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Posted on 10/08/2003 6:56:49 PM PDT by Hipixs
The Association of the U.S. Army
Remarks as Prepared for Delivery by Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz,
Washington, DC,
Wednesday, October 8, 2003.
I'm very pleased to join AUSA in honoring the association's Sustaining Members. The companies represented here today are among the Army's greatest supporters. And I want to thank all of you and your organizations for helping the Army to carry out its vital mission.
Your contributions have helped to make the U.S. Army the best-equipped, best-trained, most-effective army on the planet - a fact that is demonstrated every day, both on the battlefield in the Global War on Terror and in the Army's continuing effort to transform itself to meet the threats of this new century.
That transformation begins first and foremost with the Army's unrelenting attention not to technology, but to leadership and the leadership skills it imparts to its young officers. The Army proudly and truthfully claims that it does not man equipment; it equips the man - or woman.
And in its fabled history, the Army has raised up some great leaders -- leaders who proved equal to the challenge of their time - leaders like George Washington ... Andrew Jackson ... Ulysses S. Grant ... Black Jack Pershing ... and of course the giants of the Second World War -- Dwight Eisenhower ... Douglas MacArthur ... Omar Bradley ... George Marshall ... George Patton ... Jimmy Doolittle ... and so many others.
It's an incredible list of soldiers who not only distinguished themselves by their skill and bravery on the battlefield, but - perhaps more importantly - by exceptional moral courage as well.
There are so many examples. But for me the most unforgettable one is a message that was never sent. Dwight Eisenhower wrote it the night before the D-Day landing in Normandy. He kept it in his pocket to be used if the invasion failed. One can only imagine what went through his mind as he wrote these words:
"Our landings in the Cherburg-Havre area have failed to gain a satisfactory foothold and I have withdrawn the troops. My decision to attack at this time was based upon the best information available. The troops, the Air and the Navy did all that bravery and devotion to duty could do. If any blame or fault attaches to the attempt it is mine alone."
What an incredible ability to stare danger in the face. Thankfully that message wasn't needed. But it says volumes about the enormous sense of responsibility with which Eisenhower prepared for what would be the pivotal battle of the war in Europe. Here was no finger pointing, no effort at spin. There certainly was time to prepare a cover story, had he chose. But no, the man who sent men into battle took upon himself the awful and awesome responsibility of command.
That tradition of exemplary leadership continues in the Army's leaders today. For the past two-and-a-half eventful years, I have been privileged to work closely with many of them, extraordinary and dedicated leaders for whom I have only the greatest respect and admiration -- leaders like General Tommy Franks, who did a phenomenal job in leading the U.S. Armed Forces to extraordinary victories, first in Operation Enduring Freedom, and then in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
As he did later in Iraq, Franks crafted a plan for Afghanistan that was daring and innovative. In the process, he managed to do in Afghanistan with 10,000 troops what the Soviet Union failed to accomplish with 100,000. In no small measure, he was successful precisely because he recognized the difference between doing it with 10,000 and trying to do it with 100,000.
This whole episode illustrates General Franks' keen strategic sense and a leader who had the courage of his convictions. But he was also a leader who was willing to listen to civilian leaders, and not just to the Secretary of Defense, but the President.
These days I have the privilege of working with General John Abizaid, who has stepped into Tommy Franks' huge shoes at Central Command and is filling them brilliantly. In the process, he has demonstrated a complete mastery of the complex politics of the Middle East, as well as the crucial military issues. I first met John in 1991, when he was a lieutenant colonel commanding an airborne battalion in a brilliant operation in northern Iraq. And it is clear that the experience he gained there has been instrumental in his leadership today.
General Rick Shinseki, who retired recently, is another great Army hero. If you've read any newspapers lately you undoubtedly know that he and I had a difference or two. What the papers failed to report is that I have enormous respect for what General Shinseki accomplished in his four years as Chief of Staff, moving the Army into the 21st century and working to close the gap that exists between the very heavy forces that are highly lethal but slow to deploy and light forces that deploy more quickly but are not sufficiently lethal. General Shinseki did much to bring the Army into a new era.
And then there are all of the other Army commanders with whom I have had the pleasure - and the honor - of working. Among them are General Jack Keane, a truly great American, who retired as Vice Chief of Staff just a few days ago, after 37 years in uniform ... Lt. General Ricardo Sanchez, Commander Joint Task Force 7 in Iraq ... Major General Dave Petraeus, who leads the 101st Air Assault Division ... Major General Ray Odierno, commander of the 4th Infantry Division ... and Brigadier General Martin Dempsey, commander of the 1st Armored Division. I believe they are as impressive a group of general officers as this - or any -- country has ever had.
But the U.S. Army's extraordinary leadership does not begin or end with its most senior leaders. Nor is it limited to officers who are being groomed for such positions. The Army's strength is also due in large measure to the way it grows non-commissioned officers.
When Marshal Akhromeyev, the last Defense Minister of the late, unlamented Soviet Union, visited the United States for the first time in 1988, he was - needless to say - overawed by the power of the U.S. Armed Forces. But the thing that impressed Akhromeyev the most was the extraordinary level of competence and self-confidence displayed by American enlisted people and noncommissioned officers.
I've observed the same thing myself. Even in comparison with some of our closest allies, the U.S. noncommissioned officer corps is unmatched anywhere in the world.
Now having said all of this about my regard for the Army, I think you will understand why I am puzzled when we see reports in the media asserting that civilian leaders think ground forces are obsolete. Yes, the Armed Forces have mind-boggling long-range precision strike capabilities today, and yes, we will take full advantage of that. But it hardly suggests that the Army is no longer necessary. I can't imagine a conclusion more at variance with everything we know from military history.
For the record, let me state my own view, which I am sure is shared by everyone in this room: Wars are won by seizing and holding ground, and only ground forces at the end of the day can do that.
I will confess that I didn't believe the war in Kosovo could be won from the air. And on that point, I will plead a lack of prescience. But I would also submit that Kosovo was a unique case that will probably not be repeated for a long time.
Instead, what we've seen in Afghanistan and Iraq is the incredible effect that can be achieved by the Joint Force. In this era -- when communications can connect the different pieces of the force in ways that were undreamed of in the past -- and when we have a capability to deliver support to ground forces, from platforms that would have been inconceivable in the past -- the power of the Joint Force together is what we should be thinking about.
I recall one of my primary assignments during the first Gulf War, which was to combat Saddam Hussein's efforts to draw Israel into that conflict, and to look for ways to suppress SCUD attacks on Israel. I remember many brave pilots flying over western Iraq, dropping bombs unsuccessfully at targets they couldn't find. And I remember when some phenomenally brave Special Forces went in on the ground in western Iraq and found those targets but had no ability to call in long-range strikes against them.
Ten years later in Afghanistan, we saw a revolution in the ability to integrate forces on the ground with long-range strike capabilities. We had brave Special Forces troops, literally riding horseback in cavalry charges, directing strikes by B-52 bombers coming from thousands of miles away, in a manner that turned the tide of war, at a speed that astonished the world. It was literally a combination of 19th Century horse cavalry with mid-20th Century bombers, to produce a truly 21st Century capability.
When Secretary Rumsfeld was asked what he had in mind by bringing the horse cavalry back into modern warfare, he joked, "It's all part of our transformation plan."
The Secretary got a laugh with that line. But he was exactly right. It is part of our transformation plan - which is not principally about hardware, as that example might suggest. Transformation is about how the various parts of the Joint Force work together. Most of all, it's about people - brave and ingenious and highly-trained Americans, who are prepared to risk everything for their country.
What we saw in Afghanistan, I believe, is just a faint glimpse of what that joint capability can produce in the future, as we move forward with a whole range of transformative changes throughout the force. We saw some of that in Operation Iraqi Freedom, where General Franks achieved a level of tactical surprise that was little short of miraculous, given that this was one of the most long-advertised attacks one could imagine. He did it by working against Saddam Hussein's confident expectation that there would be weeks of bombing before we dared to put ground forces into Iraq. And instead, he had the Army and Marine Corps advancing ahead of the initial air strikes, and then brought air power in to support them with a precision that would have been impossible just a few years ago.
In its stunning and record-breaking advance on Baghdad under the command of General Dave McKiernan, the first combined forces land component command in our history achieved a success that one of our British colleagues said will be Chapter One when the history of warfare is written in the future.
But no army moves forward by resting on its laurels or by fighting the last war, and I know this army isn't going to. Under the able leadership of Pete Schoomaker -- who has selflessly agreed to give up a comfortable life as a civilian to come back in the service of his country -- this Army and this Joint Force is moving forward.
Now having said all that - about the Army's exceptional leadership ... and about technology ... and jointness ... and transformation - I don't want to leave you with a misimpression. The fact is that in the future, the most impressive measure of the U.S. Army will still be its soldiers. That was true in the past. And it remains true today.
As you know, like the Army that won our independence, our soldiers today are volunteers. And they are as devoted a group of soldiers as ever wore the uniform of the United States. I can't say enough about their professionalism, their skill, and their courage. They can be incredibly effective on the battlefield one minute and amazingly compassionate the next. They embody the best that America has to offer.
General Keane said it very well in his retirement speech. He said:
"The foreign terrorists, the Baath Party sympathizers, the Islamic extremists who wantonly kill Americans and innocent people from many nations, have no idea what they are up against. Their strategic objective is the political and moral will of the American people.... They think they know us because they have heard of Lebanon in '83, or Somalia in '94, or the USS Cole in 2000. They think we are morally weak and we will lose our resolve. But their knowledge is superficial and their understanding is shallow. To understand America and Americans, they need to understand the Marne in 1918, or Tarawa in '43, Omaha Beach in '44, or the Chosin Reservoir in 1950."
Two months ago, I was in Iraq and I had an opportunity to see for myself what General Keane was talking about. It brought to mind an earlier trip, when I accompanied then-Defense Secretary Cheney on a similar visit during the Gulf War. Secretary Cheney said he went with the idea of boosting the morale of our troops, but he came away instead with his own morale lifted. I had the very same experience this past July.
I heard moving stories, like the one about the 19-year-old kids from the 82nd Airborne who came under fire from snipers in a mosque. They demonstrated remarkable restraint and refrained from shooting back until some elderly Iraqi civilians had a chance to get out of the line of fire. Their behavior did not escape the notice of Iraqi civilians who were on the scene. Those young soldiers are helping to win the battle for the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people.
Another group of GIs came to the rescue when terrorists took a group of Iraqi women and children captive to use as human shields. To avoid harming the hostages, the U.S. soldiers negotiated for 15 hours, until they worked out a peaceful surrender. Then, when they found that a three-year-old girl had been thrown down a flight of stairs and injured, they called in a Medevac helicopter to take her and her mother to the nearest field hospital. It's reported that the local Iraqis witnessed this event, too, and there hasn't been a problem in that neighborhood since.
During my visit to Iraq, I walked through an area of Mosul with a young company commander of the 101st Air Attack Division, who told me a remarkable story about a problem in the neighborhood caused by local butchers who were dumping animal carcasses in the street. In the old days, the regime would have solved the problem by shooting a butcher or two, and everyone would have gotten the message. We have liberated Iraq from that kind of tyrannical abuse. Instead, this young Army captain organized an association of butchers, so the authorities would have a way to interact with them. I jokingly asked this young officer if he had learned this in some course at West Point, and of course he didn't. He worked out a solution all by himself. And the fact is, this kind of initiative and ingenuity is being replicated across Iraq on a daily basis.
A few weeks ago, an American couple received a letter from their son, 1st Lieutenant John G. Gibson, who is in Baghdad with the 1st Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry, 82nd Airborne Division. It was Lt. Gibson's birthday, and he wrote:
"[T]he hardship endured by myself, my men, my battalion, and this Army are not in vain.... Our work is not done .... I see things here, on a daily basis that hurt the human heart.... However, I see the hope in the eyes of many Iraqis, a new hope for a chance to govern themselves in a new way of life. I think that they are on the cusp of a new adventure."
Our Army understands that, right now, Iraq is the central battle in the war on terrorism. One young man, Specialist James Kiehl, was with the 507th Maintenance Company -- the unit that included Jessica Lynch. Kiehl was 22 years old, married, with a new-born son. When the unit got its orders, this brave young soldier told his father, "I've got a job to do, and I'm going to do it. I'm not going to raise my son in fear of terrorism. And this is the first step in eliminating it."
Army Specialist Kiehl fell in battle. He gave everything he had for his child ... and for yours and mine.
That is the heroism of which our Army is made. I have the high honor of working with men and women like James Kiehl every day. And so do you, through work that helps to make their achievements possible.
Since the attacks of September 11, the Army has had a major role in Joint operations that won two wars and liberated nearly 50 million human beings.
It's an extraordinary record of accomplishment, made possible by the selfless support of two groups that don't always receive the credit they deserve. One of those groups is made up by the Army's civilian employees, who have taken on increased responsibilities in these days of transformation and war.
The other group that does so much to make the Army's effectiveness possible is made up of the families of our soldiers. There is no one in America who does more to support the Army. Spouses and children must bear with long separations, frequent moves, and the anxieties of having a loved-one in combat. Their sacrifices are enormous, and they are appreciated. The Department of Defense is committed to doing all that is possible to lighten their burden by improving living conditions and pay and by bringing more predictability into the deployment process. We owe it to our men and women - both those in uniform and those who keep the home fires burning.
As General MacArthur told the Long Gray Line at West Point 40 years ago, the U.S. Army never failed the American people. That remains true to this day. And we owe it to them to show our appreciation as often as we can, in every way that we can.
Well, in almost every way. I'm reminded of the story about the time legendary newspaper columnist Anne Landers visited with soldiers who were wounded in Vietnam. In one hospital, a young corporal asked her to lean a little closer so he could smell her perfume. Miss Landers asked him: "How long has it been since you've smelled perfume?" He answered, "Ten and a half months." Miss Landers got up with a smile and said, "That's all for you, brother. You could be dangerous."
With that advice from Ann Landers, let me close by saying again how much we appreciate what the Army does, and that we are committed to ensuring that they remain the best-trained, best-equipped army in the world. Our nation depends on it. And I know you share this commitment.
So thank you again. God bless the U.S. Army, and God bless America.
Wolfie gets it. Now back it up--where's the funding for a couple more divisions? Maybe instead of building more of those billion dollar attack submarines for use against the uhhh, the whozat, well--anyway, its nice to see a senior civilian defense official at least verbally recognize the decisive role of landpower.
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