Post 9/11
In 2001, Downing came out of retirement to coordinate the national campaign "to detect, disrupt and destroy global terrorist organizations and those who support them.". He held the title of National Director and Deputy National Security Advisor for combating terrorism. He reported to then-National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice and Homeland Security director Tom Ridge. From 2003 until his death he held the Distinguished Chair at the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point.
Downing was formerly a director of Metal Storm and a senior executive with Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC). He also performed various speaking engagements.
Besides working for the US government in his retiree years, he also worked for NBC News as a military analyst.
In 2006 he received the United States Military Academy's 2006 Distinguished Graduate Award.
Downing died on July 18, 2007, of meningitis and was buried in the West Point Cemetery, West Point, New York on September 27, 2007. His grave is just north of the main cemetery building.
On September 24, 2008, the Metropolitan Authority of Peoria voted unanimously to change the name of the Greater Peoria Regional Airport to the "General Wayne A. Downing Peoria International Airport".
Read more about this topic: Wayne A. Downing
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