The United States Central Command (USCENTCOM or CENTCOM) is one of the eleven unified combatant commands of the United States 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, 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 8 August 2025, CENTCOM's commander is Admiral Brad Cooper, U.S. Navy. Two of the last three United States secretaries of defense—Lloyd Austin and James Mattis, both of whom required congressional waivers to be confirmed—were recent CENTCOM commanders.
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 CENTCOM 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.
Contents
History
The command was established on 1 January 1983. As its name implies, CENTCOM covers the "central" area of the globe located between then European and Pacific Commands (PACOM). (Changes since 1983 have seen the creation of Africa Command and change of title for PACOM to Indo-Pacific Command.) When the hostage crisis in Iran and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan underlined the need to strengthen the U.S. presence in the region, President Jimmy Carter established the Rapid Deployment Joint Task Force (RDJTF) in March 1980. Steps were taken to transform the RDJTF into a permanent unified command over a two-year period. The first step was to make the RDJTF independent of U.S. Readiness Command, followed by the activation of CENTCOM in January 1983.
The command was configured to fight both the Soviets if necessary, and assure other U.S. interests in the area. In 1980, Saddam Hussein of Iraq invaded Iran, beginning the Iran–Iraq War. The war risked interruptions to the oil supply route out of the Persian Gulf/Arabian Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz. Developments like Iranian mining operations in the Gulf led to CENTCOM's first combat operations. On 17 May 1987, USS Stark, conducting operations in the Persian Gulf, was struck by Exocet missiles fired by an Iraqi aircraft, resulting in 37 casualties. Soon afterward, as part of what became known as the "Tanker War", the Federal government of the United States reflagged and renamed 11 Kuwaiti oil tankers. In Operation Earnest Will, these tankers were escorted by USCENTCOM's Middle East Force through the Persian Gulf to Kuwait and back through the Strait of Hormuz.
By late 1988, the regional strategy still largely focused on the potential threat of a massive Soviet invasion of Iran. Exercise Internal Look has been one of CENTCOM's primary planning events. It had frequently been used to train CENTCOM to be ready to defend the Zagros Mountains from a Soviet attack and was held annually.
In autumn 1989, the main CENTCOM contingency plan, OPLAN 1002-88, assumed a Soviet attack through Iran to the Persian Gulf. The plan called for five-and-two-thirds US divisions to deploy, mostly light and heavy forces at something less than full strength (apportioned to it by the Joint Strategic Capability Plan [JSCAP]). The original plan called for these five-and-two-thirds divisions to march from the Persian Gulf to the Zagros Mountains and prevent the Soviet Ground Forces (army) from seizing the Iranian oil fields.
Structure
CENTCOM's main headquarters is located at MacDill Air Force Base, in Tampa, Florida. CENTCOM headquarters staff directorates include personnel, intelligence, operations, logistics, plans & policy, information systems, training & exercises, and resources, and other functions. The intelligence section is known as Joint Intelligence Center, Central Command, or JICCENT, which serves as a Joint Intelligence Center for the co-ordination of intelligence. Under the intelligence directorate, there are several divisions including the Afghanistan-Pakistan Center of Excellence.
Component Commands
CENTCOM directs five "service component commands" and one subordinate unified command:
Subordinate unified commands
Two major subordinate multi-service commands reporting to Central Command were responsible for Afghanistan: Combined Joint Task Force 180 and Combined Forces Command Afghanistan (CFC-A). CFC-A was disestablished in February 2007. From that point onward, the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) directed most U.S. forces in Afghanistan. A U.S. general (Dan K. McNeill) assumed command of ISAF that same month.
Temporary task forces include the Central Command Forward – Jordan (CF-J), which was announced in April 2013. CF-J's stated purpose was to work with the Jordanian armed forces to improve the latter's capabilities. There was speculation, however, that another reason for its establishment was to serve as a base from which raids into Syria could be launched to seize Syrian WMD if necessary, and as a launch pad for looming American military action in Syria.
On 1 October 2008 Combined Joint Task Force – Horn of Africa at Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti was transferred to United States Africa Command (USAFRICOM). The United States Forces – Iraq (USF-I) was a major subordinate multi-service command during the Iraq War order of battle until it was disestablished in 2011.
Elements of other Unified Combatant Commands, especially United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM), operate in the CENTCOM area. It appears that SOCCENT does not direct the secretive Task Force 88, the ad-hoc grouping of Joint Special Operations Command 'black' units such as Delta Force and Army Rangers, which is tasked to pursue the most sensitive high-value targets such as Al Qaeda and the Taliban leadership since 11 September 2001. Rather, TF 77, which started out as Task Force 11 and has gone through a number of name/number changes, reports directly to Joint Special Operations Command, part of USSOCOM.
As of 2015, CENTCOM forces are deployed primarily in Iraq and Afghanistan in combat roles and have support roles at bases in Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, and central Asia. CENTCOM forces have also been deployed in Jordan and Saudi Arabia.
War planning
The following war plan numbers have been made public:
OPLAN 1002-88, addressing Soviet-related armed conflict in the CENTCOM AOR
OPLAN 1002 (Defense of the Arabian Peninsula).
CENTCOM OPORDER 01-97, Force Protection
SOCEUR SUPPLAN 1001-90, 9 May 1989
CENTCOM CONPLAN 1010, July 2003
CENTCOM CONPLAN 1015-98, possible support to OPLAN 5027 for Korea, 15 March 1991
CENTCOM 1017, 1999
CONPLAN 1020
OPLAN 1021, prior to 1990, referred to "the ..Soviets pushing through Iran." OPLAN 1021-88 had a nuclear weapons annex, Annex C, that called for the deployment of some nuclear-capable forces. In September 1990, copying deployment lists from the Cold War planning in haste over to Desert Shield deployments after the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait appears to have inadvertently begun the deployment of a MGM-52 Lance short-range ballistic missile unit, 1st Battalion, 12th Field Artillery Regiment. "The unit's equipment was literally on railcars and ready to move to ports in Texas before the missilemen were ordered to stand down."
CONPLAN 1067, for possible Biological Warfare response
CENTCOM CONPLAN 1100-95, 31 March 1992
Others listed by Arkin's supplements include CENTCOM CONPLAN 1211-07 "Foreign Humanitarian Assistance / Disaster Response Operations." It was issued in November 2007, and required using the Request for Forces method via then-U.S. Joint Forces Command to supply any required forces.
Geographic scope
With the 1983 establishment of CENTCOM Egypt, Sudan, Kenya, Ethiopia, Somalia, and Djibouti came within the area of responsibility (AOR). Thus CENTCOM directed the 'Natural Bond' exercises with Sudan, the 'Eastern Wind' exercises with Somalia, and the 'Jade Tiger' exercises with Oman, Somalia, and Sudan. Exercise Jade Tiger involved the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit with Oman from 29 November 1982 to 8 December 1982.
On 7 February 2007, plans were announced for the creation of a United States Africa Command which transferred responsibility for U.S. military operations across Africa to the new USAFRICOM, except for Egypt. On 1 October 2008, the Africa Command became operational and Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa, the primary CENTCOM force on the continent, started reporting to AFRICOM at Stuttgart instead of CENTCOM in Tampa.
The Department of Defense uses a variable number of base locations depending on its level of operations. With ongoing warfare in Iraq and Afghanistan in 2003, the United States Air Force used 35 bases, while in 2006 it used 14, including four in Iraq. The United States Navy maintains one major base and one smaller installation, with extensive deployments afloat and ashore by U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Coast Guard ships, aviation units and ground units.
List of commanders
Secretary of Defense
Two of the former U.S. Central Command Commanders would later serve as United States Secretary of Defense: General James Mattis and General Lloyd Austin. Mattis served as the 26th U.S. Secretary of Defense. Austin became the 28th U.S. Secretary of Defense on 22 January 2021, serving until 20 January 2025.
Unit decorations
The unit awards depicted below are for Headquarters, U.S. Central Command at MacDill AFB. Award for unit decorations do not apply to any subordinate organization such as the service component commands or any other activities unless the orders specifically address them.