JANESVILLE, WI (WTAQ) - An Army colonel from Janesville is about to be promoted to brigadier general.

President Obama has nominated 46-year-old Andrew Poppas for the promotion. The U.S. Senate must confirm the ranking – but that’s normally a formality.

Poppas has spent the last seven months as the deputy operations commander for the Army’s 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell in Kentucky. It’s a post that’s normally reserved for a brigadier general.

Poppas most recently served abroad in Afghanistan for a one-year tour which ended in May of 2011. He’s scheduled to return to Afghanistan in February.

Poppas graduated from Janesville Craig High School in 1984.