TACOMA, Wash. (AP) — The Pentagon has nominated the former commander of a Stryker brigade, Army Maj. Gen. Robert Brown, as the overall commander of Joint Base Lewis-McChord and I (First) Corps.
Brown would succeed Lt. Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti, who took command of Lewis-McChord in October 2010 and deployed to Afghanistan last July as the second-in command.
The News Tribune reports (http://is.gd/84CJla ) the 42-year-old Brown led a Stryker brigade in combat in Iraq in 2004 and 2005. He is currently commanding Fort Benning, Ga.
Lewis-McChord is home to about 12,000 Stryker troops among its 50,000 military and civilian personnel.
Tuesday’s announcement comes as the base near Tacoma is under scrutiny for its treatment of soldiers with PTSD and as the base for Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, who is accused of killing 16 Afghan civilians.