ULAN BATOR, Mongolia — The commander of U.S. forces in Asia, Adm. William Fallon, had hardly settled into his chair when the chief of the Mongolian general staff, Lt. Gen. Ts. Togoo, began running down a list of requests for American assistance.

Togoo wanted to post a Mongolian liaison officer at Fallon's Pacific Command headquarters in Hawai'i and to get updated weapons and equipment for Mongolian troops in Iraq. He asked that more Mongolian officers attend U.S. war colleges and that senior sergeants be sent to a noncommissioned officer's academy in Hawai'i.

The Mongolian general, whose nation is celebrating the 800th anniversary of its founding by the warrior Genghis Khan, asked for help in expanding a training site for peacekeeping troops into a regional peacekeeping program. And he wanted U.S. financial and professional help in establishing a military hospital.

Then, a bit sheepishly, Togoo said: "Admiral, I apologize for laying out all these issues right after your arrival — but you are a busy person."

In response, Fallon was generally favorable without committing the U.S. "We want to do anything we can to help," he said, particularly in training peacekeeping troops. Pointing to plans by the United Nations to send peacekeepers to war-ravaged Lebanon, he said: "The need for highly trained, professional peacekeepers is growing."

The admiral was in this landlocked nation not only as the leader responsible for preparing 300,000 soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines for war but as the American proconsul with political and diplomatic duties in a region stretching from the U.S. west coast to the east coast of Africa, and from Mongolia in the north to Australia in the south.

In particular, Fallon came to inspect the training of peacekeeping troops from seven Asian and Pacific nations, including the U.S., in an exercise called Khan Quest 06. Peacekeeping differs from other military operations in that troops are taught to use measured force to restore and keep order — in contrast to the maximum violence, killing people and breaking things, intended to win battles.

At the Five Hills site in a vast green valley amid the low mountains west of the capital, Fallon watched a platoon of 40 Thai soldiers sweep through a mock village, arresting insurgents, breaking up demonstrations by prodding rather than shooting protesters, caring for a pregnant woman and tending to soldiers who simulated being wounded.

"This is high-quality, professional training," he said. "We will continue to support the training of peacekeepers," particularly in the regional training center envisioned by Gen. Togoo. Mongolia has decided on peacekeeping for its small army as it seeks a niche in the international arena.

On a broader scale, Fallon came to show U.S. interest in the smaller nations within his area of responsibility. Mongolia has only 2.3 million people in a country of wide open spaces. Fallon's command also includes small island nations, such as Fiji and Tonga, both of which had soldiers here for training.

Strategically, Mongolia is situated between two giants, Russia to the north and China to the south. It was dominated by the Soviet Union from 1921 until the breakup of the Soviet empire in the early 1990s. Before that, it was ruled by China during the reign of the Manchu dynasty.

To maintain its new independence, Mongolia has adopted a security policy based on what it calls the "Third Neighbor," which primarily is the United States, to ward off the Russians and Chinese. Last year, President Bush and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld each visited Mongolia briefly to support the concept.

They were the first in their respective offices to do so, and Fallon was the highest-ranking American military officer to come to Mongolia. All have applauded Mongolia's efforts to continue forging its fledgling democracy.

Mongolia is to replace its 150 soldiers in Iraq soon, but that has run into political opposition that demands they be withdrawn. Fallon encouraged Togoo to send fresh troops, saying: "I feel very strongly that if the decision is taken to commit soldiers, we will do everything possible to meet your desires on equipment for your soldiers."

Fallon phoned Baghdad to speak with Gen. George Casey, who leads U.S. troops in Iraq: "He said he would make available to your soldiers in Iraq the equipment they need."

In a separate meeting, the admiral told Minister of Defense Mishig Sonompil that he hoped Mongolia would send more troops to Iraq. "This is important," Fallon said, "to the coalition as well as to the U.S."

Richard Halloran is a Honolulu-based journalist and former New York Times correspondent in Asia. His column appears weekly in Sunday's Focus section.