Former recon Marine Lt. Gen David H. Berger has been nominated to replace Gen. Robert B. Neller as the next top Marine.
His nomination to serve as the next commandant was received by the Senate on March 26, according to a congressional posting.
Upon final confirmation from the Senate, Berger will pin on a fourth star and become the Corps’ 38th commandant.
The former infantry platoon commander and recon Marine is currently the commander of Marine Corps Combat Development Command and Deputy Commandant for Combat Development and Integration, headquartered in Quantico, Virginia.
RELATED
In his current role, he has been helping shape future operating concepts, training and equipping a force in the midst of a massive modernization effort to prepare for a high-end fight with more sophisticated conventional adversaries.
He’ll overtake the mantle as top Marine, spearheading new decisions to overhaul a Corps once stuck in the mindset of counterinsurgency conflict.
Neller already has made a number of changes to modernize the Corps, to include reorganizing the rifle squads into 12-man units, and pushing new tech, night vision, automatic rifles, drones and rocket launchers.
But much is left to be done, such as integrating new CH-53K helicopters into the Corps, pushing long range fires and continued experimentation with the Corps’ newest fighting concept known as Expeditionary Advanced Base Operations, which will see Marines distributed across the Pacific Ocean.
Berger has a wide array of experience from more traditional forms of nation-state conflict like Desert Storm in Iraq to counterinsurgency operations in Afghanistan.
He commanded Regimental Combat Team 8 in Fallujah, Iraq, as a colonel and in 2012 he commanded the 1st Marine Division in Afghanistan.
He received his third star in 2014, where he commanded I Marine Expeditionary Force and U.S. Marine Corps Forces, Pacific.
Berger is a graduate of Army Ranger School, Jumpmaster School, Navy Dive School and Marine Corps Amphibious Reconnaissance School.
His confirmation by the Senate will make this next commandant a “dual cool” one — it’s a term used by the recon community to describe Marines who have graduated from both dive and jump school.
Military.com first reported the nomination.
Shawn Snow is the senior reporter for Marine Corps Times and a Marine Corps veteran.
