Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy A. George, right, passes the colors to Lt. Gen. Joseph A. Ryan, the commander of the new U.S. Army Western Hemisphere Command, during the Transition of Command ceremony at Fort Bragg, N.C., on Friday, Dec. 5, 2025. (Alexis Fischer/U.S. Army)

The Army shuttered its largest command on Friday to activate in its place a new organization focused on soldiers’ efforts in the Western Hemisphere as the service continues a major shakeup of its top levels ordered early this year.

U.S. Army Forces Command cased its colors and inactivated Friday afternoon during a formal ceremony at Fort Bragg, N.C., where the new U.S. Army Western Hemisphere Command was activated as a four-star headquarters. Army Gen. Joseph Ryan — he received a fourth star — took command of the new formation. Army Gen. Andrew Poppas, who led FORSCOM from 2022 through its inactivation, was set to retire.

“Today is much more than a change of command ceremony,” Poppas said. “It’s a major step toward the merger of three powerhouse Army headquarters into one operational, transregional team that will face the nation’s top strategic priorities.”

The transformation efforts grew from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s April orders for the military to reduce general officer billets across the force and to refocus troops’ efforts toward protecting the U.S. homeland after more than two decades of war in the Middle East and southwest Asia.

“Western Hemisphere Command is designed for speed, flexibility and relevance to effectively respond to challenges in our complex times,” Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George said. “By consolidating these headquarters and aligning the theater, we will streamline processes, eliminate redundant efforts, and free up talent and resources. This will allow us to better support our fighting formations.”

U.S. Army Gen. Andrew P. Poppas, right, commander of U.S. Army Forces Command Commanding General, and Command Sgt. Maj. Nema “Mobar” Mobarakzadeh conduct the casing of the FORSCOM colors, officiated by Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy A. George, at Fort Bragg, N.C., on Friday, Dec. 5, 2025. (Alexis Fischer/U.S. Army)

In recent months, the Army has merged two other four-star commands, Training and Doctrine Command and Futures Command, into a single new organization called Transformation and Training Command, which it headquartered in Austin, Texas. That command, known as T2COM, also absorbed the service’s three-star Recruiting Command. 

Western Hemisphere Command next year will absorb two more general officer-led commands. Three-star-led U.S. Army North and two-star-led U.S. Army South will be inactivated and folded into the new command with responsibility for providing Army forces for missions in the Northern Command and Southern Command areas of responsibility.

The Army anticipates those moves coming by March, but it will be based on conditions and not on a set calendar timeline, said Col. Mike Burns, a spokesman for Army Western Hemisphere Command.

While Army North and South are currently headquartered at Joint Base San Antonio, Texas, most of their personnel are expected to move to Fort Bragg, Burns said. The Army anticipates civilian officials with those commands to move to Fort Bragg by the end of 2026 and soldiers to complete relocation to Fort Bragg by September 2027, Burns said.

The new U.S. Army Western Hemisphere Command patch is displayed at the USAWHC activation and Transition of Command ceremony at Fort Bragg, N.C., on Friday, Dec. 5, 2025. The emblem features an eagle’s head above a globe representing North and South America, symbolizing the command’s area of responsibility, strategic readiness and modernization initiatives, with four stars denoting four-star leadership. (Alexis Fischer/U.S. Army)

Western Hemisphere Command does expect to retain a “forward command post” with some personnel at Joint Base San Antonio to support NORTHCOM operations, according to planning documents. It was not immediately clear Friday how many civilian employees and soldiers would be moved from JBSA to Fort Bragg or how many would remain at the Texas base. Burns declined comment on specific numbers, citing ongoing planning efforts.

The new Western Hemisphere Command will serve as the Army Service Component Command for both U.S. NORTHCOM and SOUTHCOM, much as U.S. Army Europe and Africa Command serves for U.S. European Command and U.S. Africa Command. Officials said it will be responsible for providing trained and ready forces to the NORTHCOM and SOUTHCOM commander for any range of missions that require soldiers, from combat operations to border security efforts to natural disaster response.

FORSCOM, which was established in 1973, has spent decades overseeing the Army’s conventional combat formations and ensuring training and readiness standards across those units worldwide. With its inactivation, much of the responsibilities for unit combat readiness will be decentralized and enforced by the Army’s corps commanders, an Army official said.

The Army is expected to announce in the coming weeks that the 18th Airborne Corps will fall under U.S. Army Western Hemisphere Command, while the service’s I Corps will align with U.S. Army Pacific and its III Armored Corps and V Corps will serve under U.S. Army Europe and Africa Command, a service official said.

Some other functions traditionally served by FORSCOM will move to the Pentagon under the Army’s operations, plans and training chief, according to the official.

The new headquarters is standing up at a time of increased military activity in the Western Hemisphere under President Donald Trump’s second administration. That includes increased operations along the U.S. Southern Border, National Guard deployments in U.S. cities and a buildup of military forces — mostly land and air capabilities filled by the Navy, Marines and Air Force — in the Caribbean Sea with lethal strikes against alleged drug-trafficking boats.

However, Army officials said the restructuring does not imply the Army will have more of less involvement in those missions.

“Western Hemisphere Command was designed and built not with any particular crisis in mind,” the Army official said. “It was built as a way to say, ‘Hey, this is a priority theater.’ We want to compete with other aspiring powers in our hemisphere and make sure that we’re secure.”