U.S. general's top concern - those he commands

CAMP AS SAYLIYAH, Qatar -- When Gen. Tommy Franks heard a newly assigned Navy petty officer was a bit nervous about sitting next to him at breakfast, he took matters into his own hands.

He gave her a playful hug when he walked up and pulled out her chair as she sat down.

Franks, the four-star general who would run the war against Iraq if the White House orders military action, knows what it's like to be uneasy in the presence of high rank: He entered the Army in 1967 as a private.

With that background, Franks says he likes to frame every decision, evaluate every piece of equipment and judge the success of every operation in terms of the individual soldier, sailor, Marine or airman.

"I remember when I was a private soldier. I remember how I felt, I remember where I went. I remember days when I was well taken care of and days when I was not well taken care of," Franks said in an exclusive interview with The Associated Press. He agreed to meet AP only if some of his troops were included.

Franks, 57, and the men and women who make up the battle planners for the U.S. Central Command have been the focus of attention since they deployed to Qatar this month for a command exercise widely seen as a rehearsal for a war against Iraq.

Portable HQ

Franks said the exercise is important not just because of Iraq, but because it allows his troops to practice using the $58 million portable headquarters set up on the edge of the Qatari desert.

The equipment at Camp As Sayliyah, a 260-acre compound of air-conditioned warehouses outside Doha, allows Franks to have parallel, simultaneous teleconferences with several points at once. Between 100 and 200 teleconferences are conducted from the base each day, using some technologies that are only a few months old.

The command center is designed to operate under extreme conditions, but it has been set up here inside the warehouses. White tents and tan modular structures fill the buildings, which are guarded by military police. Inside, soldiers sit in rows behind laptop computers looking at high-definition television screens displaying maps and other data.

Army Staff Sgt. Reneah Hardeman of Covington, Ga., who has worked with Franks for 2 1/2 years, talked about the general before Franks arrived for breakfast, saying his leadership style helps morale.

"He is a very nice people person and, when he is in town, he comes around every now and then to check on service members," she said.

Such sensitivity to the welfare of his troops reflects Franks' career, most of which was spent in combat units. After graduating from Officers' Candidate School, he was commissioned in the field artillery and served in Vietnam, where he was awarded three Purple Hearts for wounds suffered in combat.

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On the Net

U.S. Central Command: www.centcom.mil