Moving Up

Col. Christopher Haas, commander of U.S. Special Operations Command-Africa, will be promoted to the rank of brigadier general during a ceremony this week at U.S. Africa Command's headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany, according to a command spokesman.

Haas will receive his first star four months after taking command of SOCAFRICA and succeeding Brig. Gen. Patrick Higgins in the role. Higgins was named the theater special operations command's first chief in August 2007, shortly after the TSOC was created. AFRICOM was officially stood up earlier that year.

Haas' promotion comes as Joint Special Operations Task Force - Trans Sahara prepares to fully integrate into SOCAFRICA in May.

During his tenure as SOCAFRICA chief, Higgins outlined his thoughts on the continent and U.S. forces' role there in an interview with Inside the Pentagon last December. You can read about it here and here