the marketing campaign.

“For the previous 21 years, CENTCOM has been the one combatant command in shut and enduring contact with America’s enemies,” McKenzie mentioned in a press launch Friday. “I can consider nobody higher certified to write down CENTCOM’s subsequent chapter than Erik Kurilla.”

Kurilla will lead greater than 44,000 navy service and members of the family abroad, and roughly 5,000 personnel in Tampa at headquarters at MacDill Air Pressure Base, Florida, in ongoing operations to discourage threats from Iran and defeat ISIS in Syria and Iraq.

— Jonathan Lehrfeld is a fellow at Navy.com. Observe him on Twitter @lehrfeld_media.

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