Kenneth F. McKenzie Jr.


Kenneth Franklin "Frank" McKenzie Jr. is a United States Marine Corps general who currently serves as the 14th commander of the United States Central Command. He served as Director of the Joint Staff assuming the job on July 5, 2017 after having previously served for two years as Director of Strategic Plans and Policy on the Joint Staff. He assumed his current assignment on March 28, 2019.

Early life and education

A native of Birmingham, Alabama, McKenzie was commissioned in 1979 via the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps at The Citadel, McKenzie holds a Master's degree in History from the National Defense University and has served as a Senior Military Fellow at the schools Institute for National Strategic Studies, he is an Honors Graduate of the Marine Corps Command and Staff College and the School of Advanced Warfighting.

Military career

As an infantry officer McKenzie's assignments have included command of the 1st Battalion, 6th Marines and as commanding officer of the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit, which he led on deployments to both Iraq and Afghanistan. He also served as Military Secretary to two Commandants of the Marine Corps.
McKenzie's flag officer posts have included Deputy Director of Operations for the National Military Command Center in the Pentagon. In 2008 he was selected by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to serve as Director of his new administration transition team, overseeing the smooth transition of military forces under incoming President Barack Obama. He returned to Afghanistan serving as Deputy Chief of Staff for Stability under the International Security Assistance Force, followed by a tour as Director of Strategy, Plans and Policy at United States Central Command. He then returned to the Pentagon to serve as the Marine Corps Representative to the Quadrennial Defense Review and after receiving his third star was appointed Commanding General of United States Marine Forces Central Command.
As CENTCOM commander, McKenzie oversaw the successful high-profile special forces raid in Syria to kill or capture then-Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in October 2019 and the conditional withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan that began in 2020.

Awards and decorations