Gen. David H. Petraeus to speak at Vanderbilt University

Petraeus to talk about his role as commander of U.S. Central Command and the surge in Iraq and Afghanistan

NASHVILLE, Tenn., Jan. 21 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Gen. David H. Petraeus, commander of U.S. Central Command, will engage in an open dialogue at Vanderbilt University about his actions as commander of the surge in Iraq and the role of U.S. forces overseas. The event will be one of the military leader's rare appearances at a university.

Petraeus will speak on Monday, March 1, at 5 p.m. at Vanderbilt's Student Life Center. The talk is open to the public and the media.

The event will be a conversation between Petraeus and Mike Newton, Vanderbilt professor of the practice of law. Newton, a West Point graduate, is an international legal adviser to the Iraqis and was one of the small team of international experts who taught them international criminal law and assisted with the trials.

During the event, Petraeus will answer pre-submitted questions from the audience. Anyone wishing to submit a question should go to www.vanderbilt.edu/petraeus by Monday, Feb. 15.

Tickets for the event are free and are required for entry. Tickets will be available at the Sarratt Student Center box office starting Monday, Feb. 1, at 10 a.m.

Petraeus was promoted to chief of the U.S. Central Command in October 2008 after several tours in Iraq, including the role of top commander in Iraq for more than 19 months.

Before serving as commander in Iraq, he led the U.S. Army Combined Arms Center and Fort Leavenworth. Before that assignment, he was the first commander of the Multi-National Security Transition Command in Iraq, from June 2004 to September 2005, and the NATO Training Mission for Iraq, which he commanded from October 2004 to September 2005.  That deployment to Iraq followed his command of the 101st Airborne Air Assault Division, during which he led the "Screaming Eagles" in combat throughout the first year of Operation Iraqi Freedom.  

Previous to his tours in Iraq, Petraeus was the assistant chief of staff for operations of the NATO Stabilization Force in Bosnia and the deputy commander of the U.S. Joint Interagency Counter-Terrorism Task Force in Bosnia.

SOURCE Vanderbilt University