Lt. Gen. Christopher LaNeve gives his first speech as Eighth Army commander at Camp Humphreys, South Korea, in April 2024. The Senate confirmed LaNeve, currently Defense Secretary Pete Hegseths senior military assistant, to be the Armys next vice chief of staff. (Luis Garcia/Stars and Stripes)

The Senate this week confirmed Lt. Gen. Christopher LaNeve to be the Army’s next vice chief of staff, a position that comes with a fourth star.

The promotion of LaNeve, who currently serves as the senior military adviser to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, was approved Tuesday.

Hegseth called him a “generational leader” and said his “decades of operational experience and will accelerate excellence at every echelon.”

LaNeve will replace Gen. James Mingus, who has held the vice chief posting for two years. It wasn’t announced when LaNeve will step into his new job.

LaNeve’s ascent to the Army’s No. 2 position amounts to a fast rise through the ranks.

He did a brief stint as commander of Eighth Army in South Korea before being selected by Hegseth in April to serve as his military adviser at the Pentagon.

Commanding Eighth Army is usually a three- or even four-year tour, but LaNeve moved on after just one year in command.

Before that, LaNeve commanded the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, N.C. He also led the 7th Army Training Command in Grafenwoehr, Germany.

Lt. Gen. Christopher LaNeve, then-commanding general of Eighth Army, addresses Defense Information School students at Fort Meade, Md., in 2024. Now a senior military assistant to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, LaNeve earned Senate confirmation to be the Army’s next vice chief of staff. ( Eric Kestner/U.S. Army)