Tommy Franks, born in 1945, retired United States Army four-star general who led the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq and the 2001 U.S. invasion of Afghanistan that ousted the Taliban regime and its al-Qaeda allies. As commander in chief of the U.S. Central Command, Franks was responsible for U.S. security interests in a 25-nation region stretching from North Africa to the Middle East and Central Asia. The region includes Iraq and Afghanistan and contains two-thirds of the world’s oil supply.

Tommy R. Franks was born in Wynnewood, Oklahoma, and raised in Midland, Texas. After graduating from high school in Midland, he entered the University of Texas at Austin but dropped out in 1965 to enlist in the Army. Franks was commissioned a second lieutenant in 1967 after graduating from Artillery Officer Candidate School at Fort Sill, Oklahoma.

During his military career, Franks served in four wars, the Vietnam War (1959-1975), the 1991 Persian Gulf War, the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan, and the 2003 war against the regime of Saddam Hussein in Iraq. He was wounded three times in Vietnam as an artillery officer. Upon his return from Vietnam in 1968, the Army sponsored his education at the University of Texas in Arlington, where he received a B.A. degree in business administration in 1971.

In 1973 Franks was assigned as a captain to the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment in what was then West Germany. He returned to the United States as a major and was sent to the Armed Forces Staff College in Norfolk, Virginia. In 1976 he was posted to the Pentagon where he was later promoted to lieutenant colonel. From 1981 to 1984, Franks served as commander of the 2nd Battalion, 78th Field Artillery in West Germany. On his return to the United States, he again continued his education, completing in 1985 an M.S. degree in public administration at Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania near Harrisburg.

By 1991 Franks was a brigadier general. During the Persian Gulf War, he was the assistant division commander of the 1st Cavalry Division. He later commanded the 2nd Infantry Division based near Seoul, South Korea, and the Third Army/Army Forces Central Command based in Atlanta, Georgia. In 2000 Franks became a four-star general and the commander in chief of the U.S. Central Command. As the head of the Central Command, he led Operation Enduring Freedom, the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan that followed the September 11 terrorist attacks against the United States. In 2003 he led the U.S. invasion of Iraq. See also U.S.-Iraq War.

Franks was regarded as a “soldier’s soldier.” During the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan, the media often criticized him for being unavailable for questions, but his defenders said he simply sought to avoid the limelight. A highly decorated officer, Franks received four Legions of Merit, three Purple Hearts, three Bronze Star Medals, two Distinguished Service Medals, and the Defense Distinguished Service Medal. Franks retired from the military in July 2003, two months after President George W. Bush declared an end to major combat operations in Iraq.