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Former Camp Pendleton Commanding Officer Tapped As Next Marine Corps Commandant

Gen. Joseph Dunford talks to Marines and sailors on Memorial Day, May 28, 2012.
DVIDS
Gen. Joseph Dunford talks to Marines and sailors on Memorial Day, May 28, 2012.

General Joseph F. Dunford, Jr., commander of the International Security Assistance Force and United States Forces-Afghanistan, has been tapped to be the 36th commandant of the Marine Corps.

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel announced today President Obama's nomination of Dunford, 58, to replace Gen. James F. Amos as commandant.

Dunford previously served as assistant commandant under Amos.

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Dunford was commanding officer of the Camp Pendleton-based I Marine Expeditionary Force from 2009-10.

According to a 2013 Boston Globe profile, Dunford grew up in South Boston, the eldest of six boys, and the son of a Boston police officer.