BRIEFLY

0 Comments | Gazette, The (Colorado Springs), Apr 10, 2006 | by THE GAZETTE

NorthCom general assigned to Virginia

The Army general who oversaw Northern Command's headquarters response to Hurricane Katrina has been assigned to Fort Monroe, Va.

Major Gen. Richard J. Rowe, NorthCom's director of operations, helped guide activeduty forces to Gulf states after Katrina.

At Fort Monroe, Rowe will take over as the deputy director and chief of staff of the Army Capabilities Integration Center at the United States Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC).

Rowe also was responsible for NorthCom's daily homeland defense operations. He oversaw NorthCom's support of the Republican and Democratic national conventions in 2004, two State of the Union addresses in Washington, D.C., and exercises designed to test the capabilities and relationships between the command and about 60 interagency partners.

Rowe's replacement has not been named.

Academy honors 2 for lifetime of service

The Air Force Academy's Association of Graduates has named retired Gens. Hansford T. Johnson, Class of 1959, and Michael E. Ryan, Class of 1965, as the 2006 recipients of the Association's Distinguished Graduate Award.

The award recognizes a lifetime of service to the nation, the Air Force and the academy.

Johnson was the first academy graduate to rise to the rank of general.

As a forward air controller in Vietnam and Laos, he was awarded a Silver Star, three Distinguished Flying Crosses and 23 Air Medals for courage during combat.

He was later an assistant professor in the academy's aeronautical engineering department. During Desert Shield, he directed the largest, most concentrated movement of troops, equipment and supplies in American military history.

Ryan was the second Air Force Academy graduate to rise to the position of Air Force chief of staff. He earned the Distinguished Flying Cross and 12 Air Medals.