Brig. Gen. James Dooghan, left, accepts the U.S. Army Japan guidon from Gen. Ronald Clark, head of U.S. Army Pacific, during a change-of-command ceremony at Camp Zama, near Tokyo, June 17, 2025. (Akifumi Ishikawa/Stars and Stripes)

CAMP ZAMA, Japan — The son of a U.S. Navy sailor returned to his childhood stamping grounds Tuesday to assume command of U.S. Army Japan.

Brig. Gen. James Dooghan, an Afghanistan war veteran, took over for Maj. Gen. Dave Womack during a change-of-command ceremony at U.S. Army Japan’s headquarters outside Tokyo. The event was presided over by Gen. Ronald Clark, head of U.S. Army Pacific.

Dooghan, a fluent Japanese speaker, greeted the crowd with a cheerful “ohayou gozaimasu,” the Japanese phrase for “good morning.”

“I was born at Yokosuka Naval Base,” he told the audience, which included members of the Japan Self-Defense Forces, foreign militaries, local officials, and representatives from other U.S. military branches.

“My dad served three tours on the (USS) Midway,” he said, referring to the aircraft carrier that saw action during the Vietnam War and Operation Desert Storm.

The warship, along with Carrier Air Wing 5, was the centerpiece of the first complete carrier task group stationed in a Japanese port. The Midway arrived at Yokosuka in 1973, staying until 1992, when it returned to the West Coast for decommissioning.

Brig. Gen. James Dooghan, incoming commander of U.S. Army Japan, embraces his predecessor, Maj. Gen. Dave Womack, during their change-of-command ceremony at Camp Zama, near Tokyo, June 17, 2025. (Akifumi Ishikawa/Stars and Stripes)

Brig. Gen. James Dooghan gives his first speech as commander of U.S. Army Japan at Camp Zama, near Tokyo, June 17, 2025. (Akifumi Ishikawa/Stars and Stripes)

Dooghan, who attended high school at Zama in the 1980s, now oversees about 2,500 U.S. soldiers stationed at 17 locations across Japan. Their mission spans military intelligence, missile defense, sea transport, aviation and cyber warfare.

His previous assignment was serving as deputy inspector general for the U.S. Army in Washington, D.C., according to his official biography.

The leadership transition comes as the United States and Japan contend with an increasingly assertive Chinese military and the potential for conflict over Taiwan or disputed territory in the South China Sea.

U.S. Army Japan, under Womack’s leadership, has provided trained and ready land forces — “people in the first island chain, people who help us achieve positional advantage, people ready to fight and win from the land in a combined, joint and multidomain environment,” Clark said at the ceremony.

Womack reflected on key accomplishments during his tenure, which began in June 2023. He highlighted the activation of an Army watercraft company in Yokohama and last year’s deployment of an I Corps headquarters to Japan.

“We may be the fourth largest (American military) service in Japan, for now, but we fight above our weight,” he said.

Womack also called for a more operational role for the Army in Japan.

“The Army doesn’t need a two-star command that is non-operational,” he said. “We’ve got a lot to give and here is plenty of fight to go around in the Indo-Pacific. We are going to continue to drive that operationalization of U.S. Army Japan.”

Womack’s next assignment will be with U.S. Forces Korea, where he pledged to serve as an ambassador for both U.S. Army Japan and the country of Japan.

Maj. Gen. Dave Womack, the outgoing leader of U.S. Army Japan, speaks during his change-of-command ceremony at Camp Zama, near Tokyo, June 17, 2025. (Akifumi Ishikawa/Stars and Stripes)