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Obama taps LTG Campbell for vice chief of Army

As FP National Security first reported he would back in December, President Obama today nominated Lt. Gen. John F. Campbell to receive his fourth star and become the Army’s second-highest ranking officer. If confirmed, “J.C.” Campbell will succeed Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Lloyd Austin. Obama has nominated Austin to become the next head ...

By Kevin Baron

February 11, 2013, 9:21 PM

As FP National Security first reported he would back in December, President Obama today nominated Lt. Gen. John F. Campbell to receive his fourth star and become the Army's second-highest ranking officer.

As FP National Security first reported he would back in December, President Obama today nominated Lt. Gen. John F. Campbell to receive his fourth star and become the Army’s second-highest ranking officer.

If confirmed, “J.C.” Campbell will succeed Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Lloyd Austin. Obama has nominated Austin to become the next head of Central Command, replacing Marine Corps Gen. Jim Mattis.

Campbell, a graduate of West Point’s class of 1979, came to public attention as a blunt-talking 2-star commander of international forces in eastern Afghanistan. He was nominated in November to take over U.S. Forces Command from Gen. David Rodriguez. But a month later, FP National Security learned Campbell would replace Austin — a move that positions him for a potential slot on the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The vice chief job will give Campbell experience in Washington as a day-to-day manager of the force — a very different job than serving as a combatant commander.

“Considered affable and genuine, Campbell is well regarded across both the Army and the military’s joint world for his acumen as a war commander steeped in battlefield strategy and operations,” wrote Gordon Lubold, of FP’s Situation Report, in December.

Austin’s confirmation hearing is set for 10:00 am on Thursday, alongside Rodriguez, who was tapped to take over Africa Command from Gen. Carter Ham.

Kevin Baron is a national security reporter for Foreign Policy, covering defense and military issues in Washington. He is also vice president of the Pentagon Press Association. Baron previously was a national security staff writer for National Journal, covering the "business of war." Prior to that, Baron worked in the resident daily Pentagon press corps as a reporter/photographer for Stars and Stripes. For three years with Stripes, Baron covered the building and traveled overseas extensively with the secretary of defense and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, covering official visits to Afghanistan and Iraq, the Middle East and Europe, China, Japan and South Korea, in more than a dozen countries. From 2004 to 2009, Baron was the Boston Globe Washington bureau's investigative projects reporter, covering defense, international affairs, lobbying and other issues. Before that, he muckraked at the Center for Public Integrity. Baron has reported on assignment from Asia, Africa, Australia, Europe, the Middle East and the South Pacific. He was won two Polk Awards, among other honors. He has a B.A. in international studies from the University of Richmond and M.A. in media and public affairs from George Washington University. Originally from Orlando, Fla., Baron has lived in the Washington area since 1998 and currently resides in Northern Virginia with his wife, three sons, and the family dog, The Edge. Twitter: @FPBaron