THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, August 10, 1994 TAG: 9408100439
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JACK DORSEY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 83 lines
Adm. Paul David Miller, at 52 one of the youngest four-star admirals on active duty and a key architect of change in the military, has decided to retire.
The Virginia native, who as a teenager was educated at Norfolk Catholic High School, has risen through the officer ranks during 29 years in naval service to head one of the nation's most prestigious commands - the U.S. Atlantic Command in Norfolk.
His decision to retire came as a surprise to many in the military community. Others said the move had been rumored ever since Army Gen. John Shalikashvili, 56, was picked last year to become chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Miller had been considered a leading candidate to succeed Army Gen. Colin Powell as joint chiefs chairman, but President Clinton chose Shalikashvili instead. That left Miller, who ranks fifth among the Navy's 11 four-star admirals,few if any job options.
Senior officers said he decided earlier this year against seeking the chief of naval operations job, which went to Adm. Jeremy M. ``Mike'' Boorda.
He reportedly had been offered a year's extension in his present command but decided on retirement instead. His retirement is subject to presidential nomination and confirmation by the Senate.
Since taking over his current post in July 1992, Miller has guided efforts to encourage more joint training and cooperation among the services.
He heads one of the military's most important commands and also serves as NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic, responsible for all allied military resources from the Tropic of Cancer to the North Pole and from the east coast of North America to Europe and Africa.
Miller's command of USACOM, the U.S. Atlantic Command, came at a time when the military began placing more emphasis on joint-service training and operations, particularly as the Defense Department began losing manpower and resources after the Cold War.
Among his initiatives was the use of ``joint-force packaging,'' combining some ships and personnel groupings that traditionally went to sea separately. He also initiated mission-specific groups, designed for a single purpose such as enforcing a no-fly zone over Bosnia or ridding Somalia of its warlords.
Such initiatives have found Army helicopters flying from the decks of Navy guided-missile cruisers, Air Force tankers fueling fighter planes from a Navy carrier and Marine Corps infantry assigned to aircraft carriers.
Miller put the concept to the test last year aboard the Norfolk-based carrier Theodore Roosevelt. Some of the Roosevelt's fighters and submarine-hunting aircraft were removed to make room for 600 Marines and their troop-carrying helicopters. He later tested the use of Army helicopters and Army Rangers aboard another carrier, the George Washington.
Miller now oversees the training of a million service members in all four military branches. Under his operational control are most of the service members - Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps - based in the continental United States.
His office plans the movement of troops and equipment to operations in places such as Haiti, Somalia, Bosnia, Rwanda and anywhere else in the Atlantic, European, Middle East and African regions. Only the Pacific Command is not under his direct control.
Headed by a Navy officer since its creation 45 years ago, the Atlantic Command's focus has been primarily maritime. But with the command's new missions, which went into effect at the beginning of this fiscal year, it now may draw its leadership from any branch of the service.
It is expected that command of USACOM may well shift to another service branch after Miller's departure.
Miller, a native of Roanoke and a 1959 graduate of Norfolk Catholic High School, was commissioned in 1964 after attending Officer Candidate School. He is a graduate of Florida State University and earned a master's degree from the University of Georgia. He is a graduate of the Naval War College and the Harvard Business School Executive Management Program.
He has been executive assistant to the commander in chief of the Pacific Fleet, executive assistant to the secretary of the Navy, commander of the 7th Fleet and commander of the Atlantic Fleet. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
Adm. Paul David Miller, 52, has decided to retire from the Navy.
Miller, raised in Roanoke, heads the prestigious U.S. Atlantic
Command in Norfolk.
by CNB