Schoomaker, who served as commander of the US Special Operations Command until his retirement in 2000, succeeds General Eric Shinseki, who clashed with US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld over the size of the US occupation force in Iraq.

In his confirmation hearing this week, Schoomaker said the army would probably need more than the 480,000 soldiers now on active duty because of the demands on the force.

He told senators that the force needed to be rebalanced.

"But I'm going to take a little risk here and I'm going to tell you that, intuitively, I think we need more people. I mean, it's just that simple," Schoomaker said.

Rumsfeld took the unusual step of bypassing active duty army generals in tapping Schoomaker to head up the army.

Schoomaker's deep experience in special operations fits well with Rumsfeld's aim to transform the army from a heavy Cold War bulwark into a leaner, more expeditionary force capable of rapid deployment to hot spots around the world.

"He is the right man to lead the United States Army as it continues its transformation into a fovrce tha will provide 21st century capability to the challenges we will face," Rumsfeld said at Schoomaker's swearing-in.

Over a 31 year military carreer, Schoomaker participated in the ill-fated Desert One mission in 1980 to rescue US hostages in Iran as well as US invasions of Grenada, Panama and the 1991 Gulf war, the Pentagon said.

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