Home U.S. Army (retired) General Lloyd Austin (L) speaks after being formally nominated to be Secretary of the Department of Defense by U.S. President-elect Joe Biden (at the Queen Theatre on December 09, 2020 in Wilmington, Delaware. The only African-American to have headed U.S. Central Command, Lloyd Austin, 67, is a four-star general who was in charge of American forces in Iraq from 2010 to late 2011. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) U.S. Army (retired) General Lloyd Austin (L) speaks after being formally nominated to be Secretary of the Department of Defense by U.S. President-elect Joe Biden (at the Queen Theatre on December 09, 2020 in Wilmington, Delaware. The only African-American to have headed U.S. Central Command, Lloyd Austin, 67, is a four-star general who was in charge of American forces in Iraq from 2010 to late 2011. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

U.S. Army (retired) General Lloyd Austin (L) speaks after being formally nominated to be Secretary of the Department of Defense by U.S. President-elect Joe Biden (at the Queen Theatre on December 09, 2020 in Wilmington, Delaware. The only African-American to have headed U.S. Central Command, Lloyd Austin, 67, is a four-star general who was in charge of American forces in Iraq from 2010 to late 2011. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON, DC – JANUARY 19: President-elect Joe Biden’s nominee for Secretary of Defense, retired Army Gen. Lloyd Austin testifies at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee at the U.S. Capitol on January 19, 2021 in Washington, DC. Previously Gen. Austin was the commanding officer of the U.S. Central Command in the Obama administration. (Photo by Greg Nash-Pool/Getty Images)