 As a 3-star vice admiral, he was the first NFO to command a numbered fleet, the U.S. 2nd Fleet.He later served in four separate 4-star assignments, to include command of two unified combatant commands.This included service as the 31st Vice Chief of Naval Operations from October 2000 to August 2003; the Commander, U.S. Fleet Forces Command and U.S. Atlantic Fleet from October 2003 to February 2005; Commander, U.S. Pacific Command (USPACOM) from February 2005 until March 2007; and Commander, U.S. Central Command (USCENTCOM) from March 2007 until his retirement in March 2008.