Trump’s impending appointments reflect an emphasis on stealth operations

Maj. Gen. Richard Clarke, right, shown on a flight in 2016, is expected to be tapped to head U.S. Special Operations Command.

Maj. Gen. Richard Clarke, right, shown on a flight in 2016, is expected to be tapped to head U.S. Special Operations Command. PHOTO: ANDREW CRAFT/ZUMA PRESS

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By Gordon Lubold and Nancy A. Youssef

Updated Aug. 19, 2018 5:50 p.m. ET

WASHINGTON—President Trump is expected to nominate a former operations officer who played a critical role in the 2011 raid targeting Osama bin Laden to head of the U.S. Special Operations Command as part of a series of military promotions in coming months, according to U.S. officials.

The changes, which include commanders for the Middle East and Europe, will mark the administration’s largest imprint on military leadership thus far. The personnel moves stand to affect top officers overseeing conflicts in the Middle East, U.S. policy to counter Russia, the detention center on Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, as well as stealth operations globally.

Mr. Trump is expected to formally nominate Army Lt. Gen. Richard Clarke to head U.S. Special Operations Command, in Tampa, Fla., to succeed Army Gen. Tony Thomas, who is due to retire next year, the officials said. The Special Operations Command oversees highly trained, specialized forces of all the military branches, such as the Navy SEALs, Green Berets and others.

The White House is poised to make two other nominations to replace outgoing heads of regional combatant commands, several U.S. officials said.

Marine Lt. Gen. Kenneth McKenzie Jr. is expected to succeed Army Gen. Joseph Votel at U.S. Central Command, officials said. That command, also in Tampa, is considered the most prominent within the military, with responsibility for all of the Middle East, including Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria. Gen. Votel is expected to retire next spring.

Gen. McKenzie now is director of the Joint Staff, a job often seen as a launching pad for top officers, and has years of experience both in war zones in Iraq and Afghanistan, and inside Washington.

Air Force Gen. Tod Wolters is considered a likely pick as the next head of the U.S. European Command and North Atlantic Treaty Organization Supreme Allied Commander, Europe. Gen. Wolters now heads Air Force Europe, Air Force Africa and Allied Air Command, all based in Germany. He would succeed Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti, who is retiring, according to officials.

Gen. Wolters had served as the operations officer on the Pentagon’s Joint Staff and has focused in recent years on American military policy toward Russia.

Gen. Clarke, who now serves as the director of strategic plans and policy for the Pentagon’s Joint Staff, was the operations officer at Joint Special Operations Command, in Fort Bragg, N.C., at the time the Pentagon launched the raid that resulted in the death of bin Laden, the mastermind of the 2001 terrorist attacks. As operations officer, he was a part of the planning, training and execution of the mission.

As the U.S. seeks to minimize its footprint in conflict zones around the world, the Pentagon has leaned more heavily on the forces that fall under the Special Operations Command.

In a reflection of the emphasis on stealth operations, Mr. Trump earlier this year nominated Army Gen. Scott Miller, commander of the Joint Special Operations Command, as the new U.S. commander in Afghanistan. Gen. Miller is expected to arrive in Afghanistan in coming weeks.

Their nominations, like all other combatant or geographic commands, require Senate confirmation. While senators have blocked military promotions, such a move is rare. An individual senator also could at least temporarily hold up confirmation votes once nominations have been formally submitted.The Pentagon and the nominees declined to comment on coming changes, many of which won’t take effect until next year.

Marine Lt. Gen. Kenneth McKenzie Jr. is expected to succeed Army Gen. Joseph Votel at U.S. Central Command.

Marine Lt. Gen. Kenneth McKenzie Jr. is expected to succeed Army Gen. Joseph Votel at U.S. Central Command. PHOTO: ALEX BRANDON/ASSOCIATED PRESS

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis on Thursday announced the White House nomination of his own senior military assistant, Navy Adm. Craig Faller, to head U.S. Southern Command, the post responsible for Latin and South America as well as Guantanamo Bay. The Pentagon announced the nomination of Adm. Faller while he and Mr. Mattis were traveling in South America last week for meetings with officials there.

Adm. Faller was under a Navy investigation in 2011 for accepting a luxury hotel suite upgrade in Malaysia, according to a 2013 report by the Office of Naval Inspector General. The Navy concluded he was wrong to accept the upgrade but that his actions didn’t require disciplinary action because he used the larger room to accommodate several of his own staffers, according to the investigation.

Two other top Pentagon posts come open next year with the expected retirements of Marine Gen. Joe Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Air Force Gen. Paul Selva, the vice chairman.

Though the jobs are filled by the president, Mr. Mattis is expected to play an important role in selecting their successors, officials said. Top contenders for chairman are the current Air Force chief of staff, Gen. David Goldfein, and the Army chief of staff, Gen. Mark Milley, officials said.

Another possible contender, according to several officials, is the head of the U.S. Strategic Command, Air Force Gen. John Hyten.

Army Gen. John Nicholson, now the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, and Army Gen. Vince Brooks, the current commander of U.S. Forces, Korea, who could be under contention, are expected to retire, officials said.

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