{"id":47784,"date":"2026-03-16T22:45:42","date_gmt":"2026-03-16T22:45:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ternalnews.info\/?p=47784"},"modified":"2026-03-16T22:45:42","modified_gmt":"2026-03-16T22:45:42","slug":"senate-confirms-new-smdc-commanding-general","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ternalnews.info\/?p=47784","title":{"rendered":"Senate Confirms New SMDC Commanding General"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>John L. Rafferty Jr.\u2019s promotion to lieutenant general and command of the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command crowns more than 33 years spent at the intersection of artillery, strategy, and emerging technology. From leading the 56th Artillery Command in Europe-Africa to directing Long Range Precision Fires at Fort Sill, his career has steadily gravitated toward the future of warfare: long-range, data\u2011driven, and increasingly space\u2011enabled.<\/p>\n<div class=\"code-block code-block-4\"><\/div>\n<p>His combat experience in Afghanistan, Iraq, and the Middle East gave him a front\u2011row seat to how quickly adversaries adapt and how slowly institutions can respond. Now, as he succeeds retiring Lt. Gen. Sean A. Gainey, Rafferty inherits responsibility for defending U.S. forces and allies from missiles and space\u2011based threats at a moment of rising global tension. Confirmed amid a surge of Senate approvals, his appointment signals continuity in leadership\u2014but also a quiet acceleration of America\u2019s race to secure the high ground above every battlefield on earth.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>John L. Rafferty Jr.\u2019s promotion to lieutenant general and command of the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command crowns more than 33 years spent at the&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":47785,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-47784","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Senate Confirms New SMDC Commanding General - TernaNews<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ternalnews.info\/?p=47784\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Senate Confirms New SMDC Commanding General - TernaNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"John L. Rafferty Jr.\u2019s promotion to lieutenant general and command of the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command crowns more than 33 years spent at the...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/ternalnews.info\/?p=47784\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"TernaNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-03-16T22:45:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/ternalnews.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/653015874_122356948082007143_7623300194271323258_n.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"501\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"540\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ternalnews.info\/?p=47784\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ternalnews.info\/?p=47784\",\"name\":\"Senate Confirms New SMDC Commanding General - TernaNews\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ternalnews.info\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ternalnews.info\/?p=47784#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ternalnews.info\/?p=47784#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/ternalnews.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/653015874_122356948082007143_7623300194271323258_n.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-16T22:45:42+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ternalnews.info\/#\/schema\/person\/c92d3668c76d483f00b6738719da67d7\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ternalnews.info\/?p=47784#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/ternalnews.info\/?p=47784\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ternalnews.info\/?p=47784#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ternalnews.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/653015874_122356948082007143_7623300194271323258_n.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/ternalnews.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/653015874_122356948082007143_7623300194271323258_n.jpg\",\"width\":501,\"height\":540},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ternalnews.info\/?p=47784#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/ternalnews.info\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Senate Confirms New SMDC Commanding General\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ternalnews.info\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ternalnews.info\/\",\"name\":\"TernaNews\",\"description\":\"My WordPress Blog\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/ternalnews.info\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ternalnews.info\/#\/schema\/person\/c92d3668c76d483f00b6738719da67d7\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/ternalnews.info\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/ternalnews.info\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Senate Confirms New SMDC Commanding General - TernaNews","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/ternalnews.info\/?p=47784","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Senate Confirms New SMDC Commanding General - TernaNews","og_description":"John L. Rafferty Jr.\u2019s promotion to lieutenant general and command of the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command crowns more than 33 years spent at the...","og_url":"https:\/\/ternalnews.info\/?p=47784","og_site_name":"TernaNews","article_published_time":"2026-03-16T22:45:42+00:00","og_image":[{"width":501,"height":540,"url":"https:\/\/ternalnews.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/653015874_122356948082007143_7623300194271323258_n.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/ternalnews.info\/?p=47784","url":"https:\/\/ternalnews.info\/?p=47784","name":"Senate Confirms New SMDC Commanding General - TernaNews","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/ternalnews.info\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/ternalnews.info\/?p=47784#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/ternalnews.info\/?p=47784#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/ternalnews.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/653015874_122356948082007143_7623300194271323258_n.jpg","datePublished":"2026-03-16T22:45:42+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/ternalnews.info\/#\/schema\/person\/c92d3668c76d483f00b6738719da67d7"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/ternalnews.info\/?p=47784#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/ternalnews.info\/?p=47784"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/ternalnews.info\/?p=47784#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/ternalnews.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/653015874_122356948082007143_7623300194271323258_n.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/ternalnews.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/653015874_122356948082007143_7623300194271323258_n.jpg","width":501,"height":540},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/ternalnews.info\/?p=47784#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/ternalnews.info\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Senate Confirms New SMDC Commanding General"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/ternalnews.info\/#website","url":"https:\/\/ternalnews.info\/","name":"TernaNews","description":"My WordPress Blog","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/ternalnews.info\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/ternalnews.info\/#\/schema\/person\/c92d3668c76d483f00b6738719da67d7","name":"admin","sameAs":["https:\/\/ternalnews.info"],"url":"https:\/\/ternalnews.info\/?author=1"}]}},"views":148,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ternalnews.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47784","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ternalnews.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ternalnews.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ternalnews.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ternalnews.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=47784"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ternalnews.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47784\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47786,"href":"https:\/\/ternalnews.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47784\/revisions\/47786"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ternalnews.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/47785"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ternalnews.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=47784"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ternalnews.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=47784"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ternalnews.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=47784"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}