U.S. Central Command

United States Central Command
Emblem of the United States Central Command.
Active	1983 – present
Country	United States of America
Type	Unified Combatant Command
Part of	Department of Defense
Headquarters	MacDill Air Force Base Tampa, Florida, U.S.
Nickname(s)	CENTCOM
Engagements	Persian Gulf War Iraq War War in Afghanistan
Commanders
Combatant Commander	General Joseph Votel, USA
Deputy Commander	Vice Admiral Mark Fox, USN
Notable commanders	General David Petraeus Admiral William Fallon General John Abizaid General Tommy Franks General Anthony Zinni General James Mattis General Norman Schwarzkopf
Insignia
Shoulder sleeve insignia (US Army only)

The United States Central Command (USCENTCOM or CENTCOM) is a theater-level Unified Combatant Command of the U.S. Department of Defense, established in 1983, taking over the 1980 Rapid Deployment Joint Task Force (RDJTF) responsibilities.

The CENTCOM Area of Responsibility (AOR) includes countries in the Middle East, North Africa, and Central Asia, most notably Afghanistan and Iraq. CENTCOM has been the main American presence in many military operations, including the Persian Gulf War (Operation Desert Storm, 1991), the War in Afghanistan (Operation Enduring Freedom, 2001–2014), and the Iraq War (Operation Iraqi Freedom, 2003-2011). As of 2015^[update] CENTCOM forces are deployed primarily in Afghanistan (Operation Resolute Support, 2015–Present) and Iraq (Operation Inherent Resolve, 2014–present) in supporting and advise and assist roles.

As of 1 August 2016^[update] CENTCOM's commander is General Joseph Votel, U.S. Army.

Of all six American regional unified combatant commands CENTCOM is among the three with headquarters outside its area of operations (the other two being USAFRICOM and USSOUTHCOM). 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.