OBAMA NOMINATIONS: JAMES JONES, national security adviser

Marine Gen. James Jones, Barack Obama's designated national security adviser, has a four-star résumé and bipartisan admiration. A decorated veteran of the Vietnam War, the general also mastered the subtle art of coalition diplomacy during wartime. He served in the military's most diplomatic of war-fighting assignments: commander of all NATO military forces, which required finding consensus for military action among squabbling member governments when the alliance took over significant portions of the war in Afghanistan.
    Before President-elect Barack Obama traveled to Afghanistan during the campaign, Jones briefed him on the American and the Atlantic alliance security and assistance mission there. He also has briefed Obama on energy policy issues.
    In his own words: "Make no mistake, NATO is not winning in Afghanistan." - The startling assessment of a study this year led by General Jones for the Atlantic Council of the United States, a nongovernmental organization. He also has said that the war in Iraq caused the United States to "take its eye off the ball" in Afghanistan, and has warned that the consequences of failure are just as serious in Afghanistan as they are in Iraq. "Symbolically, it's more the epicenter of terrorism than Iraq. If we don't succeed in Afghanistan, you're sending a very clear message to the terrorist organizations that the U.S., the U.N. and the 37 countries with troops on the ground can be defeated."
    Jones used to work as commandant of the Marine Corps, among other commands during a lifetime of military service. He currently is president and chief executive of the United States Chamber of Commerce Institute for 21st Century Energy, which seeks to find ways to assure that the nation's energy supply is "adequate, affordable and secure while protecting the environment," according to the organization's mission statement.
    Jones has a reputation of maintaining a classical independence of a military officer. He did not serve in the political trenches for the Obama campaign.
    Jones, 6-foot-4, is otherwise known for playing basketball for Georgetown. And, working against the "jarhead" stereotype of the Marine Corps, he is fluent in French.
    Jones was born in Kansas City, Mo., on Dec. 19, 1943. He wears the Defense Distinguished Service Medal with two oak leaf clusters; the Silver Star Medal; the Legion of Merit with four gold stars; the Bronze Star Medal with Combat "V"; and the Combat Action Ribbon. He received a bachelor of science degree in 1966 from Georgetown, which later awarded him an honorary doctorate of letters, in 2002. Jones graduated from the National War College in Washington in 1985. He is married to the former Diane Johnson of Bethesda, Md. They have four children and seven grandchildren.