U.S. Commander Served as Desert Storm Chief of Staff

The general who will command American and U.N. forces in Somalia is a square-jawed Marine whose face became a familiar sight to millions of television viewers during Operation Desert Storm.

Lt. Gen. Robert B. Johnston, 55, spent the Persian Gulf War as chief of staff to Desert Storm commander H. Norman Schwarzkopf and conducted most of the televised daily briefings that kept Americans up to date on the battle against Iraqi forces.

But Johnston’s TV appearances were only a small part of his job. He also was responsible for managing the 700 staffers who provided analysis for the Desert Storm commander, developed battle plans and coordinated logistic efforts. And he became famous among his troops in Saudi Arabia for an emotional speech he delivered in November, 1990, giving American military personnel their first hint that their “temporary” deployment was likely to end up in war.

“He was the first one to let us know in no uncertain terms that we were (going to be) there for a fight,” recalls Brig. Gen. Thomas V. Draude, who served in Desert Storm with Johnston. “It really kind of galvanized all of us in the First Marine Division.”

Schwarzkopf wrote of Johnston in a recent book: “He did the job as well as I’d ever seen it done. I’d heard other generals describe Johnston as a future commandant of the Marine Corps, and his performance . . . showed me why.”

Johnston now is commanding officer of the 50,000-troop 1st Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Pendleton, Calif., which was put on notice as one of the rapid-deployment combat units most likely to be sent to Somalia. Pentagon sources said he will be named today by President Bush as commander of the entire U.N. operation.

The general, who had been in the chief of staff’s post at U.S. Central Command only two months when Schwarzkopf told him to start moving personnel from Tampa, Fla., to Saudi Arabia, isn’t a typical career Marine. Born in Scotland, he moved to the United States in 1955 at age 18 and attended what was then San Diego State College, where he was graduated as an English major in 1961. He is married to the former Sandra Blodgett of San Diego; one of their sons is a Marine officer.

Colleagues say Johnston joined the Marines to fulfill a “commitment” to serve his new country. He initially intended to serve a three-year hitch but made the Corps his career.

A Vietnam War veteran, Johnston completed two tours in Southeast Asia, then served in the early 1980s with American forces in Beirut, Lebanon, where he supervised allied peacekeeping forces, and at Camp Lejeune, N.C.