Wayne Allan Downing (May 10, 1940 – July 18, 2007) was a four-star

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

general born in Peoria, Illinois. He graduated from the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a fort, since it sits on strategic high groun ...

with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1962 and held a

Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accoun ...

degree from

Tulane University Tulane University, officially the Tulane University of Louisiana, is a private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by seven young medical doctors, it turned into a comprehensive pub ...

NBC Nightly News ''NBC Nightly News'' (titled as ''NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt'' for its weeknight broadcasts since June 22, 2015) is the flagship daily evening News broadcasting#Television, television news program for NBC News, the news division of the NB ...

, Western Edition, September 27, 2007 He also served on the board of directors at a

private military company A private military company (PMC) or private military and security company (PMSC) is a private company providing armed combat or security services for financial gain. PMCs refer to their personnel as "security contractors" or "private military ...

, Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC).

Military career

*Sep 62 – Feb 63 Student, Infantry Officer Basic and Ranger Course *Apr 63 – Jun 64 Platoon Leader,

173rd Airborne Brigade The 173rd Airborne Brigade ("Sky Soldiers") is an airborne infantry brigade combat team (IBCT) of the United States Army based in Vicenza, Italy. It is the United States European Command's conventional airborne strategic response force for Eu ...

(Separate) *Jun 64 – Sep 64 Liaison Officer, 173rd Airborne Brigade (Separate) *Dec 64 – Oct 65 Aide-de-Camp to the Commanding General, 173rd Airborne Brigade, Vietnam *Oct 65 – Apr 66 S-2/S-5 (Intel/Civil Affairs) Officer, 173rd Airborne Brigade, Vietnam *Apr 66 – Aug 67 Instructor,

Infantry School A School of Infantry provides training in weapons and infantry tactics to infantrymen of a nation's military forces. Schools of infantry include: Australia *Australian Army – School of Infantry, Lone Pine Barracks at Singleton, NSW. France ...

, Fort Benning, GA *Aug 67 – Jan 68 Company Commander, Infantry Training Center, Fort Benning, GA *Jan 68 – Sep 68 Student, Infantry Officer Advance Course, Infantry School, Fort Benning, GA *Sep 68 – Dec 68 Company Commander, 25th Infantry Division, Vietnam *Dec 68 – Sep 69 Battalion S-3 (Operations) Officer, 25th Infantry Division, Vietnam *Sep 69 – Oct 69 Brigade S-3 (Operations) Officer, 25th Infantry Division, Vietnam *Dec 69 – Jan 72 Graduate Student,

, New Orleans, LA *Feb 72 – Jun 72 Student,

Armed Forces Staff College The Joint Forces Staff College (JFSC), located in Norfolk, Virginia, was established as the Armed Forces Staff College in 1946 and incorporated into the National Defense University in August 1981. It educates and acculturates joint and multina ...

, Norfolk, VA *Jun 72 – Feb 75 Senior Operations / Systems Analyst, Office of the Secretary of Defense, Washington, D.C. *Mar 75 – Dec 76 Battalion S-3 Officer / Executive Officer, 75th Infantry (Ranger),

Fort Stewart Fort Stewart is a United States Army post in the U.S. state of Georgia. It lies primarily in Liberty and Bryan counties, but also extends into smaller portions of Evans, Long and Tattnall counties. The population was 11,205 at the 2000 census. ...

, GA *Dec 76 – Mar 77 Commander, Task Force (Alaska), 24th Infantry Division, Fort Stewart, GA *May 77 – Jul 79 Commander, 2nd Battalion (Ranger), 75th Infantry, Fort Lewis, WA *Aug 79 – May 80 Student,

Air War College The Air War College (AWC) is the senior Professional Military Education (PME) school of the U.S. Air Force. A part of the United States Air Force's Air University, AWC emphasizes the employment of air, space, and cyberspace in joint operation ...

, Maxwell Air Force Base, AL *Jun 80 – Apr 82 Secretary to Joint Staff, European Command, Vaihingen, Germany *May 82 – Apr 84 Commander, 3rd Brigade, 1st Armored Division, U.S. Army Europe, Germany *May 84 – Nov 85 Commander, 75th Infantry Regiment (Ranger) which was converted to 75th Ranger Regiment, Fort Benning, GA *Nov 85 – Jun 87 Deputy Commanding General, 1st Special Operations Command, Fort Bragg, NC *Jun 87 – May 88 Director, Washington Office,

United States Special Operations Command The United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM or SOCOM) is the unified combatant command charged with overseeing the various special operations component commands of the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, and Air Force of the United States Ar ...

, MacDill Air Force Base, FL *May 88 – Dec 89 Deputy Chief of Staff (Training), U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command,

Fort Monroe Fort Monroe, managed by partnership between the Fort Monroe Authority for the Commonwealth of Virginia, the National Park Service as the Fort Monroe National Monument, and the City of Hampton, is a former military installation in Hampton, Virgi ...

, VA *Dec 89 – Aug 91 Commanding General,

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 equi ...

, U.S. Special Operations Command, Fort Bragg, NC *Aug 91 – Apr 93 Commanding General,

U.S. Army Special Operations Command The United States Army Special Operations Command (Airborne) (USASOC ( )) is the command charged with overseeing the various special operations forces of the United States Army. Headquartered at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, it is the largest ...

, Fort Bragg, NC *May 93 – Feb 96 Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM),

MacDill Air Force Base MacDill Air Force Base (MacDill AFB) is an active United States Air Force installation located 4 miles (6.4 km) south-southwest of downtown Tampa, Florida. The "host wing" for MacDill AFB is the 6th Air Refueling Wing (6 ARW), assig ...

, FL

Post 9/11

In 2001, Downing came out of retirement to coordinate the national campaign "to detect, disrupt and destroy global terrorist organizations and those who support them." He held the title of National Director and

Deputy National Security Advisor The United States Deputy National Security Advisor is a member of the Executive Office of the President of the United States and the United States National Security Council, serving under the President's National Security Advisor. Among other res ...

for combating terrorism. He reported to then- National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice and

Homeland Security Homeland security is an American national security term for "the national effort to ensure a homeland that is safe, secure, and resilient against terrorism and other hazards where American interests, aspirations, and ways of life can thrive" t ...

director

Tom Ridge Thomas Joseph Ridge (born August 26, 1945) is an American politician and author who served as the Assistant to the President for Homeland Security from 2001 to 2003, and the first United States Secretary of Homeland Security from 2003 to 2005. ...

. From 2003 until his death he held the Distinguished Chair at the

Combating Terrorism Center The Combating Terrorism Center is an academic institution at the United States Military Academy (USMA) in West Point, New York that provides education, research and policy analysis in the specialty areas of terrorism, counterterrorism, homelan ...

West Point The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known Metonymy, metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a f ...

. Downing was formerly a director of

Metal Storm Metal Storm Limited was a research and development company based in Brisbane, Australia, that specialized in electronically initiated superposed load weapons technology and owned the proprietary rights to the electronic ballistics technology ...

and a senior executive with

Science Applications International Corporation Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), Inc. is an American technology company headquartered in Reston, Virginia that provides government services and information technology support. History The original SAIC was created in 19 ...

(SAIC). He also performed various speaking engagements. Besides working for the US government in his retiree years, he also worked for

NBC News NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, a division of NBCUniversal, which is, in turn, a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's var ...

as a military analyst. In 2006, he received the United States Military Academy's 2006 Distinguished Graduate Award. Downing died on July 18, 2007, of meningitis and was buried in the

West Point Cemetery West Point Cemetery is a historic cemetery in the eastern United States, on the grounds of the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York. It overlooks the Hudson River, and served as a burial ground for Revolutionary War soldiers and ear ...

West Point, New York West Point is the oldest continuously occupied military post in the United States. Located on the Hudson River in New York, West Point was identified by General George Washington as the most important strategic position in America during the Ame ...

on September 27, 2007. His grave is just north of the main cemetery building. On September 24, 2008, the Metropolitan Authority of Peoria voted unanimously to change the name of the Greater Peoria Regional Airport to the "

General Wayne A. Downing Peoria International Airport General Wayne A. Downing Peoria International Airport is a civil/military public airport five miles west of Peoria, in Peoria County, Illinois, United States. It is on the northwest edge of Bartonville, near Bellevue. It is owned by the Metr ...

Awards and decorations

Downing's awards and decorations include: Downing also earned the Vietnam Civil Actions Medal Unit Citation, French Parachutist Badge, 75th Ranger Regiment DUI and Secretary of Defense ID Badge. In 1971, he was reported to have also received the Distinguished Flying Cross with one oak leaf cluster for his service in Vietnam. Downing wore these decorations as a major general in 1988 but omitted them as a general.

Civilian career

Downing was on the Board of Directors of SAIC and Chairman of the Special Projects Committee of the Corporation.

References

External links

Commemoration for Wayne Downing by NBC News

An interview with General Wayne Downing on WTVP's "Interesting People" Recorded on March 31, 2006

Profile
at

SourceWatch The Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) is a progressive nonprofit watchdog and advocacy organization based in Madison, Wisconsin. CMD publishes ExposedbyCMD.org, SourceWatch.org, and ALECexposed.org. History CMD was founded in 1993 by prog ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Downing, Wayne 1940 births 2007 deaths Deaths from meningitis United States Military Academy alumni Tulane University alumni United States Army generals People from Peoria, Illinois United States Army personnel of the Vietnam War Joint Forces Staff College alumni Air War College alumni Recipients of the Distinguished Service Medal (US Army) Recipients of the Silver Star Recipients of the Legion of Merit Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United States) Recipients of the Gallantry Cross (Vietnam) Recipients of the Legion of Honour American broadcast news analysts Recipients of the Soldier's Medal Burials at West Point Cemetery Colonels of the 75th Ranger Regiment Recipients of the Air Medal Recipients of the Defense Superior Service Medal Recipients of the Defense Distinguished Service Medal Presidential Citizens Medal recipients Neurological disease deaths in Illinois Infectious disease deaths in Illinois Journalists from Illinois Military personnel from Illinois United States Deputy National Security Advisors United States Army personnel of the Gulf War 20th-century American journalists American male journalists