date at the Washington Foreign Press Center while still the commander
of the 82nd Airborne Division, Coalition Joint Task Force - 82
Regional Command-East, Afghanistan)
***
The New York Times reported Wednesday, September 19, that Gen. David
"Rod" Rodriguez "would take over early next year from Gen. Carter Ham
in what two American officials said was a routine change of command."
The reporting piece, written by Eric Schmitt and Thom Shanker, says
that Africa "in the wake of the Arab Spring has become one of the
Defense Department's most challenging theaters of operation."
Gen. Rod is currently "head of the Army's Forces Command, which trains
and equips troops," with the responsibility of "training and equipping
265,000 active-duty soldiers, as well as training and overseeing the
readiness of 560,000 soldiers in the Army Reserve and Army National
Guard."
Still citing those unnamed officials, the report says:
"Because of the presidential election and the need to get the
necessary paperwork ready, General Rodriguez's expected nomination
would probably not go to the Senate for confirmation until the
postelection session."
Gen. Rod, a West Point graduate, "also has extensive combat
experience. He served two tours in Iraq and two tours in Afghanistan,
including a stint in eastern Afghanistan as commander of the 82nd
Airborne Division and later as deputy commander of allied forces there
with responsibility for the day-to-day management of the war."
Among the fallouts of the Arab Spring, the report points to the US
Benghazi Consulate deadly attack, the Boko Haram terrorist group in
Nigeria, Al Qaeda affiliates in Mali and Somalia as well as "remnants
of the Lord's Resistance Army" (LRA).
(Source: www.nytimes.com/2012/09/20/world/africa/ex-commander-in-afghanistan-in-line-for-top-africa-post.html?ref=world&_r=0)
***
PHOTO CREDITS: fpc.gov; state.gov
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