The current heads of U.S. Army Europe and Africa and Joint Special Operations Command have been chosen for new posts, according to a Wall Street Journal report.
Gen. Christopher Cavoli will be nominated to lead U.S. European Command, U.S. officials told WSJ, and Lt. Gen. Bryan Fenton will be tapped for U.S. Special Operations Command.
The White House and Pentagon declined to comment on the nominations Monday. Neither has been officially sent to the Senate to prepare for confirmation hearings.
Fenton, a career Special Forces officer, took command of JSOC in July, after serving in the defense secretary’s office as an adviser. Prior to that, he was the deputy commander of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command.
Fenton would be the first Green Beret in nearly 20 years to lead SOCOM. The current head of the command, Gen. Richard Clarke, cut his teeth in the 75th Ranger Regiment, as did Gen. Tony Thomas before him.
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Cavoli has led U.S. Army Europe since 2018. He became the head of the Army’s combined Europe and Africa command when they consolidated in October 2020.
An infantryman-turned-foreign area officer, Cavoli previously lead the Hawaii-based 25th Infantry Division.
If confirmed, he would take over for Air Force Gen. Tod Wolters, who has been at the center of the U.S. and NATO responses to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
EUCOM commanders automatically take on a second role as NATO’s supreme allied commander.
As the war in Ukraine has ramped up, the U.S. has mobilized more than 12,000 troops to Germany and eastern Europe. At the same time, there’s ongoing discussion at the Pentagon and within NATO on what the U.S. force posture should look like on the continent going forward.
Meghann Myers is the Pentagon bureau chief at Military Times. She covers operations, policy, personnel, leadership and other issues affecting service members.
