Adm. Timothy Keating answers questions yesterday during an interview at the Pentagon. Associated Press/Kevin Wolf

Keating currently is in charge of U.S. Northern Command and the North American Aerospace Defense Command, both headquartered in Colorado.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates last week recommended Keating to head U.S. Pacific Command, continuing a 60-year tradition of naming Navy admirals to the post.

Keating would replace Adm. William J. Fallon, 62, who has been at the helm of Pacific Command in Hawai'i for just under two years, and is expected to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate to lead U.S. Central Command and oversee the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

A Senate panel today easily approved Fallon's nomination. It also signed off on making Gen. George Casey, who has been the top American general in Iraq, the Army chief of staff, although that vote encountered some Republican opposition.

Both nominations must now be considered by the full Senate, which is expected to approve them.

The Senate Armed Services Committee voted 16-0 to approve Fallon. As the chief commander of Central Command, Fallon will oversee the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan in an area that stretches from western Africa to Central Asia, making him a top figure in President Bush's war team.

Casey's nomination was more controversial because some lawmakers have faulted him for an Iraq war that has gone badly. He was approved 14-3, with opposition coming from Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., John Ensign, R-Nev., and Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga.

In recommending Keating for U.S. Pacific Command, Gates noted that Keating commanded a carrier group based in Japan, and later the Navy's 5th Fleet during Operation Iraqi Freedom. After serving as director of the Joint Staff, Keating became commander of Northern Command, where he oversaw the active-duty military's response to Hurricane Katrina, he said.

The defense secretary had also recommended to the president Air Force Lt. Gen. Gene Renuart, Gates' senior military assistant, to be the head of Northern Command.

Renuart was vice commander of Pacific Air Forces at Hickam Air Force Base from December of 2003 to August of 2005.

"Each of these fine officers has established a record of accomplishment in a variety of complex and challenging assignments," Gates said at the time. "Each has shown the requisite combination of military, diplomatic and intellectual skills to be successful in these two positions."

Keating is expected to take over Pacific Command, the Pentagon's largest global command, as China undergoes a worrisome military expansion, North Korea has successfully tested a nuclear device, and the spread of Islamic fundamentalism and terrorism in the Pacific remains a concern.

The Pacific Command covers more than half the globe from the west coast of the United States to the east coast of Africa, including the Pacific and Indian oceans.