Military
Peter Schoomaker
born 1946 · U.S. Army general
Detroit-born special operations officer who was recalled from retirement to serve as the 35th Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army (2003–2007).
- Born
Detroit, Michigan
age 80- Birth name
- Peter Jan Schoomaker
- Also known as
- Peter J. Schoomaker
- Detroit years
- 1946
- Field
- Military
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Peter Schoomaker was born in Detroit in February 1946 into an Army family and moved with his father's postings, finishing high school in East Lansing; his Detroit connection is his birth. He played football at the University of Wyoming, where he was commissioned through ROTC, and began his career as an armor officer. He went on to spend much of three decades in special operations: he took part in the failed 1980 Iran hostage rescue mission, commanded the Army's Delta Force, and rose to lead the U.S. Army Special Operations Command and then U.S. Special Operations Command before retiring in 2000. In 2003 Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld called him back from retirement to become Army chief of staff, an unusual step, and he served a full four-year term during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, overseeing the Army's reorganization into modular brigade combat teams. He was the first Special Forces-trained officer to lead the Army. His brother Eric became Army surgeon general.
Highlights
- 35th Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army, 2003–2007
- Commander of U.S. Special Operations Command, 1997–2000
- Former commander of the Army's Delta Force
- First Special Forces-trained Army chief of staff