Retired U.S. Air Force General Richard B. Myers served as the 15th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the U.S. military's highest ranking officer, from 2001 to 2005. In this capacity, he served as the principal military advisor to the President, the Secretary of Defense, and the National Security Council. He previously served as Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, a role in which he served as the Chairman of the Joint Requirements Oversight Council, Vice Chairman of the Defense Acquisition Board, and member of the National Security Council Deputies Committee and the Nuclear Weapons Council. General Myers entered the Air Force in 1965 through the Reserve Officer Training Corps program. His career includes operational command and leadership positions in a variety of Air Force and Joint assignments. General Myers is a command pilot with more than 4,100 flying hours. As the Vice Chairman from March 2000 to September 2001, General Myers served as the Chairman of the Joint Requirements Oversight Council, Vice Chairman of the Defense Acquisition Board, and as a member of the National Security Council Deputies Committee and the Nuclear Weapons Council. In addition, he acted for the Chairman in all aspects of the planning, programming, and budgeting system including participation in the Defense Resources Board. From 1998 to 2000, General Myers was Commander in Chief of the North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Space Command; Commander, Air Force Space Command; and Department of Defense manager, space transportation system contingency support at Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado. As commander, General Myers was responsible for defending America through space and intercontinental ballistic missile operations. Prior to assuming that position, from 1997 to 1998, he was Commander of the Pacific Air Forces, Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii; from 1996 to 1997, he was Assistant to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; and from 1993 to 1996 was Commander of U.S. Forces Japan and 5th Air Force at Yokota Air Base, Japan. He is a graduate of Kansas State University and received a master's degree in business administration from Auburn University. The General has attended the Air Command and Staff College at Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama; the U.S. Army War College at Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania; and the Program for Senior Executives in National and International Security at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government.