Defense Secretary Ash Carter will travel to Germany May 2-4 to deliver remarks at the change of command ceremony for U.S. European Command, and to host the latest meeting of defense ministers from countries leading the ongoing fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, according to a Defense Department news release.
“The counter-ISIL meeting, like previous coalition meetings in Paris and Brussels, will allow ministers to assess the state of the campaign, receive details on the latest steps the U.S. is taking to accelerate ISIL's defeat and identify additional capabilities the coalition may need in the future,” the release said.
Change of Command
Eucom’s change of command ceremony is scheduled for May 3 at 10 a.m. CEST, or 4 a.m. EDT, at Patch Barracks in Stuttgart, Germany, according to a Eucom news release.
During the ceremony, Army Gen. Curtis M. Scaparrotti will assume command from Air Force Gen. Philip M. Breedlove. Carter is scheduled to preside over the ceremony alongside Marine Corps Gen. Joe Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
When Scaparrotti’s nomination was announced in March, Carter said he was “one of the U.S. military's most accomplished officers and combat leaders.”
Scaparrotti, a native of Logan, Ohio, graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, in 1978 and was commissioned as an Army second lieutenant. A career infantry officer, Scaparrotti is presently the commander of United Nations Command, Combined Forces Command, and U. S. Forces Korea.
He previously served as the director of the Joint Staff; commander of the International Security Assistance Force Joint Command and deputy commander of U.S. Forces-Afghanistan; commander of I Corps and Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington; and commander of the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.