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. 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.