American Valor Quarterly Issue 6 - Spring/Summer 2009 | Page 29

Roberts: Over the next 15 years or so, you had many duty changes and declare victory?”
and many promotions. I can’t review each one of these individually
but I would like you to kind of walk us through this period.
She said to me, “I think there is more adventure out there.” I
wanted to give her a chance to say, “We have been doing this for
General Myers: I was very fortunate. After Okinawa, I got to thirty years – it’s time.” But she didn’t. She wanted us to keep going,
go to Nellis Air Force Base and be an instructor at the weapons so I came back to the Pentagon and served as Assistant to the
school, and was promoted to major. From there I went off to Air Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General John Shalikashvili,
Command and Staff College, Maxwell Air Force Base, then to for a year. I was then selected to be Commander of the Pacific
the Pentagon. After a few years at the Pentagon, I was promoted Air Forces in Hawaii, which was my first position as a four-star,
early to lieutenant colonel and sent off to the Army War College, and then went on to be Commander in Chief, North American
which turned out to be a very enjoyable year. When we arrived, Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Space Command at
the commandant came in and said to us, “Listen, this is your year. Colorado Springs. Eventually I became Vice Chairman of the Joint
If you want to research something that has been nagging you for Chiefs of Staff, and was then nominated to serve as Chairman.
a long time, this is your chance. We will send you anywhere in the After I had been promoted to colonel, each assignment really came
world, and get you any resources you need. The only requirement as a surprise, and each time, I thought I would end up retiring. As I
is that if we are going to spend a lot of money on you, you better explain in the book, I remember General Michael Ryan, the Chief
produce some top level work that justifies that amount of money.” of Staff, saying to me back in 1997, “You are going to the Pacific
Air Forces to serve for three years. But if you think you have done
He also said that we also had the option of devoting our time to all you can do in two years, it is fine if you retire.” But a year later
our families if we had just come off command and not been able they moved me to Colorado Springs, and Secretary of Defense
to see much of them. Most of the people there had just come off Cohen told me, “We’d like you to serve here for two years before
of a battalion command, whereas I had come out of the staff. It you retire.” I said that was fine with me, but just a short time later
was hard work, but not like command. In the end, it worked out I got a call saying, “We’d like you to serve three years before you
well, because everyone there was highly motivated and worked retire.” Again, that was fine with me. Then the next thing I know,
very hard. While it was possible to spend a lot of time on the golf a year and a half later I was the Vice Chairman. You never know,
course and take it easy, I guarantee you very few people did that. and I don’t think you should know. When you get to that level,
But it was our year, and the Army did a great job of allowing us you do what is expected of you by the Secretary of Defense, the
the freedom to work in the areas we wanted to.
service secretary, or the chief of your service.

Department of Defense photo

From there, I was sent to Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in
North Carolina, and was very fortunate to be given an F-4 squadron
command and be promoted to colonel. I recall thinking that my
goal throughout my entire career was to be a squadron commander.
Now that I was, and that I was a colonel, what in the world was I
to do now? While I was trying to figure out what my next goal was,
I was sent to Headquarters Tactical Air Command at Langley Air
Force Base in Virginia to do personnel work. Meanwhile, while I
was sent to this staff job in personnel doing assignments, which
I had never done before, my best friend was able to go from
commanding F-4s to F-15 fighters. I thought to myself, “Well,
they are sending me a big signal here.” Though I did not know
what I was getting into, it turned out to be a great assignment. I
worked with some wonderful people, and learned quite a bit about
working with and managing people.
From there, I went back to Nellis Air Force Base to serve as
Commandant of the Air Force Fighter Weapons School, then to
Tyndall Air Force Base for my first wing command, and back again
to Langley for command of the First Tactical Fighter Wing where I
was promoted to brigadier general. After doing several jobs around
Langley, I moved to the Pentagon and was promoted to two-star,
and from there nominated for three stars as the Commander of
U.S. Forces Japan. Coming out of Japan as a three-star, I told my
wife, “This was such a ful