Army Gen. Michael “Erik” Kurilla is now the head of U.S. Central Command, and Gen. Frank McKenzie has retired.
Kurilla, who had been the commander of the 18th Airborne Corps in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, assumed the position during a ceremony on Friday at the Tampa Convention Center, where McKenzie’s 42 years of military service were also honored.
McKenzie assumed command of CENTCOM back in March 2019, and his three years on the job included the killing of Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al Baghdadi and his successor, Abu Ibrahim al Hashimi al Qurashi, the end of the U.S. military presence in Afghanistan, and the transition of coalition forces in Iraq to an exclusively advisory role.
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“For the past 21 years, CENTCOM has been the only combatant command in close and enduring contact with America’s enemies,” said McKenzie. “It’s where every combat arms commander wants to be. I can think of no one better qualified to write CENTCOM’s next chapter than Erik Kurilla.”
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, attended the ceremony.
“Frank, as you head into a well-earned retirement, please know that your tenure at CENTCOM has deepened security in the region and at home for years to come. And this team will continue building on your legacy,” Austin said during his address to the crowd. “So, thank you for all that you’ve done to make America safer.”
Kurilla’s tenure will begin as Russia’s military invasion in Ukraine looms over the department. In addition to the now six-week-old war in Ukraine, the new commander will have to deal with a significantly reduced presence in the Middle East with an ever-aggressive Iran, an “acute threat” in Russia, and China, which is considered the “pacing challenge.”
He warned during his confirmation hearing in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee that al Qaeda and ISIS-K are “reconstituting” in Afghanistan.
“One of the challenges is the threat to the homeland from al Qaeda and ISIS-K. They are reconstituting. The Taliban has not renounced al Qaeda. ISIS-K, with the release of the prisoners both from the Bagram prison and Pul-e-Charkhi — are in a process of reconstituting,” he said.
Similarly, McKenzie, in his final testimony on the Hill earlier this month, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that CENTCOM hasn’t executed a strike against the Islamic State’s Afghan affiliate, ISIS-K, since the United States exited the country at the end of August.
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“We have not undertaken any strikes in Afghanistan since the 1st of September,” McKenzie said. “We continue to watch carefully as ISIS grows. They’ve gone through the winter. They’ve been able to carry out some high-profile attacks. They still aspire to attack the United States and our partners abroad. So, we’re going to watch very carefully what the Taliban is able to do and not able to do in terms of controlling ISIS. Because as we all know, the Taliban will actually fight ISIS, and they have a theological dispute, and so they are in opposition.”
During the same hearing, he said the timeline under which ISIS-K could regain the capability to conduct an international attack is “12 to 18 months,” which was a more delayed timeline than the six to 12 months estimation Dr. Colin Kahl, the undersecretary of defense for policy, presented to the committee back in October.
