General Peter J. Schoomaker, USA (Retired)
Former Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army and former Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Special Operations Command
General Peter Schoomaker retired from active service in December 2000 as the Commander-in-Chief, United States Special Operations Command and was recalled to active duty on 1 August 2003 as the 35th Chief of Staff of the United States Army and member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He returned to retired status on 10 April 2007 after more than 35 years of service in a variety of command and staff assignments with both conventional and special operations forces. During this time, he participated in practically every major joint contingency operation conducted from EAGLE CLAW in Iran to the current Global War on Terror. In January 1978, he was one of the first operational officers during the formative days of 1st SFOD-D and continued operational assignments there through command of Delta Force as a colonel from 1989 to 1992. Among his general officer assignments, Schoomaker was Commanding General, Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) from July 1994 to July 1996 and then Commanding General, U.S. Army Special Operations Command (USASOC) until October 1997 when he was promoted to four star general and assumed command of USSOCOM.
General Schoomaker was commission as a Distinguished Military Graduate through Army ROTC at the University of Wyoming with a B.S. in Education. He holds a M.A degree in Management from Central Michigan University and is a graduate of the USMC Amphibious Warfare School, U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, the National War College, and the Harvard JFK School Program for Executives in National Security. He is a consultant on defense matters, serves as a director on several public and private company boards, and was a long serving director on the board of the Special Operations Warrior Foundation which provides college education and support to the children and spouses of fallen special operators of all services.
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