Trump names nominees to take over Middle East, Africa commands

President Donald Trump is nominating Vice Adm. Brad Cooper to take over as the top U.S. military commander in the Middle East , the Pentagon said Wednesday. If he is confirmed, it would mark just the second time that a Navy admiral has held the job.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in a statement that Trump also is nominating Air Force Lt. Gen. Dagvin Anderson to head U.S. Africa Command. Anderson would be the first Air Force general to lead the command, which was created in 2007.

Cooper is currently deputy commander of U.S. Central Command and has extensive experience serving and leading troops in the Middle East. The current head of the command, Army Gen. Michael “Erik” Kurilla , is slated to retire after more than three years in the post.

It is a crucial role as the region has been shaken by conflict , with the Trump administration pushing to broker a ceasefire deal after 20 months of war in Gaza and pressing for an agreement with Iran in negotiations over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program .

A 1989 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, Cooper commanded naval forces in the Middle East for close to three years as the head of the Navy’s 5th Fleet in Bahrain. He left in February 2024 to take over as deputy at Central Command, which oversees U.S. military operations in the Middle East and is based in Tampa.

Army and Marine generals have largely held the Middle East job since it was created in 1983. And two of the recent leaders — former Army Gen. Lloyd Austin and former Marine Gen. Jim Mattis — went on to serve as defense secretary. Central Command covers 21 countries across central and south Asia and northeast Africa and has overseen the conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan, Israel, Syria and Yemen.

Trump is nominating Air Force Lt. Gen. Dagvin Anderson to head U.S. Africa Command. Here, Anderson, then-commander of the U.S. military's special forces in Africa, speaks in Thies, Senegal, on Feb. 25, 2020. (Cheikh A.T Sy/AP)

The only Navy officer to ever lead Central Command was Adm. William Fallon, who resigned after a year and retired. At the time, Fallon said he was stepping down due to press reports that suggested he was opposed to then-President George W. Bush’s Iran policies. He said the reports were wrong but the perception had become a distraction.

Cooper is a surface warfare officer and served on guided-missile cruisers, destroyers, aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships. He commanded a destroyer and a cruiser.

During his time leading the 5th Fleet, Cooper set up the Navy’s first unmanned and artificial intelligence task force, and he led naval operations against the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen. He also oversaw the Navy’s role in Operation Prosperity Guardian, the U.S.-led coalition created in late 2023 to counter Houthi attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea.

He previously served as commander of Naval Surface Force Atlantic and commander of U.S. Naval Forces Korea. Cooper is the son of a career Army officer and got his master’s degree in strategic intelligence from the National Intelligence University.

Anderson, nominated to lead operations in Africa, is a pilot who has flown the KC-135 tanker, the C-130 transport aircraft and the U-28A surveillance aircraft used largely by special operations forces. He has flown more than 3,400 flight hours, including 738 in combat.

He is currently serving as the director of joint force development on the Joint Staff.

According to the Air Force, he commanded a special operations squadron, an expeditionary squadron, an operations group and a special operations wing. He also led the task force that coordinated the repositioning of U.S. forces from Somalia and headed Special Operations Command, Africa, from 2019 to 2021.

Africa Command is the newest of the Pentagon’s geographic commands and covers the bulk of the African continent. Much of the U.S. military’s efforts there have focused on combatting extremist groups and training local forces.

Anderson would be the seventh general to head Africa Command. To date, four of the previous leaders were Army generals and two were Marines.

Anderson is from Ypsilanti, Michigan, and graduated from the ROTC program at Washington University in St. Louis.

五角大楼周三宣布，唐纳德·特朗普总统提名海军中将布拉德·库珀接任美国驻中东最高军事指挥官一职。如果提名获得确认，这将是海军上将第二次担任此职。

国防部长皮特·赫格塞斯在一份声明中表示，特朗普还提名空军中将达格文·安德森担任美国非洲司令部司令。安德森将成为首位领导该司令部的空军将领，该司令部成立于2007年。

库珀目前担任美国中央司令部副司令，在中东地区拥有丰富的部队服役和领导经验。现任司令迈克尔·“埃里克”·库里拉陆军上将任职三年多后即将退休。

由于该地区饱受冲突蹂躏，这一角色至关重要。特朗普政府在加沙地带经历了 20 个月的战争后，正努力促成停火协议，并在与伊朗就德黑兰快速推进的核计划进行的谈判中，敦促双方达成协议。

库珀于1989年毕业于美国海军学院，曾担任驻巴林海军第五舰队司令近三年，指挥中东地区的海军部队。他于2024年2月离任，出任中央司令部副司令，该司令部负责监督美国在中东的军事行动，总部设在坦帕。

自1983年设立以来，负责中东事务的职务大多由陆军和海军陆战队将领担任。其中两位前任领导人——前陆军上将劳埃德·奥斯汀和前海军陆战队上将吉姆·马蒂斯——后来都曾担任国防部长。中央司令部管辖中亚、南亚和东北非的21个国家，并负责指挥伊拉克、阿富汗、以色列、叙利亚和也门的冲突。

特朗普提名空军中将达格文·安德森担任美国非洲司令部司令。图为安德森，时任美国驻非洲特种部队司令，于2020年2月25日在塞内加尔的蒂耶斯发表讲话。（Cheikh AT Sy/AP）

历史上唯一一位担任中央司令部司令的海军军官是威廉·法伦海军上将，他在任职一年后辞职退休。当时，法伦表示，他辞职是因为媒体报道称他反对时任总统乔治·W·布什的伊朗政策。他说这些报道不实，但这种看法已经分散了他的注意力。

库珀是一名水面作战军官，曾在导弹巡洋舰、驱逐舰、航空母舰和两栖攻击舰上服役。他曾指挥过驱逐舰和巡洋舰。

在担任第五舰队司令期间，库珀组建了海军首个无人和人工智能特遣部队，并领导了针对也门境内伊朗支持的胡塞武装的海军行动。他还负责监督海军在“繁荣卫士行动”中的角色。该行动是由美国领导的联盟，于2023年底成立，旨在打击胡塞武装对红海商船的袭击。

他曾任美国海军水面部队大西洋司令部司令及驻韩美军司令。库珀的父亲是一名职业陆军军官，他本人则在国家情报大学获得了战略情报硕士学位。

安德森被提名领导非洲行动，他是一名飞行员，曾驾驶过KC-135加油机、C-130运输机和U-28A侦察机，这些飞机主要用于特种作战部队。他的飞行时间超过3400小时，其中包括738小时的战斗飞行时间。

他目前担任联合参谋部联合部队发展主任。

据美国空军称，他曾指挥过一个特种作战中队、一个远征中队、一个作战大队和一个特种作战联队。他还领导了协调美军从索马里撤军的特遣部队，并在2019年至2021年期间担任非洲特种作战司令部司令。

非洲司令部是五角大楼最新成立的地理司令部，管辖非洲大陆的大部分地区。美军在非洲的军事行动主要集中在打击极端组织和训练当地部队。

安德森将成为第七位担任非洲司令部司令的将军。此前，该司令部共有四位司令官，其中两位是陆军上将，两位是海军陆战队上将。

安德森来自密歇根州伊普西兰蒂，毕业于圣路易斯华盛顿大学的 ROTC 项目。