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Major General Sean M. Salene
Director, J-5, U. S. Central Command

Major General Salene is currently serving as the Director, Strategy, Plans and Policy (J-5) U. S. Central Command. He has served as a Marine for more than thirty years.
MajGen Salene began active duty in 1991 and graduated flight school on the Commodore’s List with Distinction in 1994. He joined HMH-461 at Marine Corps Air Station
(MCAS) New River and deployed twice with Marine Expeditionary Units, supporting operations in the Balkans and Africa. In 1998, he attended the Naval Postgraduate School as the Marine Corps’ first study track sub-Saharan Africa Regional Affairs Officer and in 1999 received two master’s degrees. He planned and led African Theater Security Cooperation (TSC) activities for Marine Forces Europe beginning in 2000.He returned to HMH-461 in 2002 and deployed twice for Operation ENDURING FREEDOM (OEF) Horn of Africa.
In 2005, he attended Command and Staff College, graduating with honors. He attended the School of Advanced Warfighting and became a speechwriter for the Commandant of the Marine Corps. In 2008, he deployed for Operation IRAQI FREEDOM and led a cross-functional planning team for Multi-National Force Iraq. In Baghdad, he became a lay minister for an Anglican priest who also led an Iraqi congregation.
In 2009, he had the honor to rejoin HMH-461 as its Commanding Officer. He led his team on deployments to Ghana for Presidential support; to the Caribbean as the commander of a Marine Air Ground Task Force (MAGTF) to support TSC and interagency counter illicit trafficking operations; and, with 96-hours’ notice, to Haiti for Operation UNIFIED RESPONSE in 2010. After relinquishing command, he deployed with II Marine Expeditionary Force (MEF) FWD to Afghanistan for Operation ENDURING FREEDOM. He was the lead architect for the first long-range plan signed by U.S., British and Afghan civil and military leaders in Helmand and Nimroz provinces.
MajGen Salene attended the Marine Corps War College, graduating with honors in 2012. He presented his thesis work in Beijing. He later joined USCENTCOM and led a team to develop, with Joint, interagency and international partners, Operation FREEDOM’s SENTINEL for Afghanistan.
He returned to MCAS New River to command MAG-29 in 2015. His team supported the 2d Marine Expeditionary Brigade, flew north of the Arctic Circle in Norway and led the command element for Marine Week Nashville. He left MAG-29 early to take command of the Special Purpose MAGTF Crisis Response Africa in 2017 and deploy on short notice. Based in Spain and Italy, his team conducted activities in Africa and instituted a new model to sustain MV-22 readiness and build capacity with NATO allies. Following deployment, he became the II MEF G-3.
In 2018, he was nominated to BGen and served as the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing Assistant Wing Commander in Okinawa. He led multi-national planning in COBRA GOLD 19, supported exercises in the Pacific, built relations with Japanese hosts and advocated for aviation readiness. He also led a cross-functional team to implement the “Total Fitness” concept to reduce Suicide Related Events.
In 2019, then-BGen Salene served as the Director of Communication for Headquarters, Marine Corps. He supported the Commandant in communicating Service priorities, sought closer alignment in Naval messaging and supported efforts to better compete in the modern information environment.
In 2020, he was detailed to the State Department as the Military Advisor to Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, the United States Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation (SRAR). He assisted SRAR to support the peace process with the Islamic Republic and the Taliban and consult with allies and partners during the COVID-19 pandemic and military withdrawal from Afghanistan.
In 2021, he served as the Director, Strategy and Plans Division, Headquarters Marine Corps. In 2022, he returned to USCENTCOM. He led deliberate planning, guided development of a new theater strategy, and renewed efforts to strengthen mil-to-mil relationships with allies and partners, to include the Israel Defense Forces, following HAMAS’s brutal 7 October 2023 attack on Israel, the ensuing war in Gaza, the rise of attacks on U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria, and Houthi attacks in the Red Sea.
MajGen Salene holds five master’s degrees. He is married to Dr. Kimberly Salene of Queensbury New York, a Navy veteran. His hobbies are reading, exercising and spending time with his children.