The man who is expected to lead the NATO contingent of the Kosovo peacekeeping force is a former British Parachute Regiment officer sometimes known as "Macho Jacko". Lieut Gen Sir Michael Jackson has also been dubbed Britain's toughest-looking soldier - a tag he reportedly hates - and "the Prince of Darkness", a sobriquet derived from his permanent suntan.
Leading a NATO force into Kosovo and making it safe for the return of the refugees may prove to be the toughest test of his career. Since 1997, Sir Michael has been commander of NATO's ACE Rapid Reaction Corps.
Since the war began, he has also been the commander of the NATO forces in Macedonia, where he has been concentrating on arranging humanitarian aid for the refugees.
The questions of who would command the post-war implementation force, and whether the NATO and Russian forces would answer to the same commander, are still to be resolved but if, as flagged yesterday, Sir Michael does land the role, he will be able to draw on plenty of first-hand experience of peace-keeping in Bosnia-Herzegovina, where he commanded the UN implementation force between 1995 and 1996.
Like many British military officers, he was born into a service family and signed up for the army at the age of 19. In a reverse of the ambitious soldier's normal progression from the front line to the staff officer's desk, he began his army career learning Russian in the Intelligence Corps.
He graduated from Birmingham University in 1967 and finally transferred to the Paratroop Regiment in 1970, where he rose to command its 1st Battalion between 1984 and 1986. He has also spent two years at the Ministry of Defence and served in Northern Ireland and Berlin.
Married (twice), he has three children. He says his military hero is the Duke of Wellington and he lists (in Who's Who) his recreations as travel, music, skiing and tennis.