Commanders in the Gulf

The generals who lead the U.S. troops in the ground war in Kuwait learned about warfare in the jungles and paddies of Indochina. U.S. combat forces include seven Army divisions of the 7th Corps and the 18th Airborne Corps, two Marine divisions on land and two Marine expeditionary brigades on ships in the Persian Gulf. Here are sketches of the commanders of the main Army and Marine Corps units: Lt. Gen. Calvin A. H. Waller, 53, deputy commander in chief of U.S. Central Command, is acting commander of the Army forces. Waller, of Baton Rouge, La., attended Prairie View A & M University and Shippensburg State College, served in Vietnam and has held command postsat the division and corps level. As Army commander, Waller is directly in charge of the main U.S. forces in the offensive against Iraq. Lt. Gen. Gary E. Luck, 53, commands the Army’s 18th Airborne Corps, which includes severaldivisions. A native of Michigan and reared in Kansas, he attended Kansas State University, Florida State University and George Washington University. Luck served in Vietnam as leader of a Green Beret “A Team” and as a helicopter troop commander. He later commanded the 2nd Infantry Division, based in South Korea. Lt. Gen. Frederick M. Franks Jr., 54, heads the 7th Corps, the other major Army command. Franks was born in West Lawn, Pa., graduated from West Point in 1959 and earned advanced degrees at Columbia University. An armor officer, he served with the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment in Vietnam where he was awarded the Silver Star and was seriously wounded. Maj. Gen. J. H. Binford Peay III, 50, commands the 101st Airborne Division, a famed unit from World War II and Vietnam and now redesigned for helicopter air assault missions. A native of Richmond, Va., Peay graduated from Virginia Military Institute and served two tours as an Army artillery officer in Vietnam, where he was wounded. Maj. Gen. James H. Johnson Jr., 53, has served as troop leader at every level of the unithe now commands, the 82nd Airborne Division, the Army’s last division-sized paratroop unit. A 1960 West Point graduate from Tuscaloosa, Ala., he served a Vietnam tour as a district adviser and another with the 101st Airborne. He attended Shippensburg State College. Maj. Gen. Barry R. McCaffrey, 49, commander of the 24th Infantry Division (Mechanized),graduated from West Point in 1964 and attended American University in Washington D.C. He is fluent in Vietnamese. McCaffrey served with the 82nd Airborne in the Dominican Republic and two tours in Vietnam, as a paratroop adviser and company commander in the 1st Cavalry Division. He earned several medals for valor and was wounded three times. Maj. Gen. Ronald H. Griffith, 54, took over the Germany-based 1st Armored Division in December. A graduate of the University of Georgia, he was commissioned an Army medical service corps officer in 1961, later became a tanker, and served tours in Vietnam as a militia adviser and combat officer with the 4th Infantry Division. Maj. Gen. Paul E. Funk, 50, was born in Roundup, Mont., and attended Montana State University. Now commander of the 3rd Armored Division from Ft. Hood, Tex., Funk is a helicopter pilot as well as an armor officer, and earned the Distinguished Flying Cross with the 1st Air Cavalry Division in Vietnam. Brig. Gen. John H. Tilell Jr., a New Jersey native and graduate of Pennsylvania Military Institute, is a tank officer who served in Vietnam as a company commander and district adviser, and four tours, mainly with armored units, in Germany. He became commander of the 1st Cavalry Division last year. Lt. Gen. Walter E. Boomer, 53, is the top Marine officer in Operation Desert Storm, commanding the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, composed of two divisions and related units ashore. A native of North Carolina and a Duke University graduate, Boomer was a company commander on his first Vietnam tour in 1966-1967 and returned there in 1971 as an adviser to the Vietnamese marines. His varied career includes three years as an instructor and department chairman at the Naval Academy, the Marine Corps’ director of public affairs and commander of the 4th MarineDivision. He won two Silver Stars in Vietnam. Maj. Gen. William M. Keys, commander of the 2nd Marine Division, was born in Fredericktown, Pa., and is a Naval Academy graduate. He was a company commander and adviser in Vietnam, where he won the Navy Cross, the service’s second-highest award for valor , and the Silver Star. He was Marine Corps liaison officer to the U.S. Senate in 1973 and has commanded the division since 1989. Brig. Gen. James Myatt, 50, commander of the 1st Marine Division, is a San Francisco native who joined the Marine Corps Reserve and was commissioned after graduating from Sam Houston State University in Texas. He served two combat tours in Vietnam, winning the Silver Starfor valor. Vice Adm. Stanley R. Arthur, 55, of San Diego heads Naval Forces Central Command, the U.S. 7th Fleet and is overall commander of the Marine amphibious forces in the Gulf. Arthur is a naval aviator with 500 combat missions in Southeast Asia, former skipper of the carrier Coral Sea and a carrier group. His decorations include 11 Distinguished Flying Crosses. Maj. Gen. Harry W. Jenkins Jr., 52, commands the 4th Marine Expeditionary Brigade. Born in Oakland, he graduated from San Jose State University and the University of Wisconsin. In Vietnam, he served as a company commander, battalion executive officer and 1st Marine Division civil affair s officer. He later served in the Pentagon public affairs office, was a legislative aide to the Marine Corps commandant and the Corps public affair director. Brig. Gen. Peter J. Rowe, 52, commander of the 5th Marine Expeditionary Brigade, is a Stamford, Conn., native who was commissioned after graduating from Xavier University in Cincinnati, and holds a master’s degree in mass communications from San Diego State University. Rowe, who speaks Vietnamese, headed a Marine linguistic team in Vietnam and saw military action in Hue, Khe Sanh and An Hoa. Maj. Gen. Thomas Gene Rhame, 50, a native of Winnfield, La., commands the Army’s 1st Infantry Division (Mechanized), the famous “Big Red One, “ the last major unit added to the U.S. force in the Gulf. Rhame graduated from Louisiana State University and holds a master’s degree in business administration from Syracuse University. He won two Silver Stars in Vietnam, wherehe served a combat tour with the 1st Cavalry Division and a second tour as a district adviser. Source: Associated Press