The United States Africa Command (AFRICOM) is scheduled to hold a change of command ceremony presided over by the acting United States Secretary of Defense on July 26 at Patch Barracks in Stuttgart, Germany.
The ceremony will see U.S. Marine Corps General Thomas D. Waldhauser relinquish command and hand over to his successor U.S. Army General Stephen J. Townsend.
Townsend will become the fifth AFRICOM commander while Waldhauser will retire after 43 years of military service.
Townsend had previously served as commanding general of U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command since March 2018.
AFRICOM, established in 2008, oversees all United States military operations, exercises, security cooperation, and conducts crisis response in Africa with the aim of advancing the United States’ interests and promote regional security, stability, and prosperity.
AFRICOM has been instrumental in cooperating with the Federal Government of Somalia in disrupting the operations and degrading the capabilities of militant group Al-Shabaab in Somalia.
These efforts are aimed at enabling governance to take hold in the Horn of Africa nation which has been plagued by terrorism for more than a decade. The war waged by the terrorists has killed tens of thousands and forced millions to flee their homes.
