Gen. Zinni retired from the U.S. Marine Corps in September 2000 after 39 years of service. During his military career, he served as the Commanding General of the First Marine Expeditionary Force from 1994 to 1996, and as Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. Central Command from 1997 to 2000. In November 2001, he was appointed senior adviser and U.S. envoy to the Middle East by Secretary of State Colin Powell. Gen. Zinni has served on the Advisory Board of Veritas Capital and the board of directors of DynCorp International, of which Veritas Capital is the majority shareholder, as well as boards of other private companies. He has resigned from DynCorp International's board of directors to assume the position of executive vice president.