William Joseph Fallon (born December 30, 1944) is a retired United States Navy four-star admiral who retired after serving for over 41 years. His last military assignment was as Commander, U.S. Central Command from March 2007 to March 2008. ADM Fallon was the first Navy officer to hold that position. His other four-star assignments include Commander, U.S. Pacific Command from February 2005 to March 2007, Commander, U.S. Fleet Forces Command from October 2003 to February 2005, and 31st Vice Chief of Naval Operations from October 2000 to August 2003. On March 11, 2008, he announced his resignation from CENTCOM and retirement from active duty, citing administrative complications caused in part by an article in Esquire Magazine, which described him as the only thing standing between the Bush Administration and war with Iran. Early life and education Fallon was born in East Orange, New Jersey and raised in Merchantville, New Jersey. He graduated from Camden Catholic High School in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. A 1967 graduate of Villanova University, he received his commission through the Navy ROTC Program and was designated a Naval Flight Officer upon completion of flight training in December 1967. Fallon is a graduate of the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island, and the National War College in Washington, D.C. He holds a Master of Arts Degree in International Studies from Old Dominion University. Fallon was awarded the Naval War College Distinguished Graduate Leadership Award in 2001 and granted an honorary Doctor of Military Science degree by his alma mater, Villanova University, on May 17, 2009. Military service After flight training at Naval Air Station (NAS) Pensacola in Florida and NAS Glynco in Georgia, Fallon was assigned to fly the RA-5C Vigilante at Naval Air Station Sanford in Florida and Naval Air Station Albany in Georgia, including a combat deployment to Vietnam. He moved to the A-6E Intruder in 1974 at NAS Oceana, Virginia. All told, he served in flying assignments for 24 years with Reconnaissance Attack Squadrons (RVAH), Attack Squadrons (VA) and Carrier air wings (CVW), deploying to the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Oceans and Mediterranean Sea, embarked in , , , and . He has logged more than 1,300 carrier arrested landings and over 4,800 flight hours in tactical jet aircraft. Fallon commanded Attack Squadron 65, embarked in USS Dwight D. Eisenhower; Medium Attack Wing One at NAS Oceana; and Carrier Air Wing Eight aboard