Pentagon activates U.S. Army Western Hemisphere Command

Olympia [Washington], December 11: The Pentagon has activated the U.S. Army Western Hemisphere Command (West-Hemcom) after the White House issued a document outlining the National Security Strategy, according to a U.S. Defense Department news release on Wednesday.
The command united U.S. Army Forces Command, U.S. Army North and U.S. Army South into a single, four-star operational headquarters, said the release, adding that an activation ceremony was held on Dec. 5 at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
Army Gen. Joseph A. Ryan, who previously served as the U.S. Army's deputy chief of staff for Operations, Plans and Training, assumed command of West-Hemcom, it said.
"The newly established command is an operational warfighting theater command headquarters overseeing all Army plans, posture, operations and power projection in support of U.S. Northern and Southern Commands -- and aligned with national strategic priorities," said the release.
"By February 2026, the new command will reach its initial operational capability and will be assigned to Southcom and Northcom to prepare to accept theater Army authorities and responsibilities," it noted. "Following initial operational capability, U.S. Army North and U.S. Army South will inactivate."
It is expected that if all conditions are met, West-Hemcom will reach full operational capability by summer 2026, said the release.
"The United States must be preeminent in the Western Hemisphere as a condition of our security and prosperity -- a condition that allows us to assert ourselves confidently where and when we need to in the region," said the National Security Strategy issued by the White House on Thursday.
The document is widely regarded as a formal statement of U.S. President Donald Trump's foreign policy vision for his second term.
Source: Xinhua News Agency