What happens inside a command center during a military strike?
Interview with Maj. Gen. Steve Lepper, USAF (Ret)
Former Deputy Judge Advocate General for the U.S. Air Force
CNN
December 3, 2025
Modern commanders overseeing massive operations are not alone
Excerpt from the article (featuring the section where Maj. Gen. Steve Lepper is interviewed):
The people in the room running an operation are surrounded by video feeds of targets, in contact with people on the ground and can instantly consult lawyers and aides.
“This is not an ad hoc operation,” said retired Maj. Gen. Steven Lepper, who spent a career as an Air Force lawyer and was frequently in command centers, including at al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, which was a command hub for US Central Command during campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“This is usually choreographed to correspond with the objectives of the plan and the rules of engagement, the rules under which the forces can be used,” he said in a phone interview. Lepper has said he believes the second strike on the alleged drug boat was likely a violation of the laws of war. Hegseth has talked about freeing the US military from “stupid rules of engagement.”
The commander has such an array of tools that the command center has evolved to play an integral role in operations.
“We were ultimately looking at the operation center as its own weapon system because of its capabilities to control other weapon systems,” Lepper said.
