The head of Marines at Camp Pendleton has been tapped as the new three-star general leading all Marine Corps forces in the Pacific, the Pentagon announced Thursday.
Lt. Gen. David Berger, currently the commanding general of I Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Pendleton in California, will become the new commander of Marine Corps Forces Pacific and
commanding general of Fleet Marine Force Pacific.
Berger will replace Lt. Gen. John Toolan, who assumed leadership of Marine Forces Pacific in August 2014.
The move must still be approved by the U.S. Senate.
Marine Forces Pacific, based at Camp Smith, is the largest field command in the Marine Corps, extending from California to Japan and Okinawa. There are about 86,000 Marines and sailors in the command.
Berger was commissioned as an infantry officer in 1981 following graduation from Tulane University in New Orleans.
He has served as a platoon commander in the 1st Marine Division, and later as a company commander and battalion operations officer in the 2nd Reconnaissance Battalion during Operation Desert Storm.
Berger commanded the 3rd Battalion, 8th Marines, from 2002 to 2004, deploying to Haiti in support of Operation Secure Tomorrow.
As a colonel, Berger commanded Regimental Combat Team 8 in Fallujah, Iraq, during Operation Iraqi Freedom.
In 2012 he deployed to Afghanistan as the commanding general of the 1st Marine Division.
Berger served as commanding general of the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center from 2013 to 2014.
Berger holds a master’s degree in international public policy from Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, and a master’s in military studies.
