November 6, 2009 Fort Hood base commander from NH

MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) - The base commander at Fort Hood, placed in the national spotlight to address a shooting rampage that left 13 people dead, is from Manchester, N.H.

Lt. Gen. Robert Cone, a 1975 Manchester Memorial High School graduate, is commander general for the Army's III Corps and Fort Hood.

Bob Chabot, the school's former football coach, told the New Hampshire Union Leader that Cone was a tackle with exceptional leadership skills.

In the coming weeks Cone was scheduled to lead about 1,000 soldiers from the base to Iraq.

Cone had said he and his wife, Jill, were planning to return to New Hampshire first to visit his 82-year-old father, Donald, in Manchester and his brother, Brad, in Salem, before the deployment.