LINCOLN - A 36-year Air Force missile and space officer has been nominated as the next commander of Offutt-based U.S. Strategic Command, the Pentagon announced this week.

Gen. Anthony J. Cotton has served as head of Air Force Global Strike Command at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, since August of 2021.

Cotton, the North Carolina native, was commissioned in 1986 after graduating from North Carolina State University with a degree in political science.

On his first assignment, Cotton commanded a missile combat crew and has since commanded at the squadron, group, and wing levels. Additionally, he led the 341st Missile Wing in Montana and the 45th Space Wing in Florida.

Cotton also served two years as deputy director of the National Reconnaissance Office in Virginia, and as commander and president of the Air University in Alabama.

StratCom is most well known for its role as the keeper of the U.S. nuclear arsenal. Its additional duties include global strike, joint electronic warfare, missile defense, and ISR (intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance.).

Cotton would likely take over command from Adm. Charles Richard later this year. Richard began the role in November 2019.

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