[thedrifter]

Gen. Franks to retire, defense officials say

By Pauline Jelinek
ASSOCIATED PRESS
11:20 a.m., May 22, 2003



WASHINGTON ? Army Gen. Tommy Franks, who planned and commanded the American-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, has decided to retire, defense officials said Thursday.

The four-star general won high praise from President Bush and Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld for his handling of the operation that ousted Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

A 57-year-old native of Midland, Texas, Franks comes to the end of his three-year term as head of the military's 25-nation U.S. Central Command in July, but it was not immediately clear when he would leave. No replacement has been nominated.

Officials at Central Command in Tampa, Fla, said they had no official statement.

Franks had been considered a leading candidate for the top Army job of chief of staff, which opens in June. But associates doubted he would want the position and Franks said recently that the job title sounded "very interesting" but "not on my scope."

Franks is credited with developing a war plan that efficiently defeated the Iraqis with fewer U.S. casualties than many had expected. He also ran the 2001 war against Afghanistan that toppled the Taliban regime and ended Afghanistan's role as a haven for the al-Qaeda terrorist network.

It's not clear who will succeed Franks as Central Command commander. One likely candidate is Army Lt. Gen. John Abizaid, who was Franks' top deputy when he set up his command center in Qatar for the Iraq war.

After two years of what Franks describes as "abysmal" grades at the University of Texas at Austin, he joined the Army in 1967. He was soon an artillery lieutenant bound for Vietnam, where his injuries earned him three Purple Hearts.

After the Vietnam war, Franks intended to leave the military but stayed on when he was selected for the Army's "Bootstrap" degree completion program for promising officers. He attended the University of Texas at Arlington ? this time, a model student.

The military has taken Franks from one world hot spot to another ? the DMZ in Korea, a changing Europe, the Iraqi desert during Desert Storm. His commendations have included four Legion of Merit medals, three Bronze Stars with "V" for valor, an Air Medal with "V" and an Army Commendation Medal with "V."

Just months after Franks took charge of Central Command in July 2000, suicide bombers blew a hole in the USS Cole as it refueled in Yemen, killing 17 American soldiers. It was Franks who had approved Yemen as the refueling site, a decision questioned by some in Congress because of anti-American sentiment in that country.

The Cole attack was only a taste of the worldwide terror threat that reached America's shore on Sept. 11, 2001. On Sept. 12, Franks got the order from Rumsfeld to draw up military options for the president. And less than a month later, on Oct. 7, the airstrikes in Afghanistan began.

Franks said in a speech months ago that he already has worn the uniform for a long time.

"My wife reminds me frequently how long I've worn it," he continued. "She reminds me that I told her on the day we were married I was going to get out of the United States military. I remind her that some day I am going to."




Sempers,

Roger