Rumsfeld calls a MacDill retiree back to duty

A Tampa resident could bypass active-duty generals to become Army chief of staff.

TAMPA - Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has selected retired Gen. Peter J. Schoomaker, a Tampa resident and former commander of the U.S. Special Operations Command, as Army chief of staff, officials said Tuesday.

His selection is bound to stir controversy within the military because it is rare for a defense secretary to bypass active-duty generals and pick a retired officer to be the Army's top general.

Rumsfeld, who has been feuding for two years with Army leadership, passed over nine active-duty four-star generals.

He forwarded his recommendation to the White House, according to Rep. C.W. Bill Young, R-Largo. President Bush is expected to accept the recommendation.

Schoomaker, a four-star general who served as commander of SoCom from 1997 through 2000, would face Senate confirmation. SoCom, the unified command that oversees the nation's elite commandos, is based at MacDill Air Force Base.

Retired Gen. Carl W. Stiner, a former SoCom commander and a friend of Schoomaker, praised the selection by Rumsfeld.

"I'd say he possesses all the personal attributes and ethical qualities found in only the best," Stiner said in an interview Tuesday night.

"He is a man of great vision."

Col. Bill Darley, a SoCom spokesman who worked under Schoomaker, characterized him as "a constant innovator, thinking toward the future."

"He would make an ideal candidate for a military that is focused on transformation," Darley said. He said Schoomaker, an ex-Green Beret, is among the world's experts on counterterrorism.

Since his retirement, Schoomaker has worked as a defense consultant and serves on the board of the Tampa-based Special Operations Warrior Foundation, which provides college scholarships and other support to the children of Special Operations forces killed in the line of duty.

"He epitomizes the quiet professional at SoCom," said Edie Rosenthal, a spokeswoman for the Warrior Foundation. "I have a lot of respect for him."

If confirmed, Schoomaker would be taking the job during a tumultuous period within the Army.

Tension between Rumsfeld and departing Army Chief of Staff Gen. Eric Shinseki over the pace of the Army's effort to transform into a more agile fighting force have dominated the final two years of Shinseki's four-year term.

Shinseki retires Wednesday after a 38-year career that included combat in Vietnam and head of U.S. peacekeeping efforts in Bosnia.

In April, Rumsfeld fired Army Secretary Thomas White and picked John Roche, currently the Air Force secretary, to replace him as the top Army civilian official. Roche is awaiting Senate confirmation.

Rumsfeld has other key posts to fill, including a successor to Gen. Tommy Franks as commander of Central Command, which is responsible for all U.S. military operations in the Middle East and Central Asia. Franks is due to retire in July.

Rumsfeld recommended that Lt. Gen. John Abizaid, a Lebanese-American who speaks Arabic, be nominated to replace Franks, who is set to retire this summer as head of the U.S. Central Command.

Abizaid, who holds a master's degree in Middle Eastern area studies from Harvard, is now a deputy commander at Central Command. He served at the Pentagon in the influential post of director of the Joint Staff during the buildup to war with Iraq.

Schoomaker, 57, began his Army career in 1969 as a second lieutenant. His first field assignment was in 1970 as a reconnaissance platoon leader at Fort Campbell, Ky. He was trained as an armor officer but switched to the secretive world of Special Operations in the late 1970s.

He finished the Marine Corps Amphibious Warfare School at Quantico, Va., in 1976, and in February 1978 he became commander of the Army's 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment, the highly secretive Delta Force that specializes in counterterrorism missions. He held that command until 1981.

While with Delta Force, he participated in the April 1980 failed attempt to rescue American hostages in Tehran, Iran.

He later was commander of the Army Special Operations Command and the Joint Special Operations Command, both at Fort Bragg, N.C.

- Information from the Associated Press and the New York Times was used in this report.

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