Army Gen. Christopher Cavoli, left, and Marine Corps Gen. Michael Langley prepare to testify at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on April 3, 2025. (Eric Kayne/Stars and Stripes)
WASHINGTON — The commanders of U.S. troops in Europe and Africa expressed trepidation Thursday about the Pentagon’s reported plans to consolidate commands and give up America’s role as NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe.
A merger of U.S. European Command and U.S. Africa Command into a single command would be a “daunting task,” said Marine Corps Gen. Michael Langley, commander of AFRICOM. Army Gen. Christopher Cavoli, who leads EUCOM and is the Supreme Allied Commander Europe, called it a “stretch.”
“I would have the responsibility for 50 more countries. … That’s a wide span of control,” Cavoli said in testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee. “[The proposal] would have to be studied very, very closely.”
Reports emerged last month that President Donald Trump’s administration was considering major restructuring measures across the military, including the dismantling of AFRICOM and moving it to a subcommand position under EUCOM in Stuttgart, Germany.
The reported plans prompted the Republican chairmen of the Senate and House Armed Services committees to push back with a statement warning that significant changes to the U.S. warfighting structure could risk undermining American strength around the globe.
Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the top Democrat on the Senate committee, said Thursday a merger of the Europe and Africa commands would be “a deeply mistaken and harmful decision.”
AFRICOM was created in 2007 under President George W. Bush. Since then, terrorism on the continent has risen from 2% to 43% as Chinese and Russian influence has grown, Langley said.
“The challenges in Africa have increased exponentially over the last 10 years, not just the terrorism that was there during the previous period of the last 20 years but the increasing activity of Russia and China,” Cavoli said. “There are a lot of problems there … and I’m satisfied with the problems I have in EUCOM.”
Langley and Cavoli are set to retire from their posts in the summer. Cavoli’s dual position as EUCOM commander and NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe, known as the SACEUR, has also been under debate.
The Trump administration is reportedly contemplating whether to retain a four-star U.S. general in the SACEUR role, which oversees all NATO military operations in Europe. The job has been held by an American for nearly 75 years.
Cavoli said Thursday that ceding the role to another nation would bring “some challenges” in terms of nuclear command and control. The SACEUR is responsible for overseeing U.S. nuclear forces that are deployed across several NATO countries.
“We would want those under the command of a U.S. officer, clearly,” Cavoli said, especially if Article 5, NATO’s mutual defense clause, is invoked.
He noted such a scenario could also put large numbers of American troops under non-U.S. command for the first time since World War I.
“I think those are things that would have to be considered carefully,” Cavoli said.
It is unclear when the Pentagon plans to announce its restructuring and cost-cutting efforts, which could include the combination of U.S. Northern Command and U.S. Southern Command into a single AMERICOM command.
The consolidations reportedly could save the Defense Department, which has a $850 billion annual budget, about $330 million in five years.
