Saudi Prince Khaled Bin Sultan

Prince Khaled Bin Sultan bin Abd al-Aziz began his military career during his teens in the 1960s. By age 41, he was to find himself working side-by-side with Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf to protect Kuwaiti sovereignty during the Gulf Crisis.

Born into the Royal Saudi family of al Saud, Prince Khaled is the grandson of his nation's founder, King Abd al-Aziz, and the son of Defense Minister Prince Sultan bin Abd al- Aziz.

As a youth, he left home to attend Great Britain's world- famous military academy at Sandhurst and continued his training with regular stints at U.S. armed forces sites. Then in 1979 Prince Khaled embarked on what is to date his only civilian degree, a Master of Political science at AUM.

In his autobiography, Desert Warrior, the general describes his time in Montgomery -- where he also earned Air War Certification at Maxwell Air Force Base -- as the most demanding of his academic life.

He adds: "The course at Maxwell lasted 10 months and focused on global strategic issues as well as on problems of management and economics which, as it turned out, was what I most needed during the Gulf crisis . . . Had I had some inkling of the challenges to come, I would have worked still harder."

--> By age 40, the prince had developed his reputation as a strategic air defense expert and diplomat. His career had already taken him on a number of secret missions, including the successful purchase of medium-range surface-to- surface missiles from China.

Then in 1991 he was named Commander of the Joint Forces and Theater of Operations working to quash Saddam Hussein's bid to take over Kuwait.

Prince Khaled's role required him to act as both a military and cultural intermediary between his own government and Western forces -- using his experience of British and American customs to ensure that differences in religion, philosophy and protocol did not prevent the Joint Forces from acting as a team.

Following a successful campaign, Prince Khaled chose to retire from the military and pursue other interests, including his 478-page book, which spans the modern history of The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

In 1995 he was presented with AUM's second annual Distinguished Alumnus Award.