U.S. Marine Corps Commandant General James Jones chats with fellow Marines in this Oct. 25, 2001 file picture, while visiting the aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt. Jones will succeed General Joseph W. Ralston as the alliance's top military commander in Europe, NATO announced Friday, July 19, 2002. (AP Photo/David Longstreath)
NATO appointed U.S. Marine Corps Gen. James Jones as its top commander on July 19, 2002, a job whose focus has switched from Balkan peacekeeping to girding for post-Sept. 11 threats. The 19-nation defense alliance said in a statement that Jones would replace U.S. Air Force Gen. Joseph Ralston as Supreme Allied Commander, Europe at a date still to be set. Jones, who was born in Paris and speaks French, is now commandant of the Marine Corps and will become the first Marine to head alliance troops.