Lt. Gen. Bryan D. Brown of the Army, deputy at the command, was Mr. Rumsfeld's choice for promotion to commander, and Rear Adm. Eric T. Olson, who has commanded Naval Special Warfare teams, the Seals, was his selection for deputy.
The command was read at 10 consecutive roll calls.
In June the command was transferred from Murray to Sir Edmund Allenby.
Seconds later, fans some started to rise from their seats to leave, the command was withdrawn.
The command was superfluous; everyone was watching, even the kitchen staff, peeking around the saloon doors during down moments.
He said when it dawned on them what had happened the command was given to "check fire".
He said the command was focusing on smaller but highly capable deployments and training partnerships with regional militaries.
But the command was without force, without meaning; it might as well have been shouted in an unknown tongue.
"The same lack of discipline which was noticed while the command was in camp here has characterized the conduct of the men since," a Rochester newspaper charged.
The command was involved in dropping millions of fliers and broadcasting scores of radio programs into Afghanistan encouraging Taliban and Al Qaeda soldiers to surrender.
When the net was finally closing in 2008, Williams ordered the server be destroyed – but the command was never carried out.
