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FALLON, Nev. (AP) -- Two fighter jets from the U.S. Navy's elite training school collided Friday over northern Nevada's high desert, killing one pilot and injuring two others who parachuted to safety. The pilot who died was based at Naval Air Station Oceana in Virginia Beach, Va., said Jeffery Wells, a spokesman at Fallon Naval Air Station. He was at the controls of an F/A-18C Hornet at the time of the crash.

FALLON, Nev. — A pilot was missing after two U.S. Navy jets flying a routine training mission collided Friday over northern Nevada's high desert about 50 miles east of the Fallon Naval Air Station. Two pilots safely ejected from an F-5 Tiger and were rescued, but the pilot of an F/A-18C Hornet was missing, said Zip Upham, public affairs officer for the base. The two aircraft collided about noon Friday near the town of Middlegate, some 110 miles east of Reno, Upham said. The cause of the crash was under investigation, he said. The pilots in the two-seater F-5 Tiger...

Petraeus's appointment as combatant commander of Central Command was set in motion several weeks ago, with the firing of then-combatant commander Adm. William Fallon. The administration let him go not for opposing a possible strike against Iran, as was widely speculated, but for arguing too often with Petraeus over troop levels in Iraq. Petraeus, who may be the most well-read analytical mind in the military, wanted to maintain troop levels, rather than reduce them for use in Afghanistan and for other contingencies -- to say nothing of relieving strains on the army. But Fallon and Pentagon generals wanted troop levels...

President Bush will nominate Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, the commander of U.S. troops in Iraq, to become the next overall commander of American forces in the Middle East as part of a personnel shuffle to take place by early fall, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates announced today.

WASHINGTON, April 18, 2008 – Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates praised Navy Adm. William J. Fallon during his retirement ceremony today for bringing “unparalleled energy, ideas and diplomatic skill” to U.S. Central Command and for 41 years of service that has left the United States stronger and safer. Adm. William J. Fallon kisses his daughter Christi at the end of his retirement ceremony onboard USS Theodore Roosevelt at Norfolk Naval Station, Va., April 18, 2008. Fallon ended a 41-year naval career that started as an aviator during the Vietnam War and concluded with him overseeing a two-front war as...

WASHINGTON — One of the Army's most Iraq-savvy generals is taking charge, at least temporarily, of arguably the most important command in the U.S. military, with responsibility for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. In a ceremony Friday at MacDill Air Force Base, Fla., Lt. Gen. Martin Dempsey is to assume command of U.S. Central Command from Navy Adm. William J. Fallon, who announced unexpectedly on March 11 that he was quitting. Fallon cited press reports that he was at odds with President Bush over Iran policy. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who has denied that Fallon was out of step...

WASHINGTON, March 20, 2008 – The increased cooperation between coalition forces and Iraqis at the local level as well as economic progress in Iraq are leading reasons for increasing stability in an unstable region, said Navy Adm. William J. "Fox" Fallon, the retiring CENTCOM commander. Fallon said the command’s efforts, which include operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, aim to provide stability and security, restore hope in the region and allow future generations the chance to live peaceably. “There are a lot of challenges, but we’re succeeding, and we’re going to succeed because we have (the) best people in the world...

A salute is due Adm. William Fallon, who tried to prevent a wider war with Iran. After serving one year as commander of U.S. Central Command, Fallon has resigned, saying he was quitting because his differences with official U.S. policy had become a “distraction.” But there is a widespread perception that he was pushed out by the neo-conservatives among President George W. Bush’s aides, especially Vice President Dick Cheney, because of Fallon’s reluctance to go along with the administration’s hawkish moves toward Iran. Cheney, who took five consecutive draft deferments to stay out of the Vietnam war, does not mind...

Anti-Bush Richard Immerman, the assistant deputy director of national intelligence for analytical integrity, has written a journal article harshly critical of President Bush and his administration for what he charges is their role in the "politicization" of intelligence. The article echoes liberal academic criticism of the president and his advisers, but with one significant difference: Mr. Immerman is now the top U.S. intelligence official in charge of checking politicization within 16 U.S. intelligence agencies. The appointment of Mr. Immerman as the analysis' "ombudsman" is raising questions among intelligence analysts about whether the office of Director of National Intelligence Michael McConnell...

The abrupt resignation of Adm. William Fallon as the head of Central Command almost got lost amid the breaking news of Barack Obama's victory in the Mississippi primary and Eliot Spitzer's resignation as governor of New York. But it's a much more consequential development -- in the foreign and military policy of the Bush administration in its final year in office and in the relations between civilian commanders and military officers in the long run of American history. Though everyone involved denies it, Fallon was kicked out for insubordination, or something very close to it. His conduct became impossible to...

AIKEN, S.C. -- The salacious details of New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer's hypocritical, extramarital love life have captivated the media all week. Had the Empire State's chief executive picked a different day to get caught with his pants down and quit his job, some other prominent resignations might have received more coverage. Apparently, there just aren't enough journalists to stake out the Spitzer's Manhattan apartment, track down his hookers and cover these other premature exits. Tales of the tainted governor took up so much ink and airtime that the potentates of the press didn't even notice the sex scandal that...

Current and former military officials welcomed the resignation of Navy Adm. William J. Fallon, the top U.S. military commander in the Middle East, saying he failed to prevent foreign fighters and munitions from entering Iraq. They said "there was no misperception" regarding Adm. Fallon's "non-warrior" approach to handling foreign involvement in the region. "The fact is that [Central Command] had the external responsibility to protect our troops in Iraq from the outside and under Fallon they failed to do it," said retired Maj. Gen. Paul Vallely, a military analyst. "We have done nothing to protect our soldiers from external threats...

The timing of US Vice President Dick Cheney's visit here next week, coming right after Tuesday's resignation by Adm. William J. Fallon as America's chief military commander in the Middle East, may simply be coincidence. US Adm. William Fallon, center, walks through a market area in Mosul, 360 kilometers (225 miles) northwest of Baghdad, Iraq, with Iraqi Maj. -Gen. Wathiq al-Hamadani, left, Saturday. Photo: AP But don't bet on it - or at least this is how it will be seen. Since being appointed as head of the Central Command last year, Fallon has emerged as the major dissenting voice...

Here's a radical thought: The abrupt resignation yesterday of the Combatant Commander of U.S. Central Command, Admiral William J. "Fox" Fallon, is not the end of a career but a move calculated to catapult the former naval aviator into the Vice Presidential sweepstakes. After all, a military man who has proven himself utterly unserious about the Iranian threat would be perfect running mate for either Senators Obama or Clinton. The superficial appeal of such a cynical gambit may prove short-lived, however. The more one knows about Admiral Fallon's conduct as a senior officer in sensitive positions around the world, the...

The Pentagon and the White House sought Wednesday to counter speculation that the abrupt departure of the top commander in the Middle East, who publicly opposed going to war with Iran, signals a shift in Bush administration policy toward Tehran. On camera and behind the scenes, the message was the same: The United States is not poised to invade Iran, and the administration is not closer to a confrontation now that Adm. William Fallon, chief of U.S. Central Command, will be out of its way. "U.S. policy toward Iran remains unchanged," said Gordon Johndroe, a spokesman for the National Security...

To see why Tuesday's "retirement" of Navy Adm. William "Fox" Fallon as head of U.S. Central Command is good news, all you have to do is look at the Esquire profile that brought about his downfall. Its author, Thomas P.M. Barnett, a former professor at the Naval War College, presents a fawning portrait of the admiral -- a service he previously performed for Donald Rumsfeld. But evidence of Fallon's supposed "strategic brilliance" is notably lacking. For example, Barnett notes Fallon's attempt to banish the phrase "the Long War" (created by his predecessor) because it "signaled a long haul that Fallon...

REVIEW & OUTLOOK The Pentagon vs. Petraeus March 12, 2008; Page A20 Yesterday's resignation of Admiral William Fallon as Centcom Commander is being portrayed as a dispute over Iran. Our own sense is that the admiral has made more than enough dissenting statements about Iraq, Iran and other things to warrant his dismissal as much as early retirement. But his departure will be especially good news if it means that President Bush is beginning to pay attention to the internal Pentagon dispute over Iraq. A fateful debate is now taking place at the Pentagon that will determine the pace of...

As the White House talked up conflict with Iran, the head of U.S. Central Command, William "Fox" Fallon, talked it down. Now he has resigned. If, in the dying light of the Bush administration, we go to war with Iran, it'll all come down to one man. If we do not go to war with Iran, it'll come down to the same man. He is that rarest of creatures in the Bush universe: the good cop on Iran, and a man of strategic brilliance. His name is William Fallon, although all of his friends call him "Fox," which was his...

Is the United States moving toward military action with Iran? The resignation of the top U.S. military commander for the Middle East is setting off alarms that the Bush administration is intent on using military force to stop Iran's moves toward gaining nuclear weapons. In announcing his sudden resignation today following a report on his views in Esquire, Adm. William Fallon didn't directly deny that he differs with President Bush over at least some aspects of the president's policy on Iran. For his part, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said it is "ridiculous" to think that the departure of Fallon --...

Rumor is Admiral William Fallon will retire suddenly No link yet

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Adm. William Fallon, head of the U.S. military command in charge of Iraq and Afghanistan, stepped down on Tuesday in the wake of a magazine article that portrayed him as challenging President George W. Bush on Iran policy, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said. ADVERTISEMENT "The current embarrassing situation and public perception of differences between my views and administration policy and the distraction this causes from the mission make this the right thing to do," Gates quoted Fallon as saying in a letter of resignation.

dm. William Fallon, the top U.S. military commander for the Middle East, is resigning, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Tuesday. Gates said Fallon had asked him Tuesday morning for permission to retire and Gates agreed. Gates said the decision was entirely Fallon's and that Gates believed it was "the right thing to do." Fallon was the subject of an article published last week in Esquire magazine that portrayed him as opposed to President Bush's Iran policy. It described Fallon as a lone voice against taking military action to stop the Iranian nuclear program.

The top U.S. commander in the Middle East is the subject of a glowing magazine article describing him as the only person who might stop the Bush administration from going to war against Iran. Esquire magazine's forthcoming profile of Adm. William "Fox" Fallon portrays the chief of the U.S. Central Command as "brazenly challenging" President Bush on Iran, pushing back "against what he saw as an ill-advised action." Written by Thomas P.M. Barnett, a former professor at the Naval War College, the article in the magazine's April issue predicts that if Fallon leaves his position at Central Command, "it may...

BAGHDAD - The commander of U.S. military forces in the Middle East does not believe current tensions with Iran will lead to war and urges for greater emphasis on dialogue and diplomacy. "This constant drum beat of conflict is what strikes me which is not helpful and not useful," Adm. William Fallon said in an interview with Al-Jazeera television, which made a partial transcript available Sunday

By BRIAN MURPHY, Associated Press Writer Sep 18, 2007 MANAMA, Bahrain - The top U.S. military commander for the Middle East is pressing Arab allies to form a more united front against Iran, seen by Washington as the region's long-term threat. At military compounds and royal reception halls across the Persian Gulf, Adm. William Fallon is delivering personal appeals to Arab leaders to counter Iran's ambitions to expand its regional influence and move ahead with its nuclear program. Fallon has carefully avoided publicly discussing any war contingency plans or making any direct threats against Iran, which sits in his sphere...

"Senate Armed Services Committee member Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., right, talks with Adm. William Fallon on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Jan.. 30, 2007 prior to the committees hearing on Fallon's nomination to head the U.S. Central Command. Fallon's daughters, Susan, second from left, and Christina look on."

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - A U.S. defense chief called for closer military ties with China and for the two powers to shed "Cold War" thinking on Tuesday as he highlighted a recent naval encounter that could have gone wrong. The chief of U.S. forces in the Pacific, Admiral William J. Fallon, was asked to confirm a U.S. newspaper report of an uncomfortably close encounter between U.S. warships and a Chinese submarine in the Pacific last month. Confirming the gist of the Washington Times report, Fallon said the submarine had been detected at close quarters by an aircraft carrier and its...

Obituaries in the News The Associated Press Published: May 2, 2004 Allen Cohen WALNUT CREEK, Calif. (AP) - Counterculture pioneer Allen Cohen, who helped put Haight-Ashbury on the map as founder of the San Francisco Oracle during the 1960s, died of liver cancer, according to a friend, Lee Houskeeper. He was 64. In 1967, the Oracle announced the "Gathering of the Tribes" in Golden Gate Park, an event publicized as the first "be-in" that would feature Beat generation regulars like Allen Ginsberg and Gary Snyder. Later the same year, Cohen urged young people to come to San Francisco for became...