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United States Central Command
Emblem of the United States Central Command.
Active	1983 -
Country	United States
Type	Unified Combatant Command
Headquarters	MacDill AFB, in Tampa, FL
Nickname	CENTCOM
Battles/wars	Iraq War United States war in Afghanistan Persian Gulf War
Commanders
Combatant Commander	Admiral William J. Fallon
Notable commanders	General John Abizaid General Norman Schwarzkopf

The United States Central Command (CENTCOM) is a theater-level Unified Combatant Command unit of the U.S. armed forces, established in 1983 under the operational control of the U.S. Secretary of Defense. It was originally conceived of as the Rapid Deployment Forces.

Its area of responsibility is in the Middle East, East Africa and Central Asia. CENTCOM has been the main American presence in many military operations, including the Persian Gulf War, the United States war in Afghanistan, and the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Forces from CENTCOM currently are deployed primarily in Iraq and Afghanistan in combat roles and have bases in Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Pakistan, Djibouti and central Asia in support roles. CENTCOM forces have also been deployed in Jordan, and Saudi Arabia in the past, although no substantial forces are based in those countries as of 2005.

CENTCOM's commander is Admiral William Fallon, who took command on March 16, 2007, replacing General John Abizaid.

Of the five American regional unified commands, CENTCOM is one of two regional unified commands whose headquarters are not within its area of operations. It is at MacDill AFB, in Tampa, Florida, although a forward headquarters has been established at Camp As Sayliyah in Qatar to serve American strategic interests of the Iraq region. (The other such regional unified command is U.S. Southern Command, currently based in Miami, Florida.)

No fighting units are directly subordinate to this command; rather, the five subordinate service component commands are:

• U.S. Army Forces Central Command (ARCENT)
• U.S. Central Command Air Forces (USCENTAF)
• U.S. Marine Forces Central Command (USMARCENT)
• U.S. Naval Forces Central Command (USNAVCENT)
• United States Special Operations Command Central (SOCCENT)

There are major subordinate multiservice commands reporting to Central Command which are conducting operations in various areas:

• Multi-National Force - Iraq, including Multi-National Security Transition Command - Iraq (MNSTC-I),

(see also Iraq War order of battle)

• Combined Forces Command Afghanistan
• Combined Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa (Camp Le Monier, Djibouti)
• Joint Task Force Lebanon(now probably deactivated)

United States Central Command Area of Responsibility prior to the creation of the United States Africa Command (USAFRICOM)

The formal Area of Responsibility (AOR) extends to 27 countries: Afghanistan, Bahrain, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Seychelles, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Uzbekistan, and Yemen. International waters included are the Red Sea, Persian Gulf, and western portions of the Indian Ocean.^[1] Syria and Lebanon are the most recent addition, having been transferred from the United States European Command on March 10, 2004. Israel, which is now surrounded by CENTCOM countries remains in EUCOM, "because it is more politically, militarily and culturally aligned with Europe," according to American military officials.^{[2][citation needed]}

On February 7, 2007, plans were announced for the creation of a United States Africa Command which would transfer responsibility for all of Africa except the country of Egypt to the new USAFRICOM.

Major US troop presence in the region dates to the 1990 Invasion of Kuwait and the subsequent Operation Desert Shield, which transferred hundreds of thousands of troops to Saudi Arabia. Islamists objected to the presence of non-Muslim troops in Saudi Arabia, and their use in Operation Desert Storm and other attacks on Iraq became a key rallying cry for opposition movements in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere. By the late 1990s, a gradual move to other countries was underway, particularly Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, and the UAE.

The military uses a variable number of base locations depending on its level of operations. With warfare ongoing in Iraq and Afghanistan in 2003, the United States Air Force used 36 bases, while in 2006 it uses 14 today, including four in Iraq.

The Washington Post has reported that long term plans for basing in the region include continued use of Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, and Oman and the creation of two new storage hubs in "a classified Middle Eastern country "west" of Saudi Arabia ('Site 23')" and in a state in Central Asia.^{[citation needed]}. There are already six US weapons pre-positioning sites in Israel, three of which are designated Sites 51, 53, and 54.^[3]

Admiral Fallon speaks to sailors.

Military of the United States Portal

1. ^ Globalsecurity.org, Central Command
2. ^ Department of Defense: Unified Command Broken.
3. ^ Globalsecurity.org, http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/site-51.htm

• DOD Central Command site
• Combined Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa Official Homepage
• http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-generals5jan05,1,7040299.story?coll=la-headlines-nation

v • d • e  Unified Combatant Commands of the United States armed forces
Regional responsibilities	Africa Command - Central Command - European Command - Northern Command - Pacific Command - Southern Command
Functional responsibilities	Joint Forces Command - Special Operations Command - Strategic Command - Transportation Command
Inactivated	United States Strike Command - United States Atlantic Command - United States Space Command - United States Readiness Command