Allen named acting commander of CENTCOM - Marine Corps News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Marine Corps Times

Allen named acting commander of CENTCOM

Marine Corps Lt. Gen. John Allen was named acting commander of U.S. Central Command on Wednesday.

Allen’s appointment comes on the heels of the Senate’s confirmation of Gen. David Petraeus as the new Afghanistan war commander, ending his tenure as CENTCOM chief.

Allen had been deputy commander of CENTCOM since July 15, 2008. He replaces Petraeus, who was reassigned by the White House in the wake of Gen. Stanley McChrystal’s resignation as the Afghanistan war commander following controversial remarks he and his staff made in a Rolling Stone magazine article.

The Defense Department has not announced a permanent replacement for Petraeus.

CENTCOM is a unified combatant command with responsibility for maintaining relationships, supporting development and assisting with security in more than 20 countries in the Middle East and Central Asia.

The last Marine to head CENTCOM, a four-star command, was Gen. Anthony Zinni, who held the position from 1997-2000.

Allen, 56, was deputy commander of II Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Lejeune, N.C., and served as deputy commanding general of Multinational Force-West in Anbar province, Iraq, from 2006-2008. He served at II MEF under then-Lt. Gen. Jim Amos, who has been tapped by Defense Secretary Robert Gates to succeed Gen. James Conway as commandant of the Marine Corps.

Allen is a 1976 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy.

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