ATTACK on AMERICA

Military

ATTACK
on AMERICA

Preparing for Battle: U.S. Leaders

The U.S. Central Command oversees forces from East Africa through the Arabian Peninsula to Pakistan. Here are some highlights from the commanders' resumes:
	Army Gen. Tommy Franks
	He became commander in chief of the Central Command in July 2000. He served in the 9th Infantry Division in Vietnam and later got a bachelor's degree in business administration from the University of Texas at Arlington. He was an assistant division commander with the 1st Cavalry in the Persian Gulf War and commanded the 2nd Infantry division in Korea in the mid-1990s.
	Marine Lt. Gen. Michael DeLong
	He is deputy commander in chief of the Central Command. He served in a Marine helicopter squadron and took part in the evacuation from Vietnam. He also served in the Gulf War and was a commander in the campaign to bring food to Somalia in the early 1990s. He is a Naval Academy graduate.
	Vice Adm. Charles Moore Jr.
	He is head of the U.S. 5th Fleet and the Navy component of U.S. Central Command. The Navy pilot served two tours of duty in Vietnam. He received an award for "inspirational leadership" after he led his squadron into combat in the 1986 raid on Libya that was in retaliation for the fatal bombing of a West Berlin disco. He is a Naval Academy graduate.
	Lt. Gen. Paul Mikolashek
	He has headed the 3rd U.S. Army and U.S. Army Forces Central Command since June 2000. He served in combat in Vietnam and has held several staff and operational jobs. He was an aide to the U.S. military representative to NATO, chief of operations and contingency planning division at Army headquarters and chief of military cooperation in Kuwait. He is a former Ranger, the Army’s elite special forces unit.
	Lt. Gen. Charles Wald
	He is commander of the 9th Air Force and the air component of Central Command. He logged more than 450 combat hours over Vietnam and was commander from 1995-97 of the 31st Fighter Wing, which took part in the Bosnia bombing campaign. He has held several defense planning posts, including vice director for strategic plans and policy from 1998-2000 at the Joint Staff. He has a bachelor’s degree in pre-law from North Dakota State University, where he was a football star.