United States President-elect Joe Biden has selected retired Army General Lloyd Austin to be his secretary of defence, CNN reported on Monday, citing unidentified officials. Austin, the former commander of US Central Command, will be the first African American to lead the Department of Defence if confirmed by the Senate.

Austin, a retired four-star army general, has served in Iraq and Afghanistan, reported AFP. He was an assistant division commander of the third Infantry Division in 2003 when it marched from Kuwait into Baghdad during the US invasion of Iraq.

He served in Afghanistan between 2003 and 2005, commanding the Combined Joint Task Force 180, the principle US-led operation seeking to stabilise the security situation in the country. Austin was made the commanding general of US forces in Iraq in 2010. He became the commander of the Central Command in 2012, in charge of all Pentagon operations in the Middle East and Afghanistan.

Biden reached out to Austin for the position over the weekend and he accepted, the officials said. He pipped former Undersecretary of Defense Michele Flournoy to the position.

Hours before officials said Biden picked Austin, House Armed Services Committee Chairperson Representative Adam Smith said Flournoy was the most qualified person for the role. “Michele is... uniquely qualified,” Smith said, citing her experience as undersecretary for policy and the work she has done since. “It takes a certain amount of understanding of bureaucracy and the Pentagon in order to make changes stick. Michele has that. It’s not to say there aren’t other people [who] could fill the position. But I think we have a clear case where she is the most qualified at this point.”

Biden and Austin have worked closely in the past. Biden, when he was the vice president, worked with Austin, when he was commander of United States Central Command, or CENTCOM, from 2013 to 2016. The duo had discussions on a variety of matters, including the Middle East and Central and South Asia. Austin was also the vice chief of staff of the Army during Biden’s tenure as the vice president.

Unidentified officials told CNN that Biden was excited about the “historic nature” of the pick. “Especially given the history of the US military being barrier breakers in a lot of areas,” said one of the officials.

Austin would take responsibility for the 1.2 million, or 12 lakh, active service members. African Americans make up 16% of service personnel. However, the African Americans serve disproportionately in the lower ranks and few have achieved high command positions.

Austin, who retired in 2016, would need a special approval from Senate to be the secretary of defence, according to US federal laws that require a retired military official to wait seven years before serving as the Pentagon chief. Earlier, General Jim Mattis, the first defence secretary under the Donald Trump administration, was given the waiver to join as the Pentagon chief.