A man of single-minded focus and fealty

the oldest of four children of a southerner from north carolina, shelton grew up working on tobacco fields. unlike most of his fellow generals, he is not a product of west point. he actually graduated from north carolina state university with a bachelor of science degree in textile engineering and earned a masters in political science from auburn university.shelton joined the us army in 1963 and served in vietnam where he earned a purple heart for his involvement in high-risk reconnaissance missions. he then worked his way up the ranks and enjoyed two of the us army's most coverted commands: the 82nd airborne division and the entire 18th airborne corps. as head of the special operations command before he came to washington, shelton oversaw the army's green berets, the navy's seals, and other elite special forces that do the real down and dirty work to maintain us supremacy around the world. he had earlier taken part in operations in iraq during the gulf war as an assitant commander of the army's 101st airborne division which led a helicopter assault pursuing iraqi guard divisions all the way to the euphrates river. his first high-profile mission came in 1994 when he was put in charge of 20,000 american troops deployed to restore haiti's deposed president jean-bertrand aristide, to power. on the eve of the mission, haiti's military government backed off and made way, but not before shelton had stared them in the eye and given an unmistakable message. shelton is the first special forces man ever to chair the joint chiefs of staff. it's a background that many say accounts for his single-minded focus and fealty. he has been married to carolyn, a childhood sweetheart he met when she was 13. the story goes that while serving in vietnam as a green beret, he was once welcomed by a village chief who slaughtered a water buffalo, invited him to feast on an elixir of buffalo blood and rice wine, and offered him his daughter in marriage. through an interpreter, captain shelton told her "i am married, and i am christian. but if i could have a second wife, i would choose you." the story, apocryphal perhaps, surfaced when shelton was chosen to replace gen joseph ralston, the man who was supposed to become joint chief of staff ahead of him. ralston was passed over after it was discovered he had had an adulterous affair. carolyn shelton and the general, who have been married 35 years, have three sons: jon, a special agent for the us secret service, and jeff and mark, who are in the us army special operations.