Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld announced Oct. 20 that President George W. Bush nominated Lt. Gen. Lance L. Smith for appointment to the rank of general with assignment as commander, U.S. Joint Forces Command.

General Smith is currently deputy commander of U.S. Central Command at MacDill Air Force Base, Fla.

Pending confirmation by the Senate, the general will oversee Joint Forces Command's roles in transformation, experimentation, joint training, interoperability and force provision and management as outlined in the Department of Defense's Unified Command Plan.

Headquartered in Norfolk, Va., the unified command is one of nine in the Defense Department. It has a force of more than 1.16 million men and women, spanning the command’s four service component commands and eight subordinate activities. Its members include civil servants, contract employees and consultants.

NATO has also agreed to appoint General Smith as NATO's Supreme Allied Commander-Transformation.

A graduate of Virginia Tech, General Smith is from Washington D.C., and graduated from Officer's Training School in 1970. His career has included more than seven years in command, including Pacific Air Forces 7th Air Force, and Air Component Commander, South Korea and U.S. Combined Forces Command Korea. He also served two tours at the Pentagon and was commandant of the NATO School at Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe, commandant of the Air War College and commander of the Air Force Doctrine Center.

The general has flown more than 165 combat missions in Southeast and Southwest Asia in the A-1 Skyraider and F-15E Strike Eagle. A command pilot, he has more than 3,000 hours in the T-33 Shooting Star, T-37 Tweet, T-38 Talon, A-1, A-7 Corsair, A-10 Thunderbolt, F-111F Aardvark, F-15E and F-16 Fighting Falcon.

General Smith's military decorations include the Defense Distinguished Service Medal, the Air Force Distinguished Service Medal, Silver Star, the Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit, Distinguished Flying Cross and the Purple Heart.