Tommy Franks Commands Early Campaigns

Tommy Franks

As Commander of U.S. Central Command, General Tommy Franks directed ground operations for both Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan and Operation Iraqi Freedom. He engineered rapid blitzkrieg strategies that combined joint airpower, special operation units, and mobile conventional forces to swiftly oust the Taliban regime in 2001 and capture Baghdad in 2003. Although celebrated for initial operational triumphs, his command later drew debate regarding post-conflict security and long-term stabilization planning.

Timeline

Category
Element

Year	Tommy Franks
1945	Birth and adoption (Period: 1945, Location: Wynnewood, Oklahoma, United States) Birth of Tommy Franks (Period: June 17, 1945, Location: Wynnewood, Oklahoma, United States)
1947	Cold War (Age: 1 years old, Period: Circa 1947 – 1991, Location: United States, Soviet Union, Europe, Pacific, etc.)
1955	Vietnam War (Age: 10 years old, Period: 1955–1975 (U.S. full-scale military intervention from early 1960s to 1973), Location: Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia)
1960	Midland High School (Age: 14 years old, Period: Early 1960s, Location: Midland, Texas, United States) Robert E. Lee High School, now Legacy High School (Age: 14 years old, Period: Early 1960s – 1963, Location: Midland, Texas, United States)
1963	University of Texas at Austin (Age: 17 years old, Period: 1963 – 1965, Location: Austin, Texas, United States)
1965	Enlistment in the United States Army (Age: 19 years old, Period: 1965, Location: United States) U.S. Army Artillery Officer Candidate School (Age: 19 years old, Period: 1965 – 1967, Location: Fort Sill, Oklahoma, United States)
1967	Commissioning as an artillery officer (Age: 21 years old, Period: 1967, Location: Fort Sill, Oklahoma, United States) Vietnam War service and injury (Age: 21 years old, Period: c. 1967 – 1968, Location: South Vietnam)
1969	University of Texas at Arlington (Age: 23 years old, Period: 1969 – 1971, Location: Arlington, Texas, United States) Marriage (Tommy Franks, Cathryn Carley Franks, Age: 23 years old, Period: March 22, 1969, Location: United States (exact wedding venue unknown))
1970	Armed Forces Staff College (Age: 24 years old, Period: Early 1970s – 1976, Location: Norfolk, Virginia, United States)
1973	Assignment to the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment (Age: 27 years old, Period: c. 1973 – 1975, Location: West Germany)
1976	Service in the United States Army Office of the Inspector General (Age: 30 years old, Period: 1976 – 1978, Location: Pentagon, Washington, D.C., United States)
1981	Command of the 2nd Battalion, 78th Field Artillery (Age: 35 years old, Period: 1981 – 1984, Location: West Germany)
1984	U.S. Army War College (Age: 38 years old, Period: c. 1984, Location: Carlisle, Pennsylvania, United States) Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania (Age: 38 years old, Period: 1984 – 1985, Location: Shippensburg, Pennsylvania, United States)
1987	Command of the 1st Cavalry Division Artillery (Age: 41 years old, Period: 1987 – 1990, Location: Fort Hood, Texas, United States)
1990	Appointment as Assistant Division Commander of the 1st Cavalry Division (Age: 44 years old, Period: 1990 – 1991, Location: Texas and Saudi Arabia, United States) Gulf War (Age: 45 years old, Period: August 1990 – February 1991, Location: Kuwait, Iraq, Persian Gulf region)
1991	Appointment as Assistant Commandant of the United States Army Field Artillery School (Age: 45 years old, Period: 1991 – 1992, Location: Fort Sill, Oklahoma, United States)
1995	Appointment as Commanding General of the 2nd Infantry Division (Age: 49 years old, Period: 1995 – 1997, Location: South Korea)
1997	Appointment as Commanding General of the Third United States Army (Age: 51 years old, Period: May 1997 – July 2000, Location: Fort McPherson, Georgia, United States)
2000	Activities with the Flight 93 National Memorial (Age: 54 years old, Period: 2000s onward, Location: Shanksville, Pennsylvania, United States and others) Appointment as Commander of United States Central Command (Age: 55 years old, Period: July 6, 2000 – July 7, 2003, Location: MacDill Air Force Base, Tampa, Florida, United States)
2001	Afghan Conflict and War on Terror (Age: 55 years old, Period: 2001 onward, Location: Afghanistan) September 11 attacks (Age: 56 years old, Period: September 11, 2001, Location: New York City, New York; Arlington, Virginia; Shanksville, Pennsylvania) Battle of Tora Bora (Age: 56 years old, Period: December 2001, Location: Tora Bora mountainous region, eastern Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan) Bin Laden escape issue during the Battle of Tora Bora in Afghanistan (Age: 56 years old, Period: December 2001, later scrutiny and criticism from 2000s onward, Location: Tora Bora mountainous region, eastern Afghanistan)
2003	Iraq War (Age: 57 years old, Period: 2003 onward, Location: Iraq) Educational and charitable activities related to the United States Army (Age: 57 years old, Period: 2003 onward, Location: United States) Command responsibility regarding post-war security and planning following the Iraq War (Age: 57 years old, Period: March – July 2003, Location: Iraq, United States Central Command Headquarters) Battle of Baghdad (Age: 57 years old, Period: April 3 – 12, 2003, Location: Baghdad, Iraq) Retirement from the United States Army (Age: 58 years old, Period: July 7, 2003, Location: Tampa, Florida, United States) Statements regarding freedom and security within the United States (Age: 58 years old, Period: November 21, 2003, Location: United States)
2004	Publication of memoir "American Soldier" (Age: 59 years old, Period: August 2004, Location: United States)
2005	Fundraising and compensation controversy involving the wounded soldier support organization "Coalition to Salute America’s Heroes" (Age: 59 years old, Period: Prior to 2005 – became an issue in 2008, Location: United States)

Map

Category
Element

United States World

Group	List
Overthrow of the Taliban Regime	George W. Bush Donald Rumsfeld Colin Powell Tommy Franks Zalmay Khalilzad John Abizaid Stanley McChrystal David Barno
Investigation of the 9/11 Attacks	Thomas Kean Lee Hamilton Philip Zelikow Richard Ben-Veniste Jamie Gorelick Slade Gorton Bob Kerrey John Lehman Timothy Roemer James Thompson

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Tommy Franks Commands Early Campaigns

Tommy Franks

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