Army merges three commands in move to prioritize homeland defense

Source: CNN Politics

PUBLISHED Dec 5, 2025, 4:13 PM ET


The US Army officially stood up a new command on Friday to oversee the Army’s activities in the Western Hemisphere in the latest signal of increasing focus on homeland defense. The new command, called Army Western Hemisphere Command, will combine US Army Forces Command, US Army North, and US Army South into one organization, based at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

The combined organization will oversee Army operations like that at the southern border, disaster response, and Army mobilizations in support of federal law enforcement around the country.

“The Army is transforming because our adversaries increasingly aim to exploit vulnerabilities in the homeland and throughout North, Central, and Southern America,” Gen. Joseph Ryan, the commander of the new Western Hemisphere Command, said at a ceremony marking the activation of the command Friday. “We have allowed this insidious activity to continue for too long, and we have not addressed it effectively.”

Army leadership said in May that it would merge the commands in a letter to the force following a directive from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who said the Army “must prioritize defending our homeland and deterring China.”

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2025/12/05/politics/army-merges-commands-homeland-defense