The six-foot-five (1.99-metre) Odierno, who sports a shaved head, cuts an imposing figure and already has two tours of duty in Iraq under his belt.

A West Point graduate from New Jersey, he rose through the ranks of army artillery, served in the 1991 Gulf War over Kuwait and was deputy commander of an army task force in Albania during the NATO air war over Kosovo in 1999.

He also served as military assistant to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Peter Pace, and as a military adviser to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice between tours in Iraq.

General David Petraeus oversaw the surge, but it was his former deputy Odierno who first proposed it in December 2006 to a resistant Pentagon, setting the stage for what would become a pivotal turn in the unpopular war.

The takeover from Petraeus to Odierno comes as Washington faces the challenge of pulling out and handing over to Iraqi forces without leaving behind a security void.

Odierno carried out the detailed counter-insurgency campaign that poured US troops into Baghdad, cleared Al-Qaeda insurgents from havens in communities surrounding the capital, and targeted Shiite extremists.

By the time Odierno left Iraq 15 months later, levels of violence had begun their downward plunge.

"Just as important as the surge was the change in our tactics, techniques and procedures that got us back out in the neighbourhoods," Odierno told reporters at the end of his tour in March.

"Our mantra was protect the population, protect the citizens of Iraq," said the decorated general, who earned a fourth star with his new command.

His embrace of the new counter-insurgency strategy marked an apparent conversion for Odierno, who was sharply criticised for running roughshod over civilians during his first tour in Iraq as commander of the US 4th Infantry Division in 2003-2004 in the area around Tikrit.

Odierno's forces succeeded in capturing deposed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein in December 2003, but contrary to US expectations it had little impact on an already flourishing insurgency against the US occupation.

By some accounts, the strong arm tactics used by the general, including mass arrests and cordoning off villages, had by then deeply alienated the Sunni population and fanned the insurgency.

Odierno has said his critics fail to recognise how dangerous the region was at the time.

After having taken the reins from Petraeus in a military ceremony in Baghdad, Odierno is now being entrusted with the crucially important "end game" in Iraq at a time of political transition at home.

Odierno, whose appointment is being seen as a guarantee of continuity, has argued consistently against sharp cutbacks in US troop levels in Iraq, warning of the risk of reversals.

And he will have a supporter in Petraeus, who moves to head the US Central Command, which oversees US military operations throughout the region.

But the 146,000-strong US force in Iraq will shrink by about 8,000 troops by January, when Bush turns over the presidency to his successor, with attention shifting toward Afghanistan.

US Defence Secretary Robert Gates, who made a surprise visit to Baghdad Monday, said Odierno would head "a mission in transition."

"The challenge for General Odierno is, how do we work with the Iraqis to preserve the gains that have already been achieved, and expand upon them even as the number of US forces are shrinking."

earlier related report
Petraeus: 'most trusted' US general since Vietnam
General David Petraeus, who rises on Tuesday from US military chief in Iraq to commander of all American forces in the Middle East, has emerged as Washington's most successful and trusted general since Vietnam.

Regarded as "incredibly intelligent" by his admirers, but arrogant by detractors, the former parachutist commands widespread respect for both his military prowess and political savvy.

A keen athlete, Petraeus has twice escaped death, once when he was shot accidentally and then during a parachute jump which went wrong.

The architect of the troop surge strategy credited by the White House with improving security in violence-ravaged Iraq after the 2003 invasion, 55-year-old Petraeus has been promoted to run US Central Command.

US Defence Secretary Robert Gates on Monday credited Petraeus's "brilliant strategy" and its implementation by the US military for the success of the surge, as well as his partnership with US ambassador Ryan Crocker.

"I think he's played a historic role. There is just no two ways about it," he said.

Petraeus's promotion puts him in charge of the US military's biggest challenges -- Iraq, an expanding military effort in Afghanistan, an Al-Qaeda revival in Pakistan, and challenges from Iran on various fronts.

On top of his military victories, Petraeus has prided himself on new counter-insurgency guidelines that underscore the importance of winning citizens' hearts and minds in the war in Iraq.

US President George W. Bush pinned his hopes on Petraeus to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, after the US mission in Iraq teetered on the brink of collapse with the risk of civil war before the surge.

So when Petraeus called for keeping at least 140,000 troops in place indefinitely while he assessed the situation, Bush said his most trusted general would have "all the time he needs."

Petraeus's predecessor, Admiral William Fallon, abruptly resigned in March amid reports of differences with the White House over Iran.

Asked why he recommended Petraeus for the job, Gates said: "I recommended him to the president because I am absolutely confident he is the best man for the job."

The son of a Dutch sea captain, Petraeus has long been a star in the military. Competitive and ambitious, he has been nicknamed "King David" by some in the army.

The New York state native graduated from the US Military Academy at West Point in 1974, was the top of his 1983 class at the US Army Command and General Staff College, and went on to earn a PhD in international relations at Princeton University.

Petraeus commanded the 101st Airborne Division during the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and quickly pacified the northern region around Mosul. After he left, it became an insurgent stronghold that the US military is still trying to uproot.

He later headed up the troubled US effort to train Iraqi security forces, and then returned to the United States to oversee the writing of a new manual for counter-insurgency warfare.

It was from that position that Bush tapped Petraeus to lead the faltering campaign in Iraq from February 2007, almost four years after the invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.

The media chronicled his rise. He was profiled in books about the invasion, and declared one of the 25 most influential Americans by US News and World Report in 2005.

His televised appearances before a restive Congress in September 2007 and again earlier this year to report on his progress in Iraq had the aura of a Roman festival.

No US general since William Westmoreland during the Vietnam War has been so dominant.

Remaining cautious, Petraeus told AFP in an interview last week he was leaving behind a "significantly improved" Iraq but one still vulnerable to lethal attack by Al-Qaeda and Shiite extremists.

"A resurgence of Al-Qaeda, return of special groups (Shiite militias cells) in some form and potential political discord turning into violence on the ground" could erase these gains, Petraeus said.

Assessing his 19-month tenure, Petraeus credited the surge strategy of "living with the Iraqis," the anti-Qaeda Sunni fighters and the crackdown on Shiite militias for the dramatic fall in violence to four-year lows.

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