AUGUSTA (AP) – One of the last duties of Maj. Gen. Joseph E. Tinkham II was to address 30 other soldiers who were leaving the snow-covered hills of Gardiner for the unfamiliar sands of Iraq.

The outgoing commander of the Maine National Guard was brief and direct – be careful, watch out for each other and do the job well. He was confident they would, many of them having trained for years together for their mission of constructing roads, airfields and buildings.

Tinkham, who retires later this week, saw his job change dramatically after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Tinkham, who also is commissioner of the Maine Department of Defense, Veterans and Emergency Management, has become a high-profile state Cabinet member, coordinating the state’s homeland security efforts and readying the state’s National Guard troops for deployment overseas.

He accomplished the task, observers say, in a direct and decisive way, without pretense or ego. His stewardship, say colleagues and legislators, has earned him respect and avoided controversy.

“He’s sort of a soldier’s soldier,” said former Gov. Angus King, who appointed Tinkham commissioner in 2000.

King and Tinkham were together Sept. 11, 2001, after state government was moved into an underground bunker at Camp Keyes following attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon.

And they were together that night, when it was learned two of the terrorists had been in Portland.

“You get to know somebody pretty well when you’re in a crisis situation,” King said. “Joe is decisive, thoughtful and has a keen sense of duty . . . plus he’s just a good guy.”

Gov. John Baldacci has nominated Brig. Gen. John Libby to replace Tinkham in the hybrid role of adjutant general of the Maine National Guard and commissioner of the Department of Defense, Veterans and Emergency Management.

Libby is deputy commissioner and formerly directed the department’s Emergency Management Agency. His nomination was confirmed Friday by the Legislature’s Legal and Veterans Affairs Committee.

Standing in the midst of the Gardiner armory recently, Tinkham, 56, wears the same camouflage uniform as the guardsmen being mobilized, different only in that his black beret sports the two stars of a major general.

He differs too in his bearing, a large man comfortable in command, while still amiable and approachable.

“You just can’t distance yourself from the people. You know them so very well. We know every one of these soldiers and have for years,” he said.

Tinkham believes that while the guard is capable of performing the current mission in Iraq, the active military needs to be expanded so that guard units need not rotate through to carry out an ongoing military function.

“Now that we have even more worldwide commitments than we did during the Cold War, we need to right-size the military in recognition of that,” he said.

Tinkham says while he is eager to try something new after 35 years, he intends to maintain links with the military. He plans to advocate on behalf of older veterans who are entitled to help but may not be receiving it.

But he says he is ready for retirement this week once the Senate confirms the appointment,a 60-year-old from Lewiston whose career has paralleled Tinkham’s since the two served in the 1st Cavalry Division in Vietnam.

“Then I’m sitting home in my bunny slippers sipping coffee,” he said with a smile.

AP-ES-01-11-04 1717EST