Caine, a three-star general whom Trump has praised since at least 2019, helped lead an operation in Iraq against the Islamic State during Trump’s first term.

The retired Air Force general announced as the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff by President Donald Trump after the abrupt Friday night firing of his predecessor is a respected career F-16 pilot who is described by current and former officials who served with him as a professional with a “strong moral center.

The decision to fire Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., a four-star fighter pilot, broke a tradition in which the Joint Chiefs chairman remains in place with a new president.