Peter Pace (born November 5, 1945) is a retired United States Marine Corps general who served as the 16th chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Pace was the first Marine officer appointed as chairman and the first Marine officer to be appointed to three different four-star assignments; the others were as the sixth vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from October 1, 2001, to August 12, 2005, and as Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Southern Command from September 8, 2000, to September 30, 2001.

Appointed chairman by President George W. Bush, Pace succeeded U.S. Air Force General Richard Myers on September 30, 2005.

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates announced on June 8, 2007, that he would advise the President to not renominate Pace for a second term.

Upon completion of school in June 1980, he was assigned duty as commanding officer, Marine Corps Recruiting Station, Buffalo, New York.

On April 22, 2005, at a White House press conference, President George W. Bush nominated Pace to be the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The comments sparked backlash from legislators such as Senator John Warner, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and Congressman Marty Meehan.

"[10][11] After White House officials asserted that Iran was supplying insurgents in Iraq with munitions, Pace questioned the validity of the claim in a February 2007 press conference.

Specifically, Pace questioned the existence of direct evidence linking the Iranian government to the supply of the weapons, explosively formed penetrators.

[12] On June 8, 2007, Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced that he would advise the President to not renominate Pace because of concerns about contentious confirmation hearings in Congress.

There, he left handwritten notes in memory of each of the Marines who died under his command while he was a platoon leader in Vietnam, with a set of his general's rank insignia attached to each one.

[23] Pace also currently serves on the Secretary of Defense's Policy Board,[24] and as chairman of the board for Wall Street Warfighters Foundation,[25] an organization founded by principals of Drexel Hamilton that provides training support and job placement services for disabled veterans interested in careers in the financial services industry.

Pace serves on the board of advisors of the Code of Support Foundation, a nonprofit military service organization.

[28] Founded in 1873, the US Naval Institute provides an independent forum for the Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard.