Gen. David Petraeus took charge of U.S. Central Command at a ceremony Friday morning at MacDill Air Force Base, saying his first trip after being sworn in would be to Pakistan.
The architect of the surge strategy in Iraq, Petraeus takes responsibility for military planning in an area that includes 20 countries from Egypt to Kazakhstan, including Pakistan and Afghanistan.
He'll be responsible for "thwarting the malevolent designs" of the terrorists in these countries and "keeping them from our shores," Defense Secretary Robert Gates said.
Petraeus took over for acting commander Lt. Gen. Martin Dempsey, who had held the position since March, when he replaced Adm. William Fallon.
Among the hundreds of people attending the ceremony were 84 members of the 1974 graduating class of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, classmates of Petraeus and Dempsey.
Petraeus spent 20 months leading a turnaround in Iraq, from what many saw as the brink of all-out civil war to the beginnings of a perilous peace. He also led troops in the initial invasion in 2003 and spent more than a year heading the organization responsible for training Iraqi security forces.
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