Wolters will replace General Curtis Scaparrotti, who served as EUCOM commander since May 2016. Wolters is currently the head of U.S. Air Forces Europe, U.S. Air Forces Africa and NATO’s Allied Air Command.
As EUCOM chief, he will also be Supreme Allied Commander Europe, the highest military position in NATO.
He is expected to assume his new role in a ceremony in Belgium this spring.
During a joint confirmation hearing with Townsend, Wolters said U.S. “competitive advantage is eroding” against Russia in Europe, but Congressional budget increases would put U.S. forces back to a “comfortable” level by the mid 2020s.
Wolters told the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee that the recent budget hikes have led to an “improvement in readiness,” including more deployments of U.S. personnel and equipment in Europe, more military exercises, and the prepositioning of U.S. materiel under programs such as the European Deterrence Initative, Air Force Magazine reported.
EUCOM’s area of responsibility includes 21 million square miles across Europe – but also including Russia and Israel – and the command coordinates military activities alongside 51 U.S. partner nations in the European Theater.
The NATO SACEUR is responsible for all NATO military operations and plays an important public-facing role as the senior military spokesperson for Allied Command Operations.
The role is dual-hatted with U.S. EUCOM and has always been assumed by a U.S. commander.
In his current role, Wolters is responsible for air and missile defense of the 29 NATO member states and for commanding U.S. air power across more than 19 million square miles and 104 countries in Europe, Africa, Asia, the Middle East and the Arctic.
Previously, Wolters served as Director for Operations (DJ-3), Joint Staff and in headquarters staff positions for U.S. Pacific Command, the U.S. Air Force and Air Force Space command. He commanded the 19th Fighter Squadron, the 1st Operations Group, the 485th Air Expeditionary Wing, the 47th Flying Training Wing, the 325th Fighter Wing, the 9th Air and Space Expeditionary Task Force-Afghanistan, and the 12th Air Force, fighting in operations Desert Storm, Southern Watch, Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom.
Source link : https://www.thedefensepost.com/2019/04/30/us-senate-confirms-africom-townsend-eurocom-wolters/
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Publish date : 2019-04-30 07:00:00
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