Central Defense Command

Central Defense Command
Active	1941–1944
Country	United States
Branch	United States Army
Role	Home defense and training
Garrison/HQ	Memphis, Tennessee, United States
Commanders
Commanding General	Benjamin Lear
Commanding General	Lloyd R. Fredendall

Central Defense Command (CDC) was a command formation of the United States Army during World War II. The CDC was established on 17 March 1941, responsible for coordinating the defense of the Midwest region of the United States. A second major responsibility of CDC was the training of soldiers prior to their deployment overseas. The first Commanding General (CG) of CDC was Lieutenant General Ben Lear, who continued on in command of the U.S. Second Army. CDC headquarters was co-located with the existing Second Army headquarters in Memphis. CDC's operational region covered the states of Wyoming, Colorado, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, and West Virginia.

On 15 January 1944 Central Defense Command was merged into Eastern Defense Command.

The following men served as Commanding General, Central Defense Command: