One could hardly guess that by enlisting in the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps program at Kansas State University that one could eventually rise to become the top officer in the United States armed services. Gen. Richard B. Myers, who is from Kansas City, Mo., started his military career in Manhattan, Kan., and now serves his country as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. His day-to-day role, more important now than ever, is to serve as the principal military adviser to the president, the secretary of defense and the National Security Council.

As an officer of the United States Air Force, Myers has ranked more than 4,100 flying hours, including 600 combat hours flying the F-4 during Vietnam. He has also served as commander of U.S. Forces in Japan and the 5th Air Force in Japan as well as commander of the Pacific Air Forces in Hawaii. From August 1998 to February 2000, Myers was the commander in chief, North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Space Command in Colorado.

Prior to Myers’ chairmanship of the Joint Chiefs, he served as the vice-chairman for 19 months. “General Myers is a man of steady resolve and determined leadership,” President Bush said on Myers’ appointment. “His is a skilled and steady hand. He is the right man to preserve the best traditions of our armed forces, while challenging them to innovate to meet the threats of the future.”

“We face tough challenges ahead and a lot of work remains,” said Myers upon his selection. “But with the help of God, my wife Mary Jo, our family and our friends, along with our extended family of the hundreds of thousands of superb soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines and coast guardsmen, active and reserve, the task is less daunting.”

Myers is the first Air Force officer to serve as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff since 1982.

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