Peter Pace | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2006 | |
| Born | (1945-11-05)November 5, 1945 (age 80) New York City,New York, U.S. |
| Allegiance | United States |
| Branch | United States Marine Corps |
| Years of service | 1967–2007 |
| Rank | General |
| Commands | Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff U.S. Southern Command Marine Forces Atlantic 2nd Battalion, 1st Marines |
| Battles / wars | Vietnam War Operation Restore Hope |
| Awards | Defense Distinguished Service Medal (4) Navy Distinguished Service Medal Army Distinguished Service Medal Air Force Distinguished Service Medal Coast Guard Distinguished Service Medal Defense Superior Service Medal Legion of Merit Bronze Star Medal withvalor Defense Meritorious Service Medal |
| Alma mater | United States Naval Academy (BS) George Washington University (MBA) |
Peter Pace (born November 5, 1945) is a retiredUnited States Marine Corpsgeneral who served as the 16thchairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Pace was the first Marine officer appointed as chairman and the first Marine officer to be appointed to three different four-star assignments; the others were as the sixthvice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from October 1, 2001, to August 12, 2005, and as Commander-in-Chief,U.S. Southern Command from September 8, 2000, to September 30, 2001. Appointed chairman byPresidentGeorge W. Bush, Pace succeededU.S. Air ForceGeneralRichard Myers on September 30, 2005.
Secretary of DefenseRobert Gates announced on June 8, 2007, that he would advise the President to not renominate Pace for a second term. Pace retired from the Marine Corps and stepped down as chairman on October 1, 2007. He was replaced byChief of Naval OperationsAdmiralMichael Mullen.[1][2]
Pace was born on November 5, 1945, inNew York City'sBrooklyn toItalian parents fromNoci and raised inTeaneck,New Jersey, graduating fromTeaneck High School in 1963.[3]
He entered theUnited States Naval Academy as a midshipman in 1963. He earned a varsity letter in soccer and graduated on 7 June 1967 with a degree in mechanical engineering. Upon graduation, Pace received hiscommission as asecond lieutenant in the Marine Corps. His choice to become a Marine was influenced, in part, by his older brother Simone, who graduated from the Academy two years ahead of him and became a Marine. (His brother saw combat inVietnam, where he earned aSilver Star[4] and aPurple Heart.)[3]
He also holds aMaster of Business Administration degree fromGeorge Washington University. Pace currently resides in Charlotte, North Carolina; he is married to Lynne Pace, whom he met as amidshipman. They have a son, also named Peter, and a daughter, Tiffany.[5] Pace is aRoman Catholic.[6]
Upon completion ofThe Basic School atMarine Corps Base Quantico,Virginia, in 1968, Pace was assigned to the2nd Battalion, 5th Marines,1st Marine Division in theRepublic of Vietnam, serving first as Platoon Leader of Golf Company's SecondPlatoon and subsequently as assistant Operations Officer.
Returning from overseas in March 1969, he reported toMarine Barracks, Washington, D.C. During this tour, he served as head of the Infantry Writer Unit,Marine Corps Institute; platoon leader, Guard Company; security detachment commander,Camp David;White House social aide; and platoon leader, Special Ceremonial Platoon. He was promoted to captain in April 1971. In September 1971, Pace attended the Infantry Officers' Advanced Course atFort Benning,Georgia. Returning overseas in October 1972, he was assigned to the Security Element,Marine Aircraft Group 15,1st Marine Aircraft Wing,Namphong,Thailand, where he served as operations officer and thenExecutive Officer.
In October 1973, he was assigned toHeadquarters Marine Corps, Washington, D.C., for duty as the assistant majors' monitor. During October 1976, he reported to the 1st Marine Division,Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton,California, where he served as operations officer, 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines; executive officer,3rd Battalion, 5th Marines; and division staff secretary. He was promoted to major on November 1, 1977. In August 1979, he reported to the Marine Corps Command and Staff College as a student.
Upon completion of school in June 1980, he was assigned duty as commanding officer, Marine Corps Recruiting Station,Buffalo, New York. While in this assignment, he was promoted to lieutenant colonel in October 1982. Reassigned to the 1st Marine Division, Camp Pendleton, Pace served from June 1983 until June 1985 as commanding officer,2nd Battalion, 1st Marines. In June 1985, he was selected to attend theNational War College in Washington, D.C.
After graduation the following June, he was assigned to the Combined/Joint Staff inSeoul, South Korea. He served as chief, Ground Forces Branch until April 1987, when he became executive officer to the assistant chief of staff, C/J/G3, United Nations Command/Combined Forces Command/United States Forces Korea/Eighth United States Army. Pace returned to Marine Barracks in Washington, D.C., in August 1988 for duty as commanding officer. He was promoted to colonel in October 1988.
In August 1991, Pace was assigned duty as chief of staff,2nd Marine Division,Camp Lejeune. During February 1992, he was assigned duty as assistant division commander. He was advanced to brigadier general on April 6, 1992, and was assigned as president of theMarine Corps University and commanding general of Marine Corps Schools at the Marine Corps Combat Development Command, Quantico, Virginia, on July 13, 1992. While serving in this capacity, he also served as deputy commander, Marine Forces,Somalia, from December 1992 to February 1993, and as the deputy commander, Joint Task Force – Somalia from October 1993 to March 1994. Pace was advanced to major general on June 21, 1994, and was assigned as the deputy commander/chief of staff, U.S. Forces, Japan. He was promoted to lieutenant general and assigned as the director for operations (J-3), Joint Staff, Washington, D.C., on August 5, 1996.
Pace served as the commander, U.S. Marine Corps Forces, Atlantic/Europe/South from November 23, 1997, to September 8, 2000.
Pace was promoted to general and assumed duties as the commander-in-chief ofUnited States Southern Command on September 8, 2000, until September 30, 2001, when he was appointedVice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. On August 12, 2005, he was succeeded as vice chairman by AdmiralEdmund P. Giambastiani.
On April 22, 2005, at aWhite House press conference, PresidentGeorge W. Bush nominated Pace to be the nextchairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The previous chairman,Richard Myers, retired from the position on September 30, 2005.
On his nomination, Pace said, "This is an incredible moment for me. It is both exhilarating and humbling. It's exhilarating because I have the opportunity, if confirmed by theSenate, to continue to serve this great nation. It's humbling because I know the challenges ahead are formidable."[7]
On June 29, 2005, Pace appeared before theArmed Services Committee for consideration of his nomination[8] and was later confirmed by theSenate. On September 30, 2005, Pace was sworn in as the 16th chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.[9]
On November 29, 2005, Pace was present at a press conference given byUS Secretary of DefenseDonald Rumsfeld, where Rumsfeld said that "the United States does not have a responsibility" to prevent torture by Iraqi officials. Pace drew a distinction between the national responsibility of the United States and the responsibility of individual service members, saying "It is the absolute responsibility of every U.S. service member, if they see inhumane treatment being conducted, to intervene, to stop it".[10][11]
In 2006 Pace was named Grand Marshal of New York City's Columbus Day parade.
In a 2007 interview with theChicago Tribune, Pace was asked about thedon't ask, don't tell policy and said "I believe that homosexual acts between individuals are immoral and that we should not condone immoral acts... I do not believe that the armed forces of the United States are well served by a saying through our policies that it's OK to be immoral in any way." The comments sparked backlash from legislators such as SenatorJohn Warner, SpeakerNancy Pelosi, and CongressmanMarty Meehan. Pace later said he regretted the comments and that they were his "personal moral views."[12][13]
After White House officials asserted that Iran was supplying insurgents in Iraq with munitions, Pace questioned the validity of the claim in a February 2007 press conference. Specifically, Pace questioned the existence of direct evidence linking the Iranian government to the supply of the weapons, explosively formed penetrators.[14]
On June 8, 2007, Defense SecretaryRobert Gates announced that he would advise the President to not renominate Pace because of concerns about contentious confirmation hearings inCongress. The President instead nominated theChief of Naval Operations, AdmiralMichael Mullen, to replace Pace.[1][15][16] On October 1, 2007, Pace officially retired atFort Myer, Virginia.[17]
On one of his last days before retirement, Pace gave a speech at Chaminade High School on Long Island, the high school of the first Marine who died under his command in Vietnam, Guido Farinaro.[18]
After his retirement ceremony, Pace visited theVietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. There, he left handwritten notes in memory of each of the Marines who died under his command while he was a platoon leader in Vietnam, with a set of his general's rank insignia attached to each one.[19][20][21] Each note was similar to this one:
These are yours – not mine! With love and respect, your platoon leader, Pete Pace.
On October 1, 2007, the editors of theNational Review encouragedVirginia voters to draft Pace to run in 2008 for theSenate seat to be vacated by retiring SenatorJohn Warner. The magazine cited Pace's conservative Catholic beliefs in making its suggestion.[22]
On April 3, 2008, private equity firm Behrman Capital announced that Pace had joined the firm as anoperating partner and been named chairman of the board of Behrman portfolio company,Pelican Products.[23][24] He was also named a director of ILC Industries, Inc., also a Behrman company.[25]
Pace also currently serves on the Secretary of Defense's Policy Board,[26] and as chairman of the board for Wall Street Warfighters Foundation,[27] an organization founded by principals ofDrexel Hamilton that provides training support and job placement services for disabled veterans interested in careers in thefinancial services industry.
Pace serves on the board of advisors of theCode of Support Foundation, a nonprofit military service organization.[28]
During the2016 United States presidential election, the Trump transition team chaired by New Jersey governorChris Christie recommended Pace to be Trump'sNational Security Advisor.[29]
Since 2017, he has served on the Board of Advisors for Angeleno Group, a private equity and venture capital firm focused on sustainable energy investments.[30]
Pace became chair of the board of trustees for theNaval Institute Foundation on January 31, 2017.[31] Founded in 1873, the US Naval Institute provides an independent forum for the Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard.
| Insignia | Rank | Date |
|---|---|---|
 | Second lieutenant | June 7, 1967 |
 | First lieutenant | September 7, 1968 |
 | Captain | March 1, 1971 |
 | Major | August 1, 1977 |
 | Lieutenant colonel | October 1, 1982 |
 | Colonel | October 1, 1988 |
 | Brigadier general | April 6, 1992 |
 | Major general | June 21, 1994 |
 | Lieutenant general | August 5, 1996 |
 | General | September 8, 2000 |
Pace's personal decorations include:[33]
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Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Peter Pace, with Council member Secretary of Defense Robert Gates.
| Military offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Commander ofUnited States Southern Command 2000–2001 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff 2001–2005 | Succeeded by |
| Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff 2005–2007 | Succeeded by | |
| U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial) | ||
| Preceded byas Former Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff | Order of precedence of the United States as Former Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff | Succeeded byas Former Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff |
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Vice chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the United States | |||
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