Washington will change the commander of its forces in Europe

President Biden’s administration intends to conduct a personnel reshuffle in the ranks of the high command, in particular, the U.S. troops in Europe.

General Todd Walters, commander of the U.S. European Command and also the Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, will be replaced by Christopher Kavoli, who is currently the commander of the U.S. Army in Europe and Africa. In March the Pentagon stated that there are about 100 thousand American servicemen in Europe taking into account temporary deployments.

In addition, the head of the Special Operations Command (SOCOM), General Richard Clarke, will be replaced by General Brian Fenton, who heads the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), the SOCOM division responsible for training special operations forces and conducting selected operations by special units.

Such reshuffles, reflect the Pentagon’s shift in focus from the Middle East to Asia and more conventional military threats, specifically, special operations units under Fenton may shift from counterinsurgency to training foreign military personnel.

Walters and Clark are scheduled to retire in 2022; their replacements could take their new posts as early as this summer, but they must be confirmed by the U.S. Senate before they can do so.