Profile: General Joseph Ralston

General Joseph Ralston abandoned his retirement plans

General Joseph W Ralston has earned respect as a soldier and diplomat in his 35-year Air Force career. But unlike most of his predecessors in the Nato job, he had little experience in Europe.

The 56-year-old replaced General Wesley Clark as the top commander of Nato forces and the commander of US European Command in May 2000. He is in charge of the 100,000 US forces in Europe and is the thirteenth supreme allied commander.

He joined the US Air Force in 1965 through the Reserve Officer Training Corps programme at Miami University in Ohio. He flew 147 combat missions over Laos and North Vietnam.

In 1996 he was made vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. His term in office ended in February and he had been planning to retire, until the then US Defence Secretary William Cohen asked him to take the Nato post.

By law he had to take another job within 60 days or end his career - so Wesley Clark stepped down early to make way for him.

Air Force career

Before that General Ralston held a wide variety of posts, including commander of Alaskan Command at Elmendorf Air Force Base (1992-94) and commander of Air Combat Command at Langley Air Force Base, Virginia (1995-96).

In 1997 he was Mr Cohen's first choice to replace General John Shalikashvili as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, but General Ralston withdrew his name when news leaked that he had had an affair 13 years previously. At the time, the US Air Force was facing criticism for sacking a female pilot for lying about an illicit relationship with a married man.

Gen. Ralston, who was vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff then, stayed on and was re-appointed for a second term.

He is only the second US Air Force general to serve as supreme Nato commander in Europe in the alliance's 51-year history. The other was General Lauris Norstad, who held the post from November 1956 to January 1963.

General Ralston is from Hopkinsville, Kentucky.