The
United States Central Command (
USCENTCOM) is a theater-level
Unified Combatant CommandA Unified Combatant Command is a United States Department of Defense command that is composed of forces from at least two Military Departments and has a broad and continuing mission. These commands are established to provide effective command and control of U.S. military forces, regardless of...
unit of the U.S. armed forces, established in 1983 under the operational control of the U.S. Secretary of Defense. It was originally conceived of as the
Rapid Deployment Joint Task ForceThe Rapid Deployment Joint Task Force is an inactive United States Department of Defense Joint Task Force. It was inactivated in 1983, and re-organized as the United States Central Command .- Origins :...
(RDJTF).
Its area of responsibility includes countries in the Middle East, North Africa, and Central Asia, most notably Afghanistan and Iraq. CENTCOM has been the main American presence in many military operations, including the Persian Gulf War, the
War in Afghanistan (2001–present)The War in Afghanistan began on October 7, 2001, as the armed forces of the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Australia, and the Afghan United Front launched Operation Enduring Freedom...
, and the
Iraq War. Forces from CENTCOM currently are deployed primarily in Iraq and Afghanistan in combat roles and have bases in Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Pakistan, and central Asia in support roles. CENTCOM forces have also been deployed in Jordan, and Saudi Arabia in the past, although no substantial forces are based in those countries .
The current commander is
GeneralIn the United States Army, United States Air Force, and United States Marine Corps, general is a four-star general officer rank, with the pay grade of O-10. General ranks above lieutenant general and below General of the Army or General of the Air Force; the Marine Corps does not have an...
James MattisJames N. Mattis is a United States Marine Corps general and the current commander of United States Central Command. Having replaced David Petraeus on August 11, 2010, he previously commanded United States Joint Forces Command from November 9, 2007 to August 2010 and served concurrently as NATO's...
, USMC, who took command from acting commander
Lieutenant GeneralLieutenant General is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages where the title of Lieutenant General was held by the second in command on the battlefield, who was normally subordinate to a Captain General....
John R. AllenJohn R. Allen is a United States Marine Corps four-star general. On 18 July 2011, General Allen assumed command of International Security Assistance Force as Commander, U.S. Forces Afghanistan , succeeding Army General David Petraeus.-Education:John R. Allen attended The Flint Hill School in...
, USMC on 11 August 2010. Allen, the deputy commander since July 2008, took temporary command when the previous commander, General
David PetraeusDavid Howell Petraeus is the current Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, sworn in on September 6, 2011. Prior to his assuming the directorship of the CIA, Petraeus was a four-star general serving over 37 years in the United States Army. His last assignments in the Army were as commander...
, USA, left to take command of the
International Security Assistance ForceThe International Security Assistance Force is a NATO-led security mission in Afghanistan established by the United Nations Security Council on 20 December 2001 by Resolution 1386 as envisaged by the Bonn Agreement...
(ISAF) in Afghanistan on 23 June.
Of the six American regional unified commands, CENTCOM is one of three regional unified commands whose headquarters are not within its area of operations. CENTCOM's main headquarters is located at
MacDill Air Force BaseMacDill Air Force Base is an active United States Air Force base located approximately south-southwest of downtown Tampa, Florida...
, in
Tampa, FloridaTampa is a city in the U.S. state of Florida. It serves as the county seat for Hillsborough County. Tampa is located on the west coast of Florida. The population of Tampa in 2010 was 335,709....
, although a forward headquarters was established in 2002 at
Camp As SayliyahAs Saliyah Army Base is a U.S. Army base located outside Doha, Qatar. U.S. Central Command uses the base to preposition materiel bound for use in Iraq and Afghanistan.-References:*Pike, John. "." globalsecurity.org, 2000-2008....
in Doha, Qatar, which transitioned to a new forward headquarters at
Al Udeid Air BaseAl Udeid Air Base is a military base west of Doha, Qatar. It houses foreign coalition personnel and assets. It is host to a forward headquarters of United States Central Command, headquarters of United States Air Forces Central Command, and home to both No. 83 Expeditionary Air Group RAF and the...
in Qatar in 2009 to serve American strategic interests of the Iraq region. The other regional unified commands with headquarters located outside their areas of operations are
United States Southern CommandThe United States Southern Command , located in Miami, Florida, is one of nine Unified Combatant Commands in the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for providing contingency planning and operations in Central and South America, the Caribbean The United States Southern Command...
(USSOUTHCOM), currently based in
Miami, FloridaMiami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...
, and
United States Africa CommandThe United States Africa Command is one of nine Unified Combatant Commands of the United States Armed Forces, headquartered at Kelley Barracks, Stuttgart, Germany. It is responsible for U.S. military operations and military relations with 53 African nations – an area of responsibility covering all...
(USAFRICOM), currently based in Stuttgart, Germany.
Exercise Internal LookInternal Look is a major planning wargame exercise of US Central Command. Up to 1990 often held annually, it is now biennial. From 1983 to 1990, it was often focused on a rapid deployment of U.S. forces to the Zagros Mountains in Iran, where they would have attempted to stop an expected Soviet...
is one of the Command's primary planning events. Up until around 1990, it was annual, but it is now held every two years. Up until 1990 it was frequently used to train CENTCOM to be ready to defend the
Zagros MountainsThe Zagros Mountains are the largest mountain range in Iran and Iraq. With a total length of 1,500 km , from northwestern Iran, and roughly correlating with Iran's western border, the Zagros range spans the whole length of the western and southwestern Iranian plateau and ends at the Strait of...
from a Soviet attack. It has been employed for explicit war planning on at least two occasions: Internal Look '90, which was held after General Norman Schwarzkopf reoriented CENTCOM's planning to fending off a threat from Iraq, and Internal Look '03, which was used to plan what became Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Components
No fighting units are directly subordinate to this command; rather, the five subordinate service component commands are:
- U.S. Army Forces Central Command (ARCENT)
- U.S. Air Forces Central (USAFCENT)
- U.S. Marine Forces Central Command (USMARCENT)
- U.S. Naval Forces Central Command
United States Naval Forces Central Command is the United States Navy element of United States Central Command . Its area of responsibility includes the Red Sea, Gulf of Oman, Persian Gulf, and Arabian Sea...
(USNAVCENT)
- United States Special Operations Command Central
The United States Special Operations Command Central is a subordinate unified command of joint forces for the U.S. Central Command...
(SOCCENT)
There are major subordinate multiservice commands reporting to Central Command which are
conducting operations in various areas:
- United States Forces – Iraq
United States Forces - Iraq is a U.S. military sub-unified command, part of U.S. Central Command. It is stationed in Iraq as agreed with the Government of Iraq under the U.S.–Iraq Status of Forces Agreement. USF-I replaced the previous commands Multi-National Force - Iraq, Multi-National Corps -...
(see also Iraq War order of battleBelow is a estimate of the list of the major units deployed with the Multi-National Force - Iraq and other U.S. military units operating in Iraq under United States Central Command . It has been compiled through the synthesis of many many wikipedia contributors in the years 2006-2009...
)
- International Security Assistance Force
The International Security Assistance Force is a NATO-led security mission in Afghanistan established by the United Nations Security Council on 20 December 2001 by Resolution 1386 as envisaged by the Bonn Agreement...
, now taken over by NATO. Formerly the U.S. force in Afghanistan was Combined Forces Command AfghanistanThe Afghan War order of battle is the disposition and structure of military forces in the ongoing War in Afghanistan. This article lists deployed units under the command of the International Security Assistance Force , which controls both combat and reconstruction operations . ISAF comprises units...
.
- Unpublicized temporary task forces
On 1 October 2008 Combined Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa at Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti was transferred to
AFRICOMThe United States Africa Command is one of nine Unified Combatant Commands of the United States Armed Forces, headquartered at Kelley Barracks, Stuttgart, Germany. It is responsible for U.S. military operations and military relations with 53 African nations – an area of responsibility covering all...
. During the Israeli incursion into Lebanon of 2006 a temporary task force,
Joint Task Force LebanonJoint Task Force Lebanon is a U.S. European Command operational unit established in 2006 and assigned responsibility for U.S. military support to the American Embassy in Beirut and to help U.S. Department of State led humanitarian assistance efforts that are providing aid to the people of...
was also operational.
CENTCOM staff sections include personnel, operations, logistics, and intelligence, as well as other functions. The intelligence section is known as JICCENT, or Joint Intelligence Center, Central Command, which serves as a
Joint Intelligence CenterA Joint Intelligence Center is a focal point for military intelligence gathered by different intelligence agencies and administered by the Defense Intelligence Agency. The intelligence center of the joint force headquarters...
for the co-ordination of
intelligenceIntelligence assessment is the development of forecasts of behaviour or recommended courses of action to the leadership of an organization, based on a wide range of available information sources both overt and covert. Assessments are developed in response to requirements declared by the leadership...
. Under the intelligence directorate, there are several divisions including the Afghanistan-Pakistan Center of Excellence.
There are also elements of other
Unified Combatant CommandA Unified Combatant Command is a United States Department of Defense command that is composed of forces from at least two Military Departments and has a broad and continuing mission. These commands are established to provide effective command and control of U.S. military forces, regardless of...
s, especially
United States Special Operations CommandThe United States Special Operations Command is the Unified Combatant Command charged with overseeing the various Special Operations Commands of the Army, Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps of the United States Armed Forces. The command is part of the Department of Defense...
, operating in the CENTCOM area. It appears that SOCCENT does
not direct the secretive Task Force 77, the ad-hoc grouping of Joint Special Operations Command 'black' units such as
Delta Force1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta is one of the United States' secretive Tier One counter-terrorism and Special Mission Units. Commonly known as Delta Force, Delta, or The Unit, it was formed under the designation 1st SFOD-D, and is officially referred to by the Department of Defense...
and Army Rangers, which is tasked to pursue the most sensitive high value targets such as Al Qaeda and the Taliban leadership since 11 September 2001. Rather TF 77, which started out as
Task Force 11-World War II:During World War II, Task Force 11 was a United States Navy aircraft carrier task force in the Pacific theater.TF 11 was originally formed around , then her sister ship until she was disabled by a Japanese torpedo in January 1942, then Lexington again for the Battle of the Coral...
and has gone through a number of name/number changes, reports directly to Joint Special Operations Command, part of USSOCOM.
Geographic scope
The formal Area of Responsibility (AOR) extends to 20 countries: Afghanistan, Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Uzbekistan, and Yemen.
International watersThe terms international waters or trans-boundary waters apply where any of the following types of bodies of water transcend international boundaries: oceans, large marine ecosystems, enclosed or semi-enclosed regional seas and estuaries, rivers, lakes, groundwater systems , and wetlands.Oceans,...
included are the
Red SeaThe Red Sea is a seawater inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. The connection to the ocean is in the south through the Bab el Mandeb strait and the Gulf of Aden. In the north, there is the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and the Gulf of Suez...
,
Persian GulfThe Persian Gulf, in Southwest Asia, is an extension of the Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.The Persian Gulf was the focus of the 1980–1988 Iran-Iraq War, in which each side attacked the other's oil tankers...
, and western portions of the Indian Ocean. Syria and Lebanon are the most recent addition, having been transferred from the
United States European CommandThe United States European Command is one of ten Unified Combatant Commands of the United States military, headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany. Its area of focus covers and 51 countries and territories, including Europe, Russia, Iceland, Greenland, and Israel...
on 10 March 2004.
Israel, which is now surrounded by CENTCOM countries remains in
EUCOMThe United States European Command is one of ten Unified Combatant Commands of the United States military, headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany. Its area of focus covers and 51 countries and territories, including Europe, Russia, Iceland, Greenland, and Israel...
, "because it is more politically, militarily and culturally aligned with Europe," according to American military officials. General Norman Schwarzkopf expressed the position over Israel more frankly in his 1992 autobiography: 'European Command also kept Israel, which from my viewpoint was a help: I'd have had difficulty impressing the Arabs with Central Command's grasp of geopolitical nuance if one of the stops on my itinerary had been Tel Aviv.'
On 7 February 2007, plans were announced for the creation of a
United States Africa CommandThe United States Africa Command is one of nine Unified Combatant Commands of the United States Armed Forces, headquartered at Kelley Barracks, Stuttgart, Germany. It is responsible for U.S. military operations and military relations with 53 African nations – an area of responsibility covering all...
which would transfer responsibility for all of Africa except the country of Egypt to the new USAFRICOM. On 1 October 2008, the Africa Command became operational and Combined Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa, the primary CENTCOM force on the continent, started reporting to AFRICOM at Stuttgart instead of CENTCOM in Tampa.
Major US troop presence in the region dates to the 1990
Invasion of KuwaitThe Invasion of Kuwait, also known as the Iraq-Kuwait War, was a major conflict between the Republic of Iraq and the State of Kuwait, which resulted in the seven-month long Iraqi occupation of Kuwait, which subsequently led to direct military intervention by United States-led forces in the Gulf...
and the subsequent Operation Desert Shield, which transferred hundreds of thousands of troops to Saudi Arabia.
IslamistsIslamism also , lit., "Political Islam" is set of ideologies holding that Islam is not only a religion but also a political system. Islamism is a controversial term, and definitions of it sometimes vary...
objected to the presence of non-Muslim troops in Saudi Arabia, and their use in Operation Desert Storm and other attacks on Iraq became a key rallying cry for opposition movements in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere. By the late 1990s, a gradual move to other countries was underway, particularly Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, and the UAE.
The military uses a variable number of base locations depending on its level of operations. With warfare ongoing in Iraq and Afghanistan in 2003, the
United States Air ForceThe United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
used 35 bases, while in 2006 it uses 14 today, including four in Iraq.
List of CENTCOM commanders
| No. | Image | Name | Service | Start | End |
| 1. |
 |
GEN Robert Kingston |
United States ArmyThe United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
|
1 January 1983 |
27 November 1985 |
| 2. |
 |
Gen. George B. Crist George B. Crist is a retired four-star General of the United States Marine Corps and was the first Marine to be designated as a Unified Commander — serving as Commander in Chief, United States Central Command from 1985 to 1988...
|
United States Marine CorpsThe United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
|
27 November 1985 |
23 November 1988 |
| 3. |
 |
GEN H. Norman SchwarzkopfGeneral Herbert Norman Schwarzkopf KCB , also known as "Stormin' Norman" and "The Bear", is a retired United States Army General who, while he served as Commander of U.S. Central Command, was commander of the Coalition Forces in the Gulf War of 1991.-Early life:Schwarzkopf was born in Trenton, New...
|
United States Army |
23 November 1988 |
9 August 1991 |
| 4. |
 |
Gen. Joseph P. HoarGeneral Joseph P. Hoar is a retired U.S. Marine Corps officer, former Commander in Chief of United States Central Command. He retired from the Corps on September 1, 1994.-Military career:...
|
United States Marine Corps |
9 August 1991 |
5 August 1994 |
| 5. |
 |
GEN J. H. Binford Peay III |
United States Army |
5 August 1994 |
13 August 1997 |
| 6. |
 |
Gen. Anthony ZinniAnthony Charles Zinni is a retired four-star General in the United States Marine Corps and a former Commander in Chief of U.S. Central Command...
|
United States Marine Corps |
13 August 1997 |
6 July 2000 |
| 7. |
|
GEN Tommy FranksTommy Ray Franks is a retired general in the United States Army. His last Army post was as the Commander of the United States Central Command, overseeing United States Armed Forces operations in a 25-country region, including the Middle East...
|
United States Army |
6 July 2000 |
7 July 2003 |
| 8. |
 |
GEN John AbizaidJohn Philip Abizaid, AO is a retired General in the United States Army and former Commander of the United States Central Command , overseeing American military operations in a 27-country region, from the Horn of Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, to South and Central Asia, covering much of the Middle...
|
United States Army |
7 July 2003 |
16 March 2007 |
| 9. |
 |
ADM William J. FallonWilliam Joseph Fallon is a retired United States Navy four-star admiral who retired after serving for over 41 years. His last military assignment was as Commander, U.S. Central Command from March 2007 to March 2008. ADM Fallon was the first Navy officer to hold that position. His other four-star...
|
United States NavyThe United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
|
16 March 2007 |
28 March 2008 |
| (Acting) |
|
LTG Martin Dempsey General Martin E. Dempsey, USA is the 18th and current Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He previously served 149 days as the 37th Chief of Staff of the Army from April 11, 2011 to September 7, 2011. Prior to that, he served as Commanding General, U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command from...
|
United States Army |
28 March 2008 |
31 October 2008 |
| 10. |
|
GEN David Petraeus David Howell Petraeus is the current Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, sworn in on September 6, 2011. Prior to his assuming the directorship of the CIA, Petraeus was a four-star general serving over 37 years in the United States Army. His last assignments in the Army were as commander...
|
United States Army |
31 October 2008 |
30 June 2010 |
| (Acting) |
|
Lt. Gen. John R. Allen John R. Allen is a United States Marine Corps four-star general. On 18 July 2011, General Allen assumed command of International Security Assistance Force as Commander, U.S. Forces Afghanistan , succeeding Army General David Petraeus.-Education:John R. Allen attended The Flint Hill School in...
|
United States Marine Corps |
30 June 2010 |
11 August 2010 |
| 11. |
|
Gen. James MattisJames N. Mattis is a United States Marine Corps general and the current commander of United States Central Command. Having replaced David Petraeus on August 11, 2010, he previously commanded United States Joint Forces Command from November 9, 2007 to August 2010 and served concurrently as NATO's...
|
United States Marine Corps |
11 August 2010 |
Incumbent |
Unit decorations
The unit awards depicted below are for Headquarters, US Central Command at MacDill AFB. Award for unit decorations do not apply to any subordinate organization such as the service component commands or any other activities unless the orders specifically address them.
External links