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Reports: Gen. Breedlove likely Obama pick for NATO post
Air Force Gen. Philip Breedlove is expected to be nominated as the next NATO supreme allied commander in Europe post now that Gen. John Allen is retiring, according to reports.
Senior NATO officials told the New York Times in Brussels that Breedlove is emerging as President Obama’s pick for the top NATO military post.
Pentagon press secretary George Little said Thursday that no decisions have been made, however.
Allen, who said this week his is retiring from the military, was in line to take the NATO post last year before he became ensnared in the scandal that led to the resignation of former CIA Director David Petraeus.
Allen’s emails to a Tampa, Fla., woman were uncovered in the FBI investigation that discovered the Petraeus affair, and the Defense Department Inspector General conducted an investigation.
After the investigation, the White House said it would back Allen for the NATO post once again. But Allen, who earlier this month finished his tour as the top commander in Afghanistan, said this week he would decline the NATO job and retire from the military, citing his wife’s health problems.
Now Breedlove appears to be in line to succeed Adm. James Stavridis for the NATO post and head of U.S. European Command, a nomination that would require Senate confirmation.
Breedlove is currently the Air Force commander in both Europe and Africa. Before that he was vice chief of staff of the Air Force.
