# New ISAF Commander



## tomahawk6 (22 Sep 2006)

Gen Dan McNeil has been named to command ISAF. An interesting development.

http://www.defenselink.mil/Releases/Release.aspx?ReleaseID=9999


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## paracowboy (22 Sep 2006)

tomahawk6 said:
			
		

> An interesting development.


why you say that? Something we should know?


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## tomahawk6 (22 Sep 2006)

McNeil is a top guy. He has already spent a year in Afghanistan as CG TF 180. Next year the new Army Chief of Staff will be selected and there are several top contenders Casey and Abizaid. A new commander of CENTCOM will be named as well. I had thought McNeil would retire that is why this appointment surprised me. His name is in the hat for something bigger.

http://www.forscom.army.mil/cmd_staff/CG_McNeill/CG_McNeill.htm

General Dan K. McNeill assumed command of United States Army Forces Command on May 7, 2004, following a tour of duty as its Deputy Commanding General and Chief of Staff.  
He was commissioned as a second lieutenant of Infantry through the ROTC Program at North Carolina State University, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science Degree in 1968.  His formal education is consistent with that of a career infantry officer and includes graduation from the U.S. Army War College in 1989.
General McNeill has commanded airborne infantry units at the company, battalion, brigade and division levels.  His service as a staff officer includes tours as an S3 or G3 at brigade, division, and corps levels.  As a general officer, General McNeill has served in assignments as an Assistant Division Commander, Division Commander, Corps Chief of Staff, Deputy Corps Commander and Corps Commander.  Tours in the Republic of Vietnam, Republic of Korea, Italy, Saudi Arabia/Iraq, Afghanistan, and numerous stateside posts have afforded General McNeill unique professional experiences and opportunities.  
Duty in Operations JUST CAUSE, DESERT SHIELD/DESERT STORM, UPHOLD DEMOCRACY, and ENDURING FREEDOM has given General McNeill experience in joint and combined operations and warfighting.  Before coming to United States Army Forces Command, he served as the Commanding General, XVIII Airborne Corps and Fort Bragg, and Commanding General, Combined/Joint Task Force-180.


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## Journeyman (22 Sep 2006)

Airborne Infantry. He's OK by me   ;D


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## big bad john (24 Sep 2006)

http://www.fayettevillenc.com/article?id=242637

Published on Friday, September 22, 2006



NATO force may get McNeill


By Henry Cuningham
Military editor


Gen. Dan K. McNeill is the leader of U.S. Army Forces Command.  
ADVERTISEMENT
 President Bush has nominated Army Gen. Dan K. McNeill to become commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan, the Pentagon said Thursday.

Pending Senate approval, the 60-year-old North Carolina native and former Fort Bragg commander will become commander of the International Security Assistance Force, the statement said.

The mission in Afghanistan “is proving to be the most demanding operation that NATO perhaps has ever been involved in,” Marine Gen. James L. Jones said Wednesday at a Pentagon news conference. Jones is commander of European Command and Supreme Allied Commander, Europe.

NATO is responsible for three-quarters of Afghanistan with 37 countries and 20,000 troops involved, Jones said. Countries contributing forces include Canada, Britain, Poland and Romania.

The nomination includes reappointment to the rank of four-star general.

McNeill has been commanding general of U.S. Army Forces Command at Fort McPherson in Atlanta since May 2004. The command is scheduled to relocate to Fort Bragg over the next five years.

He was commander of Fort Bragg and the 18th Airborne Corps from July 2000 to August 2003. He previously commanded the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg.

While he was the corps commander, McNeill served from June 2002 to May 2003 as commander of Combined Joint Task Force 180. The task force included 8,000 to 9,000 U.S. troops and about 2,000 from other countries.

McNeill told The Fayetteville Observer in a 2003 interview that his earlier job in Afghanistan included working with Afghan national leaders on everything from security to distributing new currency to rebuilding the country. At one point, he sat for hours on a straw mat talking with tribal leaders in an Afghan village where U.S. airplanes had killed civilians, including women and children.

In Afghanistan, he also had to deal with nongovernmental organizations that do humanitarian and reconstruction work.

His jobs in the earlier assignment in Afghanistan varied from overseeing the training of an Afghan national army to working to keep balanced representation among the country’s tribes and ethnic groups.

McNeill grew up east of Fayetteville in the small Duplin County town of Warsaw. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant of infantry through Army ROTC at N.C. State University.

Military editor Henry Cuningham can be reached at cuninghamh@fayettevillenc.com or 486-3585.


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