President Trump nominated Marine Corps Lt. Gen. David Berger to be the Marines’s next top officer, the Pentagon announced Wednesday.
The nomination of a new Marine Corps commandant comes after two other high-profile nominations announced a day earlier: a new Army chief of staff and the first commander of U.S. Space Command.
Berger is currently the deputy commandant for combat development and integration and is the commanding general of Marine Corps Combat Development Command in Quantico, Va.
If confirmed as the Marines’s 38th commandant, Berger would get a fourth star and replace Gen. Robert Neller, who is set to retire this summer.{mosads}
Meanwhile, Trump has nominated Gen. John Raymond to lead U.S. Space Command. The administration is establishing the new combatant command as part of its broader efforts to increase the military’s focus on space, including its push to establish Space Force as the sixth branch of the military.
“Establishing [Space Command] is a critical step that underscores the importance of the space domain and its strategic contributions to U.S. national security,” the Pentagon said in its announcement Tuesday. “The [Space Command] establishment will accelerate our space capabilities to address the rapidly evolving threats to U.S. space systems, and the importance of deterring potential adversaries from putting critical U.S. space systems at risk.”
Raymond currently serves as commander of Air Force Space Command at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado.
If confirmed as the chief of the new Space Command, Raymond would be dual-hatted, meaning he would also still lead the Air Force Space Command.
For Army chief of staff, Trump has tapped current Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. James McConville.
If confirmed, McConville would replace Gen. Mark Milley, whom Trump has said he intends to nominate to be the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.