[Airbornelawyer]

There are, as noted, about 35 four star jobs at any one time, but only about six of them are typically second assignments: Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; SACEUR; Army Chief of Staff; Air Force Chief of Staff; and Chief of Naval Operations.

Most unified combatant commands - the major multi-service commands like CENTCOM, TRANSCOM and SOCOM - are typically the first command for a 4-star, and often the last command as well. There are also a number of major commands within services that are 4-star billets, like the Army's TRADOC and FORSCOM, the Air Force's Air Combat Command, U.S. Air Force Europe (USAFE) and Pacific Air Forces (PACAF), and the Navy's Pacific Fleet. These too are typically the first and last command for a general or admiral, the pinnacle of his career.

CJCS is often a third assignment for a 4-star. The current CJCS, GEN Myers, was Vice Chairman and CINC USSPACECOM. The current Vice Chairman, GEN Pace, will have had three when he becomes CJCS. Before Myers, Generals Shelton, Shalikashvili and Powell were on their second assignment; before Powell, Admiral Crowe, Generals Vessey, Jones and Brown and Admiral Moorer were on their third.

Army chiefs typically are on their second command, and typically come out from an Army command rather than a joint one, although the current Army Chief of Staff, GEN Schoomaker, was previously CINCUSSOCOM. Shinseki was Vice Chief of Staff of the Army under Reimer. Reimer was CG, FORSCOM. Sullivan was Vice Chief before becoming Chief. Vuono was CG, TRADOC. Wickham was Vice Chief and before that CINC, UNC/Cdr, USFK/CG 8th US Army.

Air Force Chief of Staff is also a second job. John Jumper, the current chief, was previously Commander, Air Combat Command. Before him, Michael Ryan was Commander, USAFE/AFCENT; Ronald Fogleman was CINCUSTRANSCOM; Merrill McPeak was CINC, PACAF; Michael Dugan was Commander, USAFE/AFCENT. Three earlier chiefs - Twining, Brown and Jones - not only had prior 4-star commands but subsequent ones, becoming CJCS.

CNO is typically a second command for an Admiral, but not always (I'm not sure about current CNO Admiral Clark, but Admirals Kelso, Boorda and Johnson all had prior 4-star commands before becoming CNO).

Commandant of the Marine Corps is normally a first command for a 4-star.

SACEUR is routinely a second command. The current SACEUR, Gen. Jones, was previously Commandant of the Marine Corps. His predecessor, Gen. Ralston, had two prior billets - Commander, Air Combat Command and Vice Chairman, JCS. Ralston's two immediate predecessors, Clark and Joulwan, were previously CINCSOUTH. Joulwan's predecessor, GEN Shalikashvili, got SACEUR as his first 4-star command, but then became CJCS. Shali's predecessor was Galvin, another CINCSOUTH.

Before Galvin was Bernard Rogers, who had been CG, FORSCOM and Army Chief of Staff. He served two tours as SACEUR and was a 4-star for 13 years. Rogers took over from Al Haig, who had come out of retirement to be SACEUR and was previously Vice Chief of Staff of the Army (and White House Chief of Staff on retiring).