Source: Former commander in line for post

BRUSSELS — A former Cannon Air Force Base group commander is the likely choice to become commander of all U.S. and NATO forces in Europe, a senior NATO official said Thursday.

Gen. Philip M. Breedlove, who served as 27th Operations Group from July 1997 to June 1999, is the top U.S. Air Force commander in Europe.

The job opened up this week when President Obama's first choice, Marine Gen. John Allen, announced he would retire after 19 months commanding allied forces in Afghanistan to attend to his wife's health issues.

The NATO official was not authorized to discuss internal deliberations and spoke Thursday on condition of anonymity.

Gen. Philip M. Breedlove

Top U.S. Air Force commander in Europe

If nominated and confirmed by the Senate, Breedlove would be the first Air Force general to hold the top NATO job since Joseph Ralston in 2000-2003. Breedlove would succeed Navy Adm. James Stavridis, who has held the post since 2009.

Breedlove, a native of Forest Park, Ga., earned his Air Force officer commission in 1977 through the Reserve Officers Training Corps program at Georgia Tech and has extensive overseas experience, including numerous tours of duty in Europe.

A fighter pilot by training, Breedlove served in Spain and Germany in the mid and late 1990s; in Italy from 2004-05, and in Germany in 2005-2006 and 2008-2009. He has held his current post as commander, U.S. Air Forces Europe, since last July.

Breedlove also served tours in South Korea in 1991-1994 and 2000-2001.

The job of commanding NATO forces in Europe is considered one of the more prestigious command positions for U.S. generals. The U.S. has about 80,000 troops based in Europe.