A composite image showing Navy Adm. Daryl Caudle, Air Force Lt. Gen. Dagvin R.M. Anderson and Navy Vice Adm. Frank M. Bradley. (Eric Kayne/Stars and Stripes)
WASHINGTON — The Senate has confirmed new commanders for U.S. Africa Command and U.S. Special Operations Command as well as the next chief of naval operations, giving the Navy its first permanent military leader in five months.
Adm. Daryl Caudle will take over as the Navy’s highest-ranking officer, Air Force Lt. Gen. Dagvin R.M. Anderson will lead U.S. Africa Command and Navy Vice Adm. Frank Bradley will lead Special Operations Command.
All three were confirmed on Thursday night by unanimous voice vote.
Caudle’s confirmation ends a nearly half-year vacancy in the chief of naval operations post, which has not been held by a permanent officer since President Donald Trump fired former Adm. Lisa Franchetti in February.
Franchetti became the first woman to serve as the top Navy officer and the first woman to serve on the Joint Chiefs of Staff in November 2023. Before Pete Hegseth became Trump’s defense secretary, he had cast doubt on her qualifications in a book.
Few senators mentioned the circumstances surrounding Caudle’s nomination at his confirmation hearing last month. Senators from both parties praised his wealth of experience.
Since 2021, Caudle has led U.S. Fleet Forces Command, which is responsible for training and deploying naval forces, and previously served as a vice director on the Joint Staff.
He commissioned into the Navy in 1985 after attending Officer Candidate School in Newport, R.I., and commanded nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines during his 40-year career.
At his confirmation hearing, Caudle spoke of the need to improve chronic delays in shipbuilding and maintenance, invest in modern technology and build a modern fleet that can compete with China’s maritime dominance.
He also defended the Navy’s loosening of enlistment requirements in recent years, saying they provided more pathways into the service without lowering standards.
Anderson and Bradley faced questions about the Trump administration’s cuts to the State Department and foreign aid at their confirmation hearing last month and discussed their work with non-governmental organizations in volatile locations such as Africa.
Anderson, now the director for joint force development of the Joint Staff, said Africa was at the center of a great-power rivalry and he has seen increased meddling from China and Russia.
“Both of those nations see their futures running through the continent,” Anderson said.
Anderson previously led Special Operations Command’s Africa branch. He will be the first airman to lead AFRICOM, which has been commanded by Army and Marine Corps generals since the command’s creation in 2007.
Bradley, the commander of Joint Special Operations Command since 2022, previously commanded at all levels of special operations, including leading joint special operations throughout the Middle East and South Asia.
He is a Navy SEAL officer and a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md. At his confirmation hearing, Bradley reflected on his 37-year career in special operations.
“Special operations is the ultimate team sport, where to win is to live and to lose often means someone you care for does not,” he said. “As such, I am grateful to be a member of the most precise and lethal fighting force the world has ever known.”
