Michael A. Canavan is a retired

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

and former

Federal Aviation Administration The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic m ...

security official. Canavan presently sits on the board of defense contractor USfalcon. Canavan commanded

Special Operations Command Europe U.S. Special Operations Command Europe (SOCEUR, pronounced “Sock-Yer”) is a subordinate unified command of United States Special Operations Command (SOCOM, pronounced So-Comm). Function Based at Patch Barracks near Stuttgart, Germany, SOCEUR ...

and the

Joint Special Operations Command The Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) is a joint component command of the United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) and is charged with studying special operations requirements and techniques to ensure interoperability and equip ...

, and retired after serving as the chief of staff for the

United States European Command The United States European Command (EUCOM) is one of the eleven unified combatant commands of the United States military, headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany. Its area of focus covers and 51 countries and territories, including Europe, Russi ...

. On the morning of September 11th, he was in Puerto Rico and had failed to designate a replacement. In the wake of the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercia ...

Canavan resigned his position as Associate Administrator for Civil Aviation Security at the FAA amid controversy over Air Marshal assignments to Bush Administration Cabinet members and confidence in his leadership. As a major general Canavan led the team in

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

that recovered and identified the bodies from the 1996 crash of an Air Force CT-43, which killed the

Commerce Secretary The United States secretary of commerce (SecCom) is the head of the United States Department of Commerce. The secretary serves as the principal advisor to the president of the United States on all matters relating to commerce. The secretary rep ...

Ronald H. Brown Ronald Harmon Brown (August 1, 1941 – April 3, 1996) was an American politician. He served as the United States Secretary of Commerce during the first term of President of the United States, President Bill Clinton. Prior to this he was chairm ...

Canavan is married to Ambassador Katherine Canavan.

References

External links

Testimony to the 9/11 Commission
{{DEFAULTSORT:Canavan, Michael Living people Members of the United States Army Special Forces United States Army generals Year of birth missing (living people)