United States Central Command

United States Central Command (CENTCOM)
Emblem of the United States Central Command
Founded	January 1, 1983 (41 years, 10 months ago)
Country	United States
Type	Unified combatant command
Role	Geographic combatant command
Part of	United States Department of Defense
Headquarters	MacDill Air Force Base Florida, U.S.
Motto(s)	Persistent Excellence[1]
Engagements	Persian Gulf War Iraq War War in Afghanistan Operation Inherent Resolve
Website	www.centcom.mil
Commanders
Commander	General Michael E. Kurilla, USA[2]
Deputy Commander	Vice Admiral Charles B. Cooper II, USN[3]
Senior Enlisted Leader	Fleet Master Chief Derrick A. Walters, USN[4]
Insignia
Shoulder Sleeve Insignia
NATO Map Symbol[5][6]
Unit Flag

United States Armed Forces
Executive departments
Department of Defense Department of Homeland Security
Staff
Office of the Secretary of Defense Joint Chiefs of Staff
Military departments
Department of the Army Department of the Navy Department of the Air Force
Military services
United States Army United States Marine Corps United States Navy United States Air Force United States Space Force United States Coast Guard
Command structure
Unified combatant commands Africa Command Central Command European Command Indo-Pacific Command Northern Command Southern Command Cyber Command Space Command Special Operations Command Strategic Command Transportation Command
Combat support agencies Defense Contract Management Agency Defense Health Agency Defense Information Systems Agency Defense Intelligence Agency Defense Logistics Agency Defense Threat Reduction Agency National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency National Security Agency Central Security Service
v t e

The United States Central Command (USCENTCOM or CENTCOM) is one of the eleven unified combatant commands of the U.S. Department of Defense. It was established in 1983, taking over the previous responsibilities of the Rapid Deployment Joint Task Force (RDJTF).

Its Area of Responsibility (AOR) includes the Middle East (including Egypt in Africa), Central Asia and parts of South Asia. The command has been the main American presence in many military operations, including the Persian Gulf War's Operation Desert Storm in 1991, the War in Afghanistan, as well as the Iraq War from 2003 to 2011. As of 2015^[update], CENTCOM forces were deployed primarily in Afghanistan under the auspices of Operation Freedom's Sentinel, which was itself part of NATO's Resolute Support Mission (from 2015 to 2021), and in Iraq and Syria as part of Operation Inherent Resolve since 2014 in supporting and advise-and-assist roles.

As of 1 April 2022^[update], CENTCOM's commander is General Michael E. Kurilla, U.S. Army.^[7][8] Two of the last three United States Secretaries of Defense -- incumbent Lloyd Austin and James Mattis, both of whom required congressional waivers to be confirmed -- were recent CENTCOM commanders.^[9]

Of all seven American regional unified combatant commands, CENTCOM is among four that are headquartered outside their area of operations (the other three being USAFRICOM, USSOUTHCOM, and USSPACECOM). CENTCOM's main headquarters is located at MacDill Air Force Base, in Tampa, Florida. A forward headquarters was established in 2002 at Camp As Sayliyah in Doha, Qatar, which in 2009 transitioned to a forward headquarters at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar.

In January 2021, Israel became the 21st country of the AOR, added to another 20 nations including Afghanistan, Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, the United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan and Yemen.^[10]