Brig. Gen. Bryan Fenton, assistant chief of staff at U.S. Army Pacific, headquartered at Fort Shafter, has been selected as commander of Special Operations Command Pacific.

He replaces Navy Rear Adm. Colin Kilrain, who has been nominated for his third star and will become commander of the NATO Special Operations headquarters in Belgium, the Pentagon announced Wednesday.

Fenton has also served as deputy commanding general of operations for the 25th Infantry Division at Schofield Barracks.

The Pacific Command’s special warfare operations command was established in 1965 on Okinawa as the Special Operations Center to provide unconventional warfare task force support for operations in Southeast Asia. Its functions were later transferred to U.S. Pacific Command.

According to the Pacific Command’s website, Special Operations Command Pacific was activated in November 1983 at Camp H.M. Smith as a subordinate command of U.S. Pacific Command.

Units under operational control of the Special Operations Command include the 353rd Special Operations Group and 1st Battalion, 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne), which are on Okinawa and Torii Station in Japan; Naval Special Warfare Task Unit-Pacific and a subordinate SEAL platoon, which are based at Apra Harbor Naval Station on Guam; and an airborne company in South Korea.

In January 2002, Pacific Command special operators deployed to the southern Philippines, conducting counterterrorist operations with the Philippine government. The joint special operations task force left the country nine months later, leaving elements to work with the Philippines’ military units, according to its website.