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Petraeus picked to lead CentCom

Gen. David Petraeus, commander of Multi-National Force-Iraq, will be nominated by the White House to head U.S. Central Command and is expected to take over in the summer or early fall, pending Senate confirmation.

Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno will be nominated to succeed Petraeus as the top commander in Iraq.

The announcements were made in a Pentagon press conference Wednesday by Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

“I am honored to be nominated for this position and to have an opportunity to continue to serve with America’s soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines, Coast Guardsmen and civilians,” Petraeus said in a statement released from his office in Baghdad.

Gates said the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and other problems in the Central Command area of responsibility, demand knowledge of how to fight counterinsurgencies as well as other unconventional conflicts.

“I don’t know anybody in the U.S. military better qualified to lead that effort,” he said, referring to Petraeus, who commanded the 101st Airborne Division for a year in Iraq in 2003 and later commanded the effort to train Iraqi security forces.

By waiting until late summer or early fall, Gates said, he hoped to “ensure plenty of time to prepare for a good handoff,” with Odierno who, as commander of Multi-National Corps-Iraq, has had experience as “Petraeus’ right-hand man” over the last year.

Navy Adm. William Fallon headed CentCom until his abrupt resignation in March after Esquire magazine reported that he was at odds with President Bush over Iran policy. Fallon said the report was untrue and had become a distraction.

Lt. Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, who had been nominated to become head of U.S. Army Europe, has been serving as acting commander of CentCom since March 28.

Odierno returned in February after 15 months in Iraq and also commanded the 4th Infantry Division in northern Iraq for a year at the beginning of the war.

He had been nominated to become Army vice chief of staff following Gen. Richard Cody’s retirement in August.

On April 3, Odierno testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee at a hearing to consider his nomination and was expected to be confirmed.

Offsetting that shift, Gates also announced Wednesday that Lt. Gen. Peter Chiarelli, former commander of 1st Cavalry Division and Multi-National Corps-Iraq, has been nominated for a fourth star and the position of Army vice chief of staff.

Gates said he had consulted with senior lawmakers, including the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., about the nominations, and said he anticipated no Capitol Hill obstacles to confirmation for any of the officers.

Petraeus is widely hailed by the Bush administration and members of Congress for developing and implementing a new strategy in Iraq, including the deployment of some 30,000 additional troops, which dramatically improved security.

Central Command, with headquarters at Tampa, Fla., is responsible for U.S. military operations throughout the Middle East, Central Asia and the Horn of Africa, and thus oversees the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

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The Associated Press contributed to this story.

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