Richard Myers

This article is about the U.S. Air Force general. For other people with the same name, see Richard Myers (disambiguation).

Richard Bowman Myers
Gen Richard B. Myers, USAF
Allegiance	United States of America
Service/branch	United States Air Force
Years of service	1965–2005
Rank	General
Commands held	Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Battles/wars	Vietnam War
Awards	Defense Distinguished Service Medal (4) Distinguished Service Medal Legion of Merit Distinguished Flying Cross Air Medal(19) Presidential Medal of Freedom
Other work	Northrop Grumman, Board of Directors

General Richard Bowman Myers USAF (Ret.) (born March 1, 1942) is a former general of the United States Air Force and former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; as such, he was the United States military's highest ranking officer.

General Myers became the fifteenth Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on October 1, 2001. In this capacity, he served as the principal military advisor to the President, the Secretary of Defense, and the National Security Council during the earliest stages of the War on Terror, including planning and execution of the 2003 invasion of Iraq. On September 30, 2005, he retired and was succeeded by General Peter Pace. His Air Force career included operational command and leadership positions in a variety of Air Force and Joint assignments.

Myers was born in Kansas City, Missouri. He graduated from Shawnee Mission High School, later known as Shawnee Mission North. He graduated from Kansas State University with a B.S. in engineering in 1965 where he was a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. He graduated from Auburn University with a M.B.A. in 1977. The General has attended the Air Command and Staff College at Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama; the U.S. Army War College at Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania; and the Program for Senior Executives in National and International Security at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government.

General Myers entered the Air Force in 1965 through the Reserve Officer Training Corps program. He received pilot training from 1965 to 1966 at Vance Air Force Base, Oklahoma. Myers is a command pilot with more than 4,100 flying hours in the T-33, C-37, C-21, F-4, F-15 and F-16, including 600 combat hours in the F-4.

Prior to becoming Chairman, he served as the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from March 2000 to September 2001. As Vice Chairman, General Myers served as the Chairman of the Joint Requirements Oversight Council, Vice Chairman of the Defense Acquisition Board, and as a member of the National Security Council Deputies Committee and the Nuclear Weapons Council. In addition, he acted for the Chairman in all aspects of the Planning, Programming and Budgeting System including participation in the Defense Resources Board.

From August 1998 to February 2000, General Myers was Commander in Chief of the North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Space Command; Commander of the Air Force Space Command; and Department of Defense manager of the space transportation system contingency support at Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado. As commander, General Myers was responsible for defending America through space and intercontinental ballistic missile operations. Prior to assuming that position, he was Commander, Pacific Air Forces, Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii, from July 1997 to July 1998. From July 1996 to July 1997 he served as Assistant to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the Pentagon; and from November 1993 to June 1996 General Myers was Commander of U.S. Forces Japan and 5th Air Force at Yokota Air Base, Japan.

He was the acting head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the September 11th, 2001, terror attacks.

On 27 September 2005, only three days before leaving his post as Chairman, Myers said of the war in Iraq that, "the outcome and consequences of defeat are greater than World War II." His rise to and stint as Chairman are chronicled in Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward's book, State of Denial.

Myers receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

On November 9, 2005, Myers received the Presidential Medal of Freedom. His citation reads:

For four decades, General Richard Myers has served our Nation with honor and distinction. He flew some 600 combat hours in the Vietnam War. He later served as Commander in Chief of North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Space Command. As Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Myers played a central role in our Nation's defense while devoting himself to the well-being of the men and women who wear the uniform of the United States Armed Forces. The United States honors General Richard Myers for his dedication to duty and country and for his contributions to the freedom and security of our Nation.

In 2006, General Myers accepted a part-time appointment as a Foundation Professor of Military History at Kansas State University. That same year, he was also elected to the Board of Directors of Northrop Grumman Corporation, the world’s third largest defense contractor. On 13. September 2006 he also joined the board of directors of United Technologies Corporation.

General Myers and his wife, the former Mary Jo Rupp, have three children, two daughters and a son.