"I was awfully impressed that a man that's in his 60s, as I am, would have the wisdom and the youthful spirit to take up surfing," said surfer Fred Hemmings, who also is a state senator.
The 62-year-old Navy officer's willingness to try new things was one quality Defense Secretary Robert Gates cited Friday in giving Fallon one of the world's toughest jobs: commanding U.S. troops in the Middle East as they battle insurgencies in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"Fox Fallon is one of the best strategic thinkers in uniform today and his reputation for innovation is without peer," Gates said in a news release, using the naval aviator's call sign.President Bush called Fallon one of the nation's "foremost military strategists."
As U.S. commander in the Pacific, Fallon also has been an active diplomat, frequently traveling around the region to meet with military counterparts as well as heads of state.
He's spearheaded a major push to revive exchanges with China's military that had been all but severed after a U.S. spy plane collided with a Chinese fighter plane in 2001. Fallon pushed ahead with the program despite criticism from some in the Pentagon, saying Chinese and U.S. officers need to understand each another better to avoid potentially disastrous miscalculations.
Fallon has not spoken on how he would fight insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan, but in an interview with The Associated Press in June, he said in reference to the Philippines that terrorists need to be defeated from a variety of angles.
"You can only make so much progress in pure military means to solve this problem. There are underlying issues that have to be addressed — economic issues, social issues — with the populations," Fallon said.
"You've got to work both sides of the problem. You've got to work the military side, to keep pressure on the bad guys. At the same time, we're trying to work the humanitarian, economic side."
In the Philippines, Special Forces troops under Fallon's command have been training and equipping local soldiers as they battle insurgents and al-Qaida-linked terrorists.
The troops, joined by aid workers, have also been building schools, repairing roads and providing medical care to residents in an effort to isolate the terrorists.
Retired Adm. Walter Doran, who has known Fallon since they were both Navy ROTC cadets at Villanova University in the 1960s, said Fallon's two years heading the Pacific Command should eliminate worries about a Navy man's ability to lead a ground war.
"Putting him in a position of joint leadership will not be a new experience for Bill Fallon," said Doran, now an executive at defense contractor Raytheon Co. "He's doing that right now."
Fallon has extensive experience in senior leadership roles, from his Pentagon stint as deputy to the Navy's top officer to his leadership at the Fleet Forces Command in Norfolk, Va. Fallon also flew combat missions during the Vietnam War, commanded a carrier air wing in the Persian Gulf War of 1991, and led the naval battle group supporting NATO operations in Bosnia.
The Senate is expected to approve Fallon's appointment.
Hemmings, the surfer, said Fallon's keen sensitivity to those around him sets him apart.
"In the course of our friendship, I could sense that he genuinely was sensitive to me as a person, to who I am, my roots and background," Hemmings said. "It's a tremendous asset in any human being, much less a military leader."