Petraeus picked to lead Mideast command
WASHINGTON -- Army Gen. David Petraeus, the four-star general who led troops in Iraq for the past year, will be nominated by President Bush to be the next commander of U.S. Central Command, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Wednesday.
Gates said he expected Petraeus to make the shift in late summer or early fall. The Pentagon chief also announced that Bush will nominate Army Lt. Gen. Ray Odierno to replace Petraeus in Baghdad.
Central Command oversees the wars in Iraq and in Afghanistan.
Asked if moving Petraeus from the Iraq command could interrupt momentum against the insurgency, Gates said that by waiting until late summer or early fall he hoped to "ensure plenty of time to prepare for a good handoff." He said it also would help that Odierno has had experience as "Petraeus' right-hand man" over the last year.
If confirmed by the Senate, Petraeus would replace Navy Adm. William Fallon, who abruptly stepped down in March after a magazine reported that he was at odds with President Bush over Iran policy. Fallon said the report, while not true, had become a distraction.
At a hastily arranged Pentagon news conference, Gates said the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and other problems in the Central Command area of responsibility, demand knowledge of how to fight counterinsurgencies as well as other unconventional conflicts.
"I don't know anybody in the U.S. military better qualified to lead that effort," he said, referring to Petraeus.
Army Lt. Gen. Ray Odierno, currently commander of the Army's 3rd Corps based at Fort Hood, Texas, finished in February a 15-month tour as the top deputy to Petraeus in Baghdad. He had been nominated for promotion to full general and assignment as the Army's vice chief of staff, but Gates said the Fallon resignation changed the plan. With Odierno tapped for a return to Baghdad, Gates said Bush will nominate Gates' senior military assistant, Army Lt. Gen. Peter Chiarelli, for the Army vice chief of staff job.
Petraeus, 55, is widely hailed by the Bush administration and members of Congress for developing and implementing a new strategy in Iraq, including the deployment of some 30,000 additional troops, that dramatically improved security.
Central Command, whose headquarters is at Tampa, Fla., is responsible for U.S. military operations throughout the Middle East, Central Asia and the Horn of Africa, and thus oversees the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Fallon relinquished the command March 28 to his top deputy, Army Lt. Gen. Martin Dempsey, and retired from the Navy earlier this month.
David H. Petraeus
Born: Nov. 7, 1952
Experience: Commanding general of the Multi-National Force in Iraq, 2007-present; commanding general of the U.S. Army Combined Arms Center at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., 2005-07; first commander of the Multi-National Security Transition Command in Iraq, 2004-05; commanded NATO training mission in Iraq, 2004-05; various positions, including commander of the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), assistant chief of staff for operations of the NATO Stabilization Force and deputy commander of the U.S. Joint Interagency Counter-Terrorism Task Force in Bosnia.
Education: Bachelor's degree, U.S. Military Academy, 1974; master's degree, Princeton University, 1985; doctoral degree, Princeton University, 1987.
Family: Wife, Holly; two children.
Raymond T. Odierno
Hometown: Rockaway Township, N.J.
Experience: Commanding general, Army's Third Corps, 2006-present; commander, Multi-National Corps-Iraq, 2006-08; assistant to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, 2004-06; special assistant to vice chief of staff, Army, 2004; commanding general, Army 4th Infantry Division (Mechanized), 2001-04; director, Force Management, office of the deputy chief of staff for operations and plans, Army, 1999-2001; assistant division commander (support), 1st Armored Division, U.S. Army Europe and Seventh Army; chief of staff, V Corps, U.S. Army Europe and Seventh Army, 1997-98; various command positions, 1990-1997.
Education: Bachelor's, U.S. Military Academy, 1976; Master's, North Carolina State University; Master's, U.S. Naval War College.
Quote: "If you ask me what I worry about most, I do worry about that (Iran supporting insurgents in Iraq) as a long-term threat. And I think we have to, you know, constantly watch it."