Profile: Gen. David Petraeus

Born: Nov. 7, 1952.

1974: Graduates from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.

1983: Gen. George C. Marshall Award winner as the top graduate at the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College.

1987: Earns doctorate in International Relations from Princeton University.

1991: During a training exercise, Petraeus is shot in the chest. The bullet just misses his heart.

2000: Petraeus breaks his pelvis in a sky-diving accident.

2001to 2002: Petraeus serves 10 months in Bosnia, helping command the NATO mission.

2003 to 2004: Leads the 101st Airborne Division during U.S. invasion of Iraq. His division is later assigned to Mosul, where Petraeus develops counter-insurgency theories.

June 2004 to September 2005: Oversees the training of the Iraqi military.

October 2005 to January 2007: Serves as commanding general, Combined Arms Center at Ft. Leavenworth, overseeing production of the Army's Counterinsurgency Field Manual.

February 2007: Takes charge of the Multi-National Force -- Iraq, following nomination by President Bush and confirmation by the Senate, becoming the top U.S. commander in Iraq.

Source: Times research