Biden nominates assistant commandant to lead Marine Corps

President Biden has nominated the Marine Corps’ No. 2 commanding officer, Gen. Eric Smith, to take the helm of the military branch later this year, according to a notice received by the Senate Tuesday.

Smith, the assistant commandant of the Marine Corps since October 2021, is a veteran of the counterinsurgency wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He more recently played a part in revamping the service for the future, looking toward countering China in the Indo-Pacific after decades of conflict in the Middle East. 

The White House has not released a statement on Smith’s nomination as of Wednesday afternoon. 

Should his nomination be confirmed, Smith, 58, would replace Gen. David Berger, Marine Corps commandant since July 2019. Berger will soon wrap up his four-year term. 

Smith’s nomination also comes as the Biden administration is choosing the next iteration of military leaders, including the heads of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Army and Air Force amid officer retirements.  

Biden last week nominated Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. to replace Army Gen. Mark Milley as Joint Chiefs chairman. His Air Force replacement has yet to be named. 

And in April, the president nominated Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George to replace Gen. James McConville as chief of staff of the Army.  

Smith, a career infantry officer, was commissioned in 1987 and has since commanded at every level. He operated in Liberia and Venezuela and served multiple tours in Afghanistan and Iraq, later becoming the senior military adviser to former Defense Secretary Ash Carter from 2015 to 2017.  

In 2019 he became deputy commandant for combat development and integration, helping shepherd Force Design 2030, Berger’s somewhat controversial plan for the Marine Corps’ future. The idea focuses on investing more in the development of drones and long-range missiles over tanks and howitzer artillery, with an eye toward operating in the Pacific.

Smith has defended the design; in February, he said the plan is critical for the future against enemies with high-tech capabilities.  

“I love tanks. I used them in Iraq; I used them in Afghanistan,” Smith said at a naval conference, before adding that they can’t move quickly enough to avoid new, advanced weaponry. 

And speaking at a conference last year, he vehemently supported the shift to focus on China. 

“For those who say, ‘Well, you shouldn’t be focused on China,’ China is the pacing threat, but … [that] doesn’t mean you’re not also capable of dealing with Russia, North Korea or Iran. It’s that you always go against the fastest runner, and then you hope that the next runner is a little bit slower.”