Yesterday's shooting rampage put Manchester native Robert W. Cone in the national spotlight.

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

As Cone stood before journalists at a news conference less than four hours after the attack, the general's composure and leadership came through for Bob and Ginny Chabot of Manchester.

"He is the one to lead the Army in crisis," Bob Chabot said.

CONE

Chabot was the one to pin the first of Cone's three stars on his lapel at a ceremony at the Merrimack Restaurant in Manchester.

Cone said the Manchester Memorial football coach, who retired in 1988, pointed him toward his career in the military.

"Let me tell you, I said to him and all of my football players, I used the West Point code: You will not lie, cheat or steal or tolerate anyone who does," Chabot said.

Cone was a tackle "with exceptional leadership quality. I said to him, 'Bobby, I am going to send you to West Point.' And he said, 'Can you do that?'"

In an interview with the New Hampshire Union Leader last month, Cone reflected on his Army service.

"I love what I do. It's an awesome privilege to lead America's sons and daughters in combat. I can't say enough about them. I am in absolute awe," he said.

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

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

Cone has served in Operation Desert Storm, Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom.