By Gerry J. Gilmore
American Forces Press Service
Oct. 16, 2007 - Six U.S. military members recognized by a local patriotic organization for their overseas service in the war on terror also received Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates' personal thanks here yesterday evening. "You are the best, and we all owe you. And, in all sincerity, we're all humbled by you," Gates told the Grateful Nation Award recipients at the start of his remarks at the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs' annual award dinner.
"It's surreal," Grateful Nation Award honoree Army Reserve Staff Sgt. Jason T. Fetty said of his meeting with Gates. He said the experience was "an incredible honor."
Fetty received the Silver Star for actions in Afghanistan in February, when he stopped a suicide bomber from killing hundreds of innocent people at a hospital opening in Khost. The staff sergeant forcibly maneuvered the would-be killer away from the crowd when the bomb went off.
Fetty, who's recovering from his wounds from the blast, said he was pleased to learn later that the grateful Afghans had staged a huge anti-Taliban demonstration after the incident.
Other 2007 Grateful Nation Award recipients are:
-- Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Jose Romero,
-- Navy Lt. Seth A. Stone,
-- Coast Guard Petty Officer 1st Class Jesse K. Gitchel,
-- Air Force Staff Sgt. Elizabeth C. Spradley, and
-- Air Force Staff Sgt. Ryan A. Wallace.
It was "terrific" to visit with the servicemembers, Gates said as he thanked each one prior to the start of the dinner. "It's such an honor to be with them and meet them," he said.
Spradley, an explosive ordnance disposal technician, helped clear more than 5,000 miles of Iraqi roads from improvised explosive devices during her recent tour of duty in Kirkuk. She participated in 170 high-risk missions and neutralized 35 improvised explosive devices and two car bombs.
"We would disarm and mitigate any hazards along the roadways in Iraq," Spradley recalled, noting she was too focused on her missions to be distracted by the danger.
She said meeting the defense secretary and receiving the JINSA award "truly are an honor."
Stone, a Navy SEAL special warfare operations specialist, earned two Silver Stars and a Bronze Star with a "V" device for valor for service in Ramadi, Iraq, in September 2006, where he led his team in fighting off a group of insurgents that threatened to destroy another SEAL unit.
Coast Guardsman Gitchel was in temporary command of a 110-foot-long cutter when he and his crew stared down a group of Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps-crewed ships in the North Arabian Gulf in August 2007. The Iranians were threatening Iraqi oil rigs.
Romero served with distinction in combat with a tank battalion that participated in the drive to Baghdad during Operation Iraqi Freedom in the spring of 2003. Afterward, he became a renowned Marine drill instructor noted for his leadership and team-building skills used in molding the lives of young Marines.
Wallace is an air combat controller who earned the Silver Star medal for more than 24 hours of continuous work calling in airstrikes against insurgents during combat in Najaf, Iraq, during his October 2006 to April 2007 service in Iraq. About 250 insurgents were killed in the battle.
"It was a surprise, and it is an honor, as well," Wallace said of receiving the Grateful Nation Award. Meeting Gates was an awesome experience, he added.
Gates received the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs Henry M. Jackson award for his contributions to national security as a former career Central Intelligence Agency officer who worked his way up to director. Later, Gates was a key national security advisor, and he now serves as defense secretary. Previous Jackson Award recipients include Vice President Richard B. Cheney and former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Peter Pace.
Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Marine Gen. James E. Cartwright assisted David P. Steinmann, chairman of JINSA's board of advisors, during the Grateful Nation Award ceremony. Cartwright saluted the awardees as well as all U.S. servicemen and women engaged in the war against terrorism.
"These young people will just flat knock your socks off," the four-star general said. "They are our greatest generation and our greatest treasure, and we should never forget that."
"I think nothing gives JINSA greater institutional gratification than tonight," Steinmann said before the servicemembers' award ceremony. "We need our Grateful Nation Award winners. They represent the best that our country can produce.
"We need to be reminded that our country produces men and women like this," Steinmann said.
Showing posts with label war on terror. Show all posts
Showing posts with label war on terror. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Friday, June 29, 2007
Former Soldier Draws on Past to Raise Awareness
By Samantha L. Quigley
American Forces Press Service
June 29, 2007 – As the nation's servicemembers continue to fight the global war on terrorism, a group is working to make sure the Americans they're defending are aware of their sacrifices. "The Greer Foundation raises public awareness of the sacrifices of serving the nation through outreach and commentary on the war on terror," said Steve Greer, the group's founder. His experiences as an Army command sergeant major in Kosovo and other places that give him the knowledge base for this endeavor, he added.
Greer retired from the Army in January 2003, and started the foundation that same year with his wife, Jennifer, who also is a former soldier. Since then, he has given more than 400 interviews addressing the challenges U.S. troops face while fighting the global war on terrorism. He also speaks free of charge at civic-club meetings, universities and military bases in support of the troops.
Greer has been a member of the Defense Department's retired military analysts group since 2004, and has traveled the world, "visiting troops to thank them for their sacrifices," he said.
While the Greer Foundation's main focus is educating the public about the troops' sacrifices through radio and TV commentary and speaking engagements, it administers two award programs: one honors those killed in action, and the other recognizes children affected by war and conflict.
"Specifically, we award the Master Sgt. William "Chief" Carlson Tomahawk Medal and the Tarlavsky-Price Youth Leadership Award," Greer said. "Both awards honor the sacrifices of three of America's finest warriors and very close friends of mine."
The foundation is one of the newest home-front members of the America Supports You program. The Defense Department program connects citizens and corporations with military personnel and their families serving at home and abroad.
Greer said he's proud the foundation is now part of America Supports You, and he looks forward to the mutual benefits the partnership will provide.
American Forces Press Service
June 29, 2007 – As the nation's servicemembers continue to fight the global war on terrorism, a group is working to make sure the Americans they're defending are aware of their sacrifices. "The Greer Foundation raises public awareness of the sacrifices of serving the nation through outreach and commentary on the war on terror," said Steve Greer, the group's founder. His experiences as an Army command sergeant major in Kosovo and other places that give him the knowledge base for this endeavor, he added.
Greer retired from the Army in January 2003, and started the foundation that same year with his wife, Jennifer, who also is a former soldier. Since then, he has given more than 400 interviews addressing the challenges U.S. troops face while fighting the global war on terrorism. He also speaks free of charge at civic-club meetings, universities and military bases in support of the troops.
Greer has been a member of the Defense Department's retired military analysts group since 2004, and has traveled the world, "visiting troops to thank them for their sacrifices," he said.
While the Greer Foundation's main focus is educating the public about the troops' sacrifices through radio and TV commentary and speaking engagements, it administers two award programs: one honors those killed in action, and the other recognizes children affected by war and conflict.
"Specifically, we award the Master Sgt. William "Chief" Carlson Tomahawk Medal and the Tarlavsky-Price Youth Leadership Award," Greer said. "Both awards honor the sacrifices of three of America's finest warriors and very close friends of mine."
The foundation is one of the newest home-front members of the America Supports You program. The Defense Department program connects citizens and corporations with military personnel and their families serving at home and abroad.
Greer said he's proud the foundation is now part of America Supports You, and he looks forward to the mutual benefits the partnership will provide.
Saturday, May 26, 2007
Service Academies Retain Principles, Embrace Change to Train Future Leaders
By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service
May 24, 2007 – As "ruffles and flourishes" rings through the three U.S. military academies over the next few days, several thousand new graduates will accept their commissions and join the military ranks. These young second lieutenants and ensigns all enrolled in their respective schools -- the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, N.Y.; the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md.; and the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo. -- recognizing they'd graduate into a wartime force.
Most were sophomores in high school when they watched televised images of the Twin Towers falling and the Pentagon burning, then the U.S. going to war in Afghanistan. Most hadn't yet been to their senior proms when the country entered Iraq. This week they'll leave their schoolhouses behind to join their fellow soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines serving around the world in the war on terror.
To get a better picture of how their schools have prepared them for this calling, American Forces Press Service spoke with their academic deans and alumni who have risen to the senior military ranks.
Here's what they had to say about what has changed at their institutions and what remains fundamental, and how they're helping ensure their graduates are ready for the challenges they'll confront as military officers.
The Basics
Although they're four-year schools like thousands of others that dot the United States, the U.S. service academies stand uniquely apart. All were founded with the specific goal of educating military leaders -- people who understand not just the art and science of war, but also the fundamentals of leadership.
That's a principle the academies have held at their core as they strive to develop what Army Col. Dan Ragsdale, vice dean at West Point and a 1981 graduate, calls "critical thinkers" armed with the education and training they need to think on their feet.
"Our expectations are that these future leaders are going to have to draw on a relatively broad set of skills, backgrounds and experiences to help solve the problems that they are going to confront in ... a greatly ambiguous world in which they are going to have to operate," he said.
To develop those skills, the academies offer curricula that recently retired Army Gen. John Abizaid, a 1973 West Point graduate who went on to lead U.S. Central Command, described as "some of the most challenging in the nation today."
The coursework is steeped in science, math and engineering so graduates are prepared to enter a highly technical military, whether they'll be flying aircraft, serving on nuclear-powered submarines or calling in air strikes as they lead ground forces in combat, explained William Miller, academic dean and provost at the Naval Academy and a 1962 graduate.
"We want to ensure all our graduates have a good, solid technical foundation for serving as an officer in a very, very technically demanding environment," he said.
Equally important, officials agree, is an understanding of the world in which they'll operate. All three academies have expanded their curricula to increasingly focus on regional studies and language skills.
"The kinds of problems that our ... graduates will face are across a broad spectrum, so we have to give them a technological foundation," Ragsdale said. "But we also have to give them a social and cultural perspective around which to address and solve problems. We have to help them understand and appreciate the political aspects of any problem they are trying to address."
More Than Academics
There may be no pat formula for preparing new officers to serve in wartime, but officials agreed it requires more than mastery of academics.
"Our graduates are not going to be historians and mechanical engineers," Miller said. "They are going to be leaders and problem solvers in a very demanding environment."
There's no possible way to train students for every possible situation they'll encounter when they enter military service, the officials agreed.
"That's a given," Ragsdale said. "But because we know that, we have worked to create an environment where they can develop as the adaptable, agile, critical thinkers they need to be to lead the soldiers who will be entrusted to their care."
The academies strive to prepare cadets and midshipmen to look at problems from multiple dimensions and to juggle priorities.
Marine Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that's one of the biggest lessons he took away from his Naval Academy experience.
"At school, there was always too much to do, and in the Marine Corps, there has always been too much to do," Pace said. "Therefore, you really have to take the important and set it aside to do the critical."
Pace said being bombarded with myriad demands as a midshipman reinforced the importance of teamwork, another principle he said he's carried throughout his career. "In combat, there is nothing you do as an individual," he said. "It's all based on teamwork."
Developing Leaders
While developing their cadets and midshipmen intellectually, the academies also focus on developing them as leaders.
Abizaid said the most important lesson the academies need to instill is "the ability to lead people in a positive, inspirational way."
From their first days at their respective schools, cadets and midshipmen get exposed to valuable lessons in leadership. Initially they observe upperclassmen serving in various leadership positions -- some successfully, some less so. Later, students try their own hand at leadership posts. Through this process, they begin to understand what leadership style works for them, what doesn't, and how they can improve their leadership skills.
Gen. John Corley, Air Force vice chief of staff and a 1973 graduate of the Air Force Academy, described his alma mater as a "leadership laboratory" where cadets exposed him and his fellow cadets to "a set of experiences that you just don't find in other places."
"They also provided challenges," Corley said. "It was a test ... in terms of your development (and) ... your ability to grow and become a leader of character."
"I learned a lot from observing good leadership, and from observing bad leadership, and through experimentation on my own part, trying things that worked or didn't work for me," Pace said of his time at the Naval Academy.
That's the single biggest difference between the military academies and traditional civilian colleges and universities, the deans and alumni agreed.
"Our first and foremost overarching outcome is to commission ... leaders of character who embody our ... core values of integrity first, service before self, and excellence in all we do," said Brig. Gen. Dana Born, dean of faculty for the Air Force Academy and a 1983 graduate. "It stands at the very foundation of what we do."
Miller said leadership lessons learned at the academies have a long-lasting impact on how graduates confront problems.
"No matter what (military) community our graduates enter, ... they are going to be leaders, and we want to ensure they have a good ethical foundation for the decisions they are going to make," he said.
Educating for the Future
While preparing their cadets and midshipmen for the immediate requirements they'll face as graduates, academy officials say they recognize the need to keep their eyes focused on the horizon.
"We try to stay balanced and not hyper-reactive," Ragsdale said. "We recognize that we're providing a foundation upon which they can develop as successful officers."
"We can't just focus on the fact that we are currently engaged in a shooting war ... and think only about what (midshipmen) are going to need right after graduation," agreed Miller. "We need to look at what (future officers) are going to need for the longer term and recognize that we're preparing them for a career of service."
By approaching education as a "strategic investment," Miller said, the academies are helping students recognize that their education will be just beginning as they accept their commissions.
"We are trying to lay a foundation on which they can build over their career and continue to learn," he said. "That's important, because being in the armed services demands lifetime learning."
Change
The biggest misconception about the academies is that they're so embedded in tradition that they can't or won't change with the times, officials said.
"That is about as far from the truth as you can get," Ragsdale said. "On the contrary, we understand ... that our graduates have to be prepared for a changing world. So while we hold on to our firm foundations upon which the institution was built, we have embraced change to ensure we are providing the kinds of experiences our cadets need to be successful in the world they are going to face when they graduate."
Born described sweeping changes in the Air Force Academy's core curriculum so courses build on previous lessons and broaden students' exposure to new concepts and approaches. The other academies have instituted similar changes.
These changes are helping ensure students have a foundation from which to draw when they graduate into a wartime environment. "We need students to learn and be able to build upon prior learning, as opposed to just teaching and hoping that they remember it when they need it when they are in downtown Baghdad making decisions," Born said.
Intraservice Cooperation
An intensive system of sharing and cooperation is helping the academies evolve to better serve their students' and services' needs. Staffs meet in person and share e-mails regularly to keep each other informed about new initiatives they're trying and what they've learned along the way.
"We are trying to learn from each other in a leap-frog fashion rather than all of us learning linearly and stumbling over the same obstacles," Miller said.
"We have very common goals and a common set of outcomes that we would like all our graduates to achieve," Ragsdale agreed. "So we share those things that have worked, and on the flip side, those initiatives that have not been successful so they can learn from our mistakes."
Born said the academies recognize their similarities and build on each others' strengths. "We ... team together to share lessons learned and best practices. We learn from each other and are able to progress more quickly by sharing our lessons learned," she said.
So despite infamous interservice rivalry in the sports arena, Born said, there's a healthy respect and common understanding among academy students, graduates and staffs.
"When it comes to the football field, there is all kinds of talk and all kinds of competition," she said. "But when it comes right down to it, we are all working toward commissioning officers and leaders of character for our nation."
Article sponsored by criminal justice online leadership; and, police and military personnel who have authored books.
American Forces Press Service
May 24, 2007 – As "ruffles and flourishes" rings through the three U.S. military academies over the next few days, several thousand new graduates will accept their commissions and join the military ranks. These young second lieutenants and ensigns all enrolled in their respective schools -- the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, N.Y.; the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md.; and the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo. -- recognizing they'd graduate into a wartime force.
Most were sophomores in high school when they watched televised images of the Twin Towers falling and the Pentagon burning, then the U.S. going to war in Afghanistan. Most hadn't yet been to their senior proms when the country entered Iraq. This week they'll leave their schoolhouses behind to join their fellow soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines serving around the world in the war on terror.
To get a better picture of how their schools have prepared them for this calling, American Forces Press Service spoke with their academic deans and alumni who have risen to the senior military ranks.
Here's what they had to say about what has changed at their institutions and what remains fundamental, and how they're helping ensure their graduates are ready for the challenges they'll confront as military officers.
The Basics
Although they're four-year schools like thousands of others that dot the United States, the U.S. service academies stand uniquely apart. All were founded with the specific goal of educating military leaders -- people who understand not just the art and science of war, but also the fundamentals of leadership.
That's a principle the academies have held at their core as they strive to develop what Army Col. Dan Ragsdale, vice dean at West Point and a 1981 graduate, calls "critical thinkers" armed with the education and training they need to think on their feet.
"Our expectations are that these future leaders are going to have to draw on a relatively broad set of skills, backgrounds and experiences to help solve the problems that they are going to confront in ... a greatly ambiguous world in which they are going to have to operate," he said.
To develop those skills, the academies offer curricula that recently retired Army Gen. John Abizaid, a 1973 West Point graduate who went on to lead U.S. Central Command, described as "some of the most challenging in the nation today."
The coursework is steeped in science, math and engineering so graduates are prepared to enter a highly technical military, whether they'll be flying aircraft, serving on nuclear-powered submarines or calling in air strikes as they lead ground forces in combat, explained William Miller, academic dean and provost at the Naval Academy and a 1962 graduate.
"We want to ensure all our graduates have a good, solid technical foundation for serving as an officer in a very, very technically demanding environment," he said.
Equally important, officials agree, is an understanding of the world in which they'll operate. All three academies have expanded their curricula to increasingly focus on regional studies and language skills.
"The kinds of problems that our ... graduates will face are across a broad spectrum, so we have to give them a technological foundation," Ragsdale said. "But we also have to give them a social and cultural perspective around which to address and solve problems. We have to help them understand and appreciate the political aspects of any problem they are trying to address."
More Than Academics
There may be no pat formula for preparing new officers to serve in wartime, but officials agreed it requires more than mastery of academics.
"Our graduates are not going to be historians and mechanical engineers," Miller said. "They are going to be leaders and problem solvers in a very demanding environment."
There's no possible way to train students for every possible situation they'll encounter when they enter military service, the officials agreed.
"That's a given," Ragsdale said. "But because we know that, we have worked to create an environment where they can develop as the adaptable, agile, critical thinkers they need to be to lead the soldiers who will be entrusted to their care."
The academies strive to prepare cadets and midshipmen to look at problems from multiple dimensions and to juggle priorities.
Marine Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that's one of the biggest lessons he took away from his Naval Academy experience.
"At school, there was always too much to do, and in the Marine Corps, there has always been too much to do," Pace said. "Therefore, you really have to take the important and set it aside to do the critical."
Pace said being bombarded with myriad demands as a midshipman reinforced the importance of teamwork, another principle he said he's carried throughout his career. "In combat, there is nothing you do as an individual," he said. "It's all based on teamwork."
Developing Leaders
While developing their cadets and midshipmen intellectually, the academies also focus on developing them as leaders.
Abizaid said the most important lesson the academies need to instill is "the ability to lead people in a positive, inspirational way."
From their first days at their respective schools, cadets and midshipmen get exposed to valuable lessons in leadership. Initially they observe upperclassmen serving in various leadership positions -- some successfully, some less so. Later, students try their own hand at leadership posts. Through this process, they begin to understand what leadership style works for them, what doesn't, and how they can improve their leadership skills.
Gen. John Corley, Air Force vice chief of staff and a 1973 graduate of the Air Force Academy, described his alma mater as a "leadership laboratory" where cadets exposed him and his fellow cadets to "a set of experiences that you just don't find in other places."
"They also provided challenges," Corley said. "It was a test ... in terms of your development (and) ... your ability to grow and become a leader of character."
"I learned a lot from observing good leadership, and from observing bad leadership, and through experimentation on my own part, trying things that worked or didn't work for me," Pace said of his time at the Naval Academy.
That's the single biggest difference between the military academies and traditional civilian colleges and universities, the deans and alumni agreed.
"Our first and foremost overarching outcome is to commission ... leaders of character who embody our ... core values of integrity first, service before self, and excellence in all we do," said Brig. Gen. Dana Born, dean of faculty for the Air Force Academy and a 1983 graduate. "It stands at the very foundation of what we do."
Miller said leadership lessons learned at the academies have a long-lasting impact on how graduates confront problems.
"No matter what (military) community our graduates enter, ... they are going to be leaders, and we want to ensure they have a good ethical foundation for the decisions they are going to make," he said.
Educating for the Future
While preparing their cadets and midshipmen for the immediate requirements they'll face as graduates, academy officials say they recognize the need to keep their eyes focused on the horizon.
"We try to stay balanced and not hyper-reactive," Ragsdale said. "We recognize that we're providing a foundation upon which they can develop as successful officers."
"We can't just focus on the fact that we are currently engaged in a shooting war ... and think only about what (midshipmen) are going to need right after graduation," agreed Miller. "We need to look at what (future officers) are going to need for the longer term and recognize that we're preparing them for a career of service."
By approaching education as a "strategic investment," Miller said, the academies are helping students recognize that their education will be just beginning as they accept their commissions.
"We are trying to lay a foundation on which they can build over their career and continue to learn," he said. "That's important, because being in the armed services demands lifetime learning."
Change
The biggest misconception about the academies is that they're so embedded in tradition that they can't or won't change with the times, officials said.
"That is about as far from the truth as you can get," Ragsdale said. "On the contrary, we understand ... that our graduates have to be prepared for a changing world. So while we hold on to our firm foundations upon which the institution was built, we have embraced change to ensure we are providing the kinds of experiences our cadets need to be successful in the world they are going to face when they graduate."
Born described sweeping changes in the Air Force Academy's core curriculum so courses build on previous lessons and broaden students' exposure to new concepts and approaches. The other academies have instituted similar changes.
These changes are helping ensure students have a foundation from which to draw when they graduate into a wartime environment. "We need students to learn and be able to build upon prior learning, as opposed to just teaching and hoping that they remember it when they need it when they are in downtown Baghdad making decisions," Born said.
Intraservice Cooperation
An intensive system of sharing and cooperation is helping the academies evolve to better serve their students' and services' needs. Staffs meet in person and share e-mails regularly to keep each other informed about new initiatives they're trying and what they've learned along the way.
"We are trying to learn from each other in a leap-frog fashion rather than all of us learning linearly and stumbling over the same obstacles," Miller said.
"We have very common goals and a common set of outcomes that we would like all our graduates to achieve," Ragsdale agreed. "So we share those things that have worked, and on the flip side, those initiatives that have not been successful so they can learn from our mistakes."
Born said the academies recognize their similarities and build on each others' strengths. "We ... team together to share lessons learned and best practices. We learn from each other and are able to progress more quickly by sharing our lessons learned," she said.
So despite infamous interservice rivalry in the sports arena, Born said, there's a healthy respect and common understanding among academy students, graduates and staffs.
"When it comes to the football field, there is all kinds of talk and all kinds of competition," she said. "But when it comes right down to it, we are all working toward commissioning officers and leaders of character for our nation."
Article sponsored by criminal justice online leadership; and, police and military personnel who have authored books.
Friday, May 18, 2007
Pace Says 'Surge' Progress Will Be Evident by September
By Linda D. Kozaryn
American Forces Press Service
May 18, 2007 – By September, military officials will have a pretty good feel for whether the "military part" of the president's surge strategy is working, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Marine Gen. Peter Pace said here today. Pace spoke to about 1,000 students and alumni at the 55th annual management conference of the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business. Following his address on leadership, Pace answered questions from the audience.
On the surge, Pace explained that four of the five brigades of about 3,000 to 3,500 troops each that the U.S. military is "plussing up" are currently in Iraq. The fifth is in Kuwait and will be in Iraq by the beginning of June.
"From June until September," he said, "we'll have the opportunity to watch the increased U.S. presence on the ground, and the increased Iraqi unit presence on the ground, and the effect that it has on security, primarily in Baghdad."
The increase in troops is only one part of a three-pronged approach to ending the war in Iraq, he noted.
"Increased troop strength in and of itself is not going to be sufficient," he stressed. "You must have an increase in governance and an increase in economics."
Success in the war on terrorism, Pace said, is not like the success of World War II. The end state will be much more like the current state of a U.S. city, such as Chicago.
"Is there violence here? Yes," he said. "Is there a police force that keeps that violence below a level at which the government can function and the citizenry can go about their daily business? This is what you're looking at with the war on terror. ...
"You'll never stop all terrorist acts," he said. The goal is to have "the security is solid enough so that the government can provide leadership and so the business world can provide jobs so people can prosper."
Article sponsored by Criminal Justice online leadership; and, law enforcement personnel who have written books.
American Forces Press Service
May 18, 2007 – By September, military officials will have a pretty good feel for whether the "military part" of the president's surge strategy is working, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Marine Gen. Peter Pace said here today. Pace spoke to about 1,000 students and alumni at the 55th annual management conference of the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business. Following his address on leadership, Pace answered questions from the audience.
On the surge, Pace explained that four of the five brigades of about 3,000 to 3,500 troops each that the U.S. military is "plussing up" are currently in Iraq. The fifth is in Kuwait and will be in Iraq by the beginning of June.
"From June until September," he said, "we'll have the opportunity to watch the increased U.S. presence on the ground, and the increased Iraqi unit presence on the ground, and the effect that it has on security, primarily in Baghdad."
The increase in troops is only one part of a three-pronged approach to ending the war in Iraq, he noted.
"Increased troop strength in and of itself is not going to be sufficient," he stressed. "You must have an increase in governance and an increase in economics."
Success in the war on terrorism, Pace said, is not like the success of World War II. The end state will be much more like the current state of a U.S. city, such as Chicago.
"Is there violence here? Yes," he said. "Is there a police force that keeps that violence below a level at which the government can function and the citizenry can go about their daily business? This is what you're looking at with the war on terror. ...
"You'll never stop all terrorist acts," he said. The goal is to have "the security is solid enough so that the government can provide leadership and so the business world can provide jobs so people can prosper."
Article sponsored by Criminal Justice online leadership; and, law enforcement personnel who have written books.
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