Bill served under President Clinton as the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the second-ranking military officer in the United States, responsible for reorganizing and restructuring the US military in a post-Cold War era. He also served as Commander of the U.S. Sixth Fleet during Operation Desert Storm, and as Commander of Submarine Group Six, the Navy’s largest submarine group.
Following retirement from the military, Bill held senior roles in the aerospace, technology and telecommunications industries, having served as the Chairman of CenturyLink, the third largest telecom in the US, and as Chairman of AEA Investors ASIA, and CEO/Chairman of Teledesic LLC, a Bill Gates/Craig McCaw company, bringing worldwide broadband through an extensive satellite network. He also served as Vice Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Nortel Networks Corporation.