TopRank: General
David Petraeus 
Looking
To Extend Gains in Iraq As
New Centcom Leader
By
Roy Asfar,
Special to Veterans Advantage
 With more than one year under
his belt as commander of military operations in Iraq and
a main architect of the “surge,” General
David Petraeus has been chosen to head the U.S. Central Command
(Centcom), the regional theater that includes Iraq and Afghanistan.
"I recommended him to the president because I am absolutely confident he
is the best man for the job," Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on April
23 in announcing his nomination. "I don't know anybody
in the U.S. military better qualified to lead that effort."
Centcom, headquartered in 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. With that command, Petraeus directs
the leading front in the nearly seven-year-old War on Terror.
If his appointment to Tampa is approved by the Senate, as
widely expected, he brings high hopes to stabilize a region
fraught with global challenge. Time named Petraeus
33rd out of the 100 most influential leaders and revolutionaries
of 2007 as well as one of its four runners up for Time Person
of the Year. GOP presidential hopeful John McCain, R-Ariz.,
on the heels of the Centcom nomination, called Petraeus "one
of the great generals in American history."
Building Positive Momentum in Iraq
Petraeus, 55, is widely hailed by the Bush administration
and members of Congress for implementing a new strategy in
Iraq, including the deployment of some 30,000 additional troops
that dramatically improved security. By most accounts, the “surge” of
2007 is paying off, thanks to the vision of Petraeus, whose
experience in Iraq is broad and deep.
In 2003, Petraeus, then a Major General, commanded the 101st
Airborne Division during V Corps's drive to Baghdad. Later,
he was credited with establishing security and stability
in the critically important city of Mosul. One of his major
public works accomplishments included the restoration and
reopening of the University of Mosul. ''To beat this you
can't just kill the bad guys,'' the general told the New
York Times. ''You've got to give people jobs.''
Flash forward five years, the
goal remains to stabilize Iraq and foster democracy in
this Middle East battleground. In his most recent assessment
of life on the ground in Iraq, Petraeus is cautiously optimistic
yet guarded, as evidenced in his testimony before Congress
in early April 2008. “The
Champagne bottle has been pushed to the back of the refrigerator.
And the progress, while real, is fragile and is reversible.”
Career Highlights
General David H. Petraeus assumed command of the Multi-National
Force-Iraq on February 10th, 2007, following his assignment
as the Commanding General, U.S. Army Combined Arms Center
and Fort Leavenworth. Prior to assuming command at
Ft. Leavenworth, he was the first commander of the Multi-National
Security Transition Command-Iraq, which he led from June
2004 to September 2005, and the NATO Training Mission-
Iraq, which he commanded from October 2004 to September
2005. That deployment to Iraq followed his command
of the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), during which
he led the “Screaming Eagles” in combat throughout
the first year of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Previous
assignments included Bosnia.
General Petraeus was commissioned
in the Infantry upon graduation from the United States
Military Academy in 1974. He
has held leadership positions in airborne, mechanized, and
air assault infantry units in Europe and the United States,
including command of a battalion in the 101st Airborne Division
(Air Assault) and a brigade in the 82nd Airborne Division. In
addition, he has held a number of staff assignments: Aide
to the Chief of Staff of the Army; battalion, brigade, and
division operations officer; Military Assistant to the Supreme
Allied Commander - Europe; Chief of Operations of the United
Nations Force in Haiti; and Executive Assistant to the Chairman
of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
General
Petraeus was the General George C. Marshall Award winner
as the top graduate of the U.S. Army Command and General
Staff College Class of 1983. He subsequently earned
a MPA and Ph.D. degrees in international relations from Princeton
University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International
Affairs, and later served as an Assistant Professor of International
Relations at the US Military Academy. He also completed
a fellowship at Georgetown University.
Awards and decorations earned
by General Petraeus include the Defense Distinguished Service
Medal, two awards of the Distinguished Service Medal, two
awards of the Defense Superior Service Medal, four awards
of the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star Medal for valor,
the State Department Superior Honor Award, the NATO Meritorious
Service Medal, and the Gold Award of the Iraqi Order of
the Date Palm. He is a Master
Parachutist and is Air Assault and Ranger qualified. He
has also earned the Combat Action Badge and French, British,
and German Jump Wings. In 2005 he was recognized by
the U.S. News and World Report as one of America’s
25 Best Leaders.
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