Blog Posts tagged with "Germany"

“We don’t necessarily like the verb “lead”… given our past.” 

“Unlike NATO, the EU lacks a 'Big Brother' with capability, push, and leadership."

“You could say that we Germans are reluctant to assist by picking up the bill for Greece, Ireland and Italy.”

Visit by U.S. and German military and defense civilians participating in the Bundeswehr’s Higher Command Course, to NATO Headquarters in Brussels Oct. 10.

These were some comments I heard recently from two representative groups of German society; a military group and a business group.  The military group consisted of 25 Colonels from the Bundeswehr’s Higher Command and Staff Course, Germany’s most senior course for Colonels. They invited me and 13 other Americans to join them Oct. 10-15 on visits to NATO and the EU in Brussels, and to the German Bundestag, Chancellery and various Ministries in Berlin. The business group was the Stuttgart Chapter of the American Chamber of Commerce, German businessmen and women whose export-oriented businesses often target the American market and who visited our European Command (EUCOM) headquarters on Oct. 19.

 Despite the above statements professing modesty and a reluctance to lead or assist, after meeting these two groups I was left with the decided impression that “leading” and “assisting” are exactly what our German hosts are doing these days, and doing well. I say German hosts because the vast majority of the 100,000 U.S. military personnel based in Europe, members of our European Command, are hosted here in Germany. Four of our five Component Commands, and the EUCOM Headquarters itself, where I work, are all located in Germany; in Heidelberg, Ramstein or Stuttgart.

A visit to the German Ministry of Defense and a meeting with Germany’s Chief of Defense, General Wiekar, was a good reminder that Germany is a “leader” in Afghanistan; the 3rd largest troop contributor (behind the US and UK) they lead ISAF’s Regional Command North with 4,900 of their own soldiers and the participation of 18 other nations, and their Provincial Reconstruction Teams are notable examples of NATO’s “Comprehensive Approach” in practice. Also regarding Afghanistan, we were informed at the German Foreign Ministry that Bonn will host the largest international conference since World War II, focused on rebuilding Afghanistan, on Dec. 5.

Germany also leads in another NATO mission, Kosovo Force (KFOR). There they provide 1,500 soldiers out of a force of some 6,200 and have provided the Commander of the KFOR mission for the past 3 rotations. They also furnish the Operational Reserve Battalion to KFOR, a force recently deployed in the wake of rioting north of the Ibar River in northern Kosovo. Notwithstanding the understandable protestation of the average German not wanting to “bail out” their Greek and Italian neighbors, this is exactly what Germany has been doing of late. 

A visit to the German Mission to the EU and to the EU Parliament, which represents some 500 million Europeans, reinforced this point, but so too have recent headlines. They have noted  that the  rescue plan for the Euro and a bailout package for Greece as only occurring due to the pivotal leadership role played by Germany. No “Big Brother” for the EU?  I think one exists in Germany, who while often shying away from the public leadership mantle definitely has the capability to push and lead the European Union behind the scenes. 

I also witnessed German “leadership” in the business sector as we hosted German businesses from the AmCham in Stuttgart.  Here were representatives of an export industry in Baden Wuerttemberg that have made Germany the #2 exporting nation in the world (second only to China). They have contributed to making Germany’s $3 trillion economy the economic locomotive of the EU, easily outpacing the other larger EU nations of France and the UK. Theses businessmen produce sexy Porsche and Mercedes automobiles, but also unsexy Bosch electrical components and high quality, heavy industrial machinery.

Weihnachts Markets, Gluhwein, a purchase of a new VW or BMW, “Stuttgart 21”, that Gasthaus with those incredibly large Schnitzel, or the success of the German national Fussball team’s advancement (10 straight wins)  to the European Championships in Poland and Ukraine next year, these might be some of your current “German thoughts." May I suggest that a thought or two about our German host’s economic and military leadership, responsible leadership at that, on display from within the EU, to Kosovo, to Afghanistan, might also be appropriate? 

Mike Anderson, Acting Director,
J9-Interagency Partnering Directorate
 

Here we are in the middle of what I believe is the most important week of the year for U.S. European Command.  On one end, a long weekend recently completed in honor of Memorial Day.  On the other end of this important stretch of days - D-Day.

Second from left, Lt. Gen. Gardner during ceremony in Cambridge, England

If you follow EUCOM on Twitter or Facebook or our EUCOM website, then you've probably seen the recent Memorial Day coverage that had over half of our public affairs office spread out over the weekend to cover some of the 22 ceremonies that took place throughout Europe.  We created a page for all of the collected efforts so you could get live updates as they happened.

As the live pictures, videos and messages came in from different locations, it gave me an even greater appreciation for the sacrifice made by more than 104,000 U.S. service men and women buried at 20 American cemeteries throughout Europe with an additional 20 thousand missing servicemembers listed on the memorial walls.  No longer were they just locations I knew of.  No longer just a holiday.

They were where our EUCOM Deputy Commander, Lt. Gen. John Gardner had traveled to at the American Cemetery in Cambridge, England to pay his respects and give remarks during their ceremony.

Brig Gen Scraba gives remarks in Florence

Or Brig. Gen. Mark Scraba, Deputy Director for EUCOM J5 Plans and Policies-International Military Partnering, whom I traveled with to the American Cemetery and Memorial in Florence, Italy to pay respects to the over four thousand of our military dead.

The general said something during his remarks that really stuck with me.  He said, "The heroes buried here in Florence were ordinary men and women who rose to meet seemingly impossible odds and did extraordinary things.  These brave men and women left the safety of their sovereign soil to defeat tyrants, ensure justice and fulfill the promise of safety and security for our US citizens and all the citizens of Europe.  Their lives were dedicated not to conflict or death, but to compassion, to freedom and to life."

The American Battle Monuments Commission does an extraordinary job maintaining these cemeteries located in Europe.  With so many things in life where the pictures are way more impressive than the real deal, the opposite is true with these memorials.  As my local commuter bus dropped me off seven kilometers outside of Florence and at the front of the site on an early Memorial Day morning, pictures fail to serve the beautiful and immaculately kept grounds.  As the morning led to the mid-day ceremony, the grounds filled with U.S. and Italian active duty and veterans, local townspeople and visiting Americans standing side by side as they did across all the ceremonies in six different European countries.

The images and words still resonate with me back at the office.  But this week isn't over.

Tomorrow begins four days of D-Day events that are taking place in the Normandy region of France.  US, UK, French and German military members will take part in a number of ceremonies with the local French people in small towns and on the beaches of the region that commemorate over 100,000 Allied troops that took part that day and those that paid the ultimate sacrifice.  I was the public affairs officer last year for the 66th anniversary of D-Day events and it remains the most memorable time of my duty in Europe.

US Army Airborne pin their wings on their French counterparts during D-Day ceremony last year.

Some of that coverage (blogs, photos and videos) is currently on the D-Day section of our website and additional coverage on my site.  Kelli Bland, our outreach officer, will be covering D-Day events for this 67th anniversary, so check back to our D-Day page and social media accounts for updates.  Our social media team plays an important part of that coverage.

Memorial Day events and annual D-Day commemorations that occur during a year that doesn't end in a zero or five hardly gain any media attention, but that doesn't make it any less important to EUCOM.  It doesn't mean the events are supported any less than any other year because these historical dates and their significance are ever present to help act as a foundation for who we are as a command and our strong partnerships with our partner nations in Europe.  Social media coverage from our office helps to show that commitment.

Aristotle said, "If you would understand anything, observe its beginning and its development."  EUCOM continues to remember and honor the beginning of our military service members' sacrifice in Europe that has developed into the current strong partnerships we share in the region.  In my opinion, that makes this an important week for our approximately 90,000 US military members serving in Europe to always remember.  Join us!

Lt. Cmdr. Taylor Clark, U.S. Navy
Social Media Chief, U.S. European Command

Mike Anderson Deputy Director J9 - Interagency Partnering Directorate

I work in Stuttgart, Germany not far north from the source of Europe's second longest (about 1800 miles long) and one of its most important commercial rivers, the Danube.  I have often had business meetings on behalf of US European Command (EUCOM) along this river as it flows south and east from the vicinity of Stuttgart past cities such as Ulm, Vienna, Belgrade, before emptying into the Black Sea near Constanta, Romania.  I'd like to tell you of one occasion when I visited the Danube city of Budapest to better appreciate a law enforcement academy that is based there.

I visited the International Law Enforcement Academy (ILEA), located on the Buda side of the Danube. I did so to better comprehend the current curriculum at ILEA and to discuss possible future collaborative training engagements.  This was part of our ongoing J9 outreach efforts to meet with and understand the actions of other federal agencies, Departments, and organizations also operating in Europe and Eurasia.

Recently our Public-Private Cooperation coordinator and the J9-hosted Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Department of Treasury representatives conducted a follow-up visit to ILEA.  The ILEA Director, Penny Hoback (FBI Supervisory Special Agent) hosted.   ILEA is an example of law enforcement interagency cooperation in action. ILEA Budapest (there are other ILEAs in Asia, South America and Africa) is staffed with two American accredited diplomats. The deputy director is a Diplomatic Security Service (US Dept of State) special agent and Dept of State funds most of the training there. The remainder of the staff consists of Hungarian ministry employees and sworn police officers.  They leverage a lot of visiting instructors from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), the Secret Service, as well as Interpol and UK, German and Swedish law enforcement officials.

Ms Holback and our visiting EUCOM-hosted interagency partners were enthusiastic about the potential for greater law enforcement collaboration. This is encouraging because this is a classic "building partner capacity" institution.  ILEA, EUCOM, and our hosted law enforcement interagency partners all focus on enhancing the partner capacities and capabilities of eastern European and Eurasian states.

The ILEA was founded in 1995 when the US and Hungarian governments cooperated to create a center to do law enforcement training.  The Academy offers training classes for up to 130 law enforcement officers at a time and its courses touch on a number of topics also of interest to EUCOM; combating transnational terrorism, money laundering, and trafficking.  Since its inception it has trained more than 12,000 law enforcement officials, among them Russian FSB agents, customs and border guards.

Just as the Danube flows thru 19 European countries, making it Europe's most "international river" and compelling upstream and downstream nations to cooperate, so too does today's threat and resource-constrained environment require greater interagency cooperation among defense, diplomatic and law enforcement agencies, like between "upstream" EUCOM and "downstream" ILEA.

I would be interested in hearing your examples of ongoing military-law enforcement collaboration here in Europe and your opinions of the value of doing such.

I’m finally back home after nearly two weeks on the road and it has been more than a week now since I jumped into Iron Mike Drop Zone in Normandy, France to commemorate the 66^th Anniversary of D-Day.  I’ll never forget the experience –  not just because of the historic significance, but also because of those that jumped with me that day.  As you probably well know, British, Canadian and American forces jumped to secure the Allied flanks on D-Day, but personnel from Australia, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, France, Greece, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway and Poland also took part in the landings.  On D-Day 66, I hit the ground, collected my parachute, and then walked off the drop zone with British, French, Polish, Dutch, German and fellow Americans paratroopers surrounding me.  On my aircraft alone, we had Dutch, German and Polish paratroopers and I earned both the Dutch and Polish jump wings that day.  
  

German and Polish paratroopers sit amongst SOCEUR Soldiers on the aircraft prior to jumping onto Iron Mike DZ in Normandy, France, June 5, 2010.

Whoa!  Come again you say?  Tucked in that list was…German paratroopers?  Yep, they jumped with us!  It goes to show how far we’ve come that we can jump with those who 66 years ago would have been shooting at us as we descended from the sky.  Why were they there?  Well, one of their special operations officers explains it best here during an interview with LCDR Taylor Clark of the EUCOM Public Affairs Office.

Immediately upon my return from the D-Day anniversary, I headed straight to Krakow, Poland to prepare for the upcoming Jackal Stone 2010 exercise. Jackal Stone is a multi-nation partnership building exercise designed to build Special Operations Forces’ capacity.  While there, I really was able to appreciate the significance of the camaraderie built during events such as the D-Day anniversary jump as I met up with one of the Polish jumpers I had exchanged wings with in Normandy. 

British, French, Polish, Dutch, German and American paratroopers float to the ground during the 66th D-Day Anniversary jump onto Iron Mike DZ, June 5, 2010.

As we worked at Polish Special Operations Command Headquarters with special operations leaders from Poland, Croatia, Lithuania, Latvia, Romania, and the Ukraine, we talked about jump-day memories and the relationships we built in Normandy.  It transcended beyond just the U.S.-Polish bonds and was a precursor to the relationships we will strengthen when we all gather in Poland and Lithuania this upcoming September.

It all goes back to why we (U.S. forces) are here in Europe – so that we can cooperate better with our partners and allies.  I wrote about it previously here, but it is so cool to see it in action.  Common experiences bind us together like nothing else, and in times of crisis, it is these common experiences that will pay immeasurable dividends.  

MAJ Jim Gregory
SOCEUR PAO

Last year when I attended the 65th Anniversary of the D-Day invasion, I left Normandy, France feeling the proudest I’ve ever been wearing the U.S. Army uniform. So this year when I boarded the MC-130 Shadow aircraft to Normandy, I was excited to return to a place where the American Soldier is so adored and appreciated.

Just like last year, American Soldiers attending the event were invited into the home off a French family for dinner in one of the many local towns throughout the region. After I ensured the many Soldiers, Marines, Sailors and Airmen were shuttled to their destination; I was left with two young French women to go to their residence for dinner.

I was quite surprised that both Nathalie, age 23, and Angelique, age 24, could speak English pretty well, as normally the language barrier makes the encounter a little difficult initially for both Soldier and the family members. Welcoming me to her home, Nathalie, was continuing a tradition that she’d experienced throughout her entire life growing up in this part of France.

The people in this region have been inviting American Soldiers into their homes as an expression of gratitude for delivering them from tyranny from the Germans during World War II. Nathalie told us stories of how her parents always had Army veterans who served in either the 82nd Airborne Division or 101st Airborne Division as guests in their house.

Some would stay as long as a week at a time for the commemoration of D-Day activities in the Normandy area. She talked about waiting for her opportunity as an adult to one day have Soldiers come to her own place so she could continue the tradition of expressing the gratitude of Soldiers on behalf of her family lineage. On this night, Nathalie was very proud.

I tried not to wear my journalist hat very long as I asked both women questions on various topics. I asked how do the elder French people who lived here during the time of war feel about Germans. Both were candid and honest in their answers. They both mentioned how painful it is for many of the elders and their lack of love and forgiveness to the Germans.

But these two young women also expressed that things today are different. They acknowledged that was history, but now they both think of the Germans as their friends – with Angelique admitting how she loved learning how to speak German.

We talked about U.S. and France relations, how it soured after the Iraq War. I admitted that coming here to Normandy both last and this year, has been the most rewarding experience I’ve had as a Soldier. And I was thankful from the bottom of my heart to be amongst people who has kept our legacy alive from generation to generation.

So as we dined and drank, a friendship was forged between people who were once strangers. In this age of modern technology, we were able to exchange e-mail addresses and of course Facebook page information. Anything I can do to preserve the legacy of that Great Generation of Soldiers who liberated the people of Normandy is something that I will proudly do. After all, there are a generation of French people who are doing the same.

Master Sgt. Donald Sparks
SOCEUR Public Affairs Chief

I finally arrived in Northern France to St. Mere Eglise (SME). My hotel is located just to the outskirts of town and was an easy walk into the town square. It is a surreal feeling to walk through such a historic location without the aid of an Xbox game controller while playing the latest Call of Duty video game or through a production that either starred or was directed by Tom Hanks. Here it was in real life and it really feels like history is alive here.

This small town was founded in the 11th century but will forever be known as one of the first towns to be liberated from Nazi Germany by the Allied Forces during the Normandy landings to include the 82nd Airborne and U.S. 101st Airborne Divisions on June 6th, 1944.

The most famous of those first troops was John Steele, whose parachute was stuck on the town chapel in SME during the early morning hours of June 6th. SME was targeted for attack and a stray incendiary bomb had set fire to a house east of the town square. The church bell was rung to alert the town of the emergency and townspeople turned out in large numbers to form a bucket brigade supervised by members of the German garrison.

The mannequin paratrooper hangs below the parachute.

By 0100hrs, the town square was well-lit and filled with German soldiers and villagers when paratroopers from the 1st and 2nd battalions were dropped in error directly over the village. After John Steele's chute caught on the chapel, he played dead for two hours and watched his fellow soldiers fight it out before the Germans cut him down and took him prisoner. The town was finally taken from the Germans by 0500 that morning.

Steele's ordeal lives on today by the mannequin in uniform that hangs from the same spot on the chapel in the center of town. This mannequin now has the best seat in the house as U.S., French, British and German troops descend upon SME and Northern France to commemorate the 66th anniversary of D-Day events throughout this week. Along with the current service members from these countries are the veterans of those allied forces that will always remember and families of the local French communities that will never forget.

Stay tuned for more!
LCDR Taylor Clark

I was deep in the heart of France yesterday during Memorial Day as I'm on my way to provide support for the events scheduled in commemoration of the 66th anniversary of D-Day. I left out from our U.S. European Command headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany and stopped at the halfway point on the way to the beaches of Normandy.

After nearly 19 years in the Navy, I've spent my share of Memorial Days honoring the sacrifices of those who gave their lives to the greater good. I've placed flags at cemeteries and saluted color guards that passed before and after ceremonies on this important day. I spent the majority of this Memorial Day packing up the car and getting on the road to join up with the other military members supporting the D-Day events this year.

Reims (pronounced like "rance"), France was my halfway point on this wet and congested Memorial Day. This city, located about 80 miles to the northeast of Paris, was meticulously reconstructed after both WWI and WWII. After reading the short write up about the town in my travel guide, the thing that popped out to me the most was a date 65 years ago.

On May 7th, 1945 at 2:41a.m., Nazi Germany signed an unconditional surrender bringing an end to six years of war in Europe. The surrender was signed in U.S. General Dwight D. Eisenhower's war room of the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF) in Reims. Media that covered the event in the days that followed called the headquarters "the little red schoolhouse" for its simple red-brick look and resemblance to a schoolhouse (the majority of the building is a technical university today).

I arrived in Reims with no idea where to go. I headed close to the center of town down winding French streets blindly turning down any road that had a sign that pointed toward a hotel. Luckily I'm equipped with GPS or I would struggle with getting out of town. When I arrived at one that had potential, I stopped, checked in and dropped off my bags.

The Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force or "little red schoolhouse."

Heading back out of the hotel for dinner while conferring with the front desk free map, I looked across the street about a half a block and there was a building of red-brick schoolhouse motif with the flags of France, UK, USA, Russia and Germany in front. A city of a couple hundred thousand spread out over 18 square miles and I land at the hotel across the street from the site of the end of World War II in Europe. What luck!

LCDR Taylor Clark
Chief of Media

Just back from two days in Kabul, and when I think back on the situation a year ago, the progress is very encouraging.

I met with Gen. Stan McChrystal, the commander of ISAF, his German Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Bruno Kasdorf, and his entire international team, as well as with a senior group of Afghan security experts, Generals, and Ministers and several hundred Afghan soldiers.

Meeting Afghan troops during my visit

Of note, I toured the Kabul Military Training Center, which is 20,000 acres and currently has nearly 10,000 trainees undergoing a series of warrior and combat training courses at all levels from senior officer to junior recruit. Each “kandak,” the Afghan equivalent of a battalion, comprises about 700 soldiers, instructed by our fine trainers. I saw them do everything from respond to Improvised Explosive Devices to administer first aid to attack mock “insurgents” to gather for leadership discussions. I came away impressed with their spirit and evident confidence.

Lt. Gen. Bill Caldwell, in his position of Commander of the NATO Training Mission, is in charge of training Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) throughout the country. He currently has over 30,000 Afghans in training as he builds their Army and Police to over 250,000 by this fall. Bill is full of energy, and brings a great deal of deep experience in training to the job. He has a multinational staff, with senior officers from most of the 46 nations that make up ISAF. Ensuring that he receives the right number and quality of trainers is my top priority as SACEUR.

Meeting one of our great U.S. Army soldiers.

Lt. Gen. Rod Rodriguez, a tall, rangy former West Point lineman leads ISAF operations across Afghanistan, with over 70,000 U.S. and 45,000 other NATO and non-NATO troops under his command. He briefed me on operations in southern Afghanistan, in the Taliban heartland, where progress is steady and the ratio of coalition to Afghan soldiers and policemen approaches 1:1 for the first time in the conflict.

Another strong leader is Vice Adm. Bob Harward, a Navy SEAL with a distinguished combat record in Afghanistan and a fluent Dari-speaker. Bob is in charge of US national detention operations, which will be the first key operation fully transitioned to Afghan leadership. He showed me the plans of the new Parwan detention facility and laid out the rule of law approach he is taking in partnership with the Afghan government and the international community.

As always, I spent time with both Gen. McChrystal and U.S .Ambassador Karl Eikenberry. They are a great team and fashioning an excellent civil-military partnership, along with other key leaders of the international effort. As the Afghan Deputy Minister of Defense said to me, “We will not deliver security from the barrel of a gun in Afghanistan.” He’s right – it will take the combined efforts of ISAF, the Afghan people, the international community, and the neighboring nations to succeed.

Receiving an update on the field from Army Col. Herman.

I’m encouraged and cautiously optimistic about Afghanistan. In addition to the good work by the security forces, there are increasingly good indicators about the economy and society (GDP up 20% last year; potentially huge mining deposits of iron, copper, lithium, and other minerals and metals; 12 million cell phones; 6 million children in schools, doubled over five years, over 40 % of them girls; number of teachers nationwide has doubled). Afghans seem to recognize this progress, and many national polls show strong confidence in the future of the country (70%+) and approval for the government (60%+), very favorable compared to many western countries.

Of concern, violence is up markedly over last year, largely the result of the efforts of both the ANSF and ISAF to take on the Taliban in their “home waters” down south. It will take perseverance and grit to get through what will be a dangerous and tough summer. The insurgency is stubborn and resilient, although largely ineffective in their attempts to attack our forces beyond the toll of IEDs. Overall, there are many challenges ahead; yet I would argue the prognosis for Afghanistan looks brighter today than a year ago, and I believe it will continue to improve.

For additional information, Michael O'Hanlon wrote a great article on the situation in Afghanistan. It's definitely worth reading.

Admiral James Stavridis
Commander, U.S. European Command and
Supreme Allied Commander Europe

A Jumpmaster candidate conducts the Jumpmaster Personnel Inspection (JMPI) on a 1-10 Special Forces Group (Airborne) Soldier

Last week in Kaiserslautern, Germany, the Fort Benning Jumpmaster Mobile Training Team graduated 19 new jumpmasters. I was among the graduates and my head still hurts from memorizing pre-jump training, my nerves are still frayed from PWAC (Practical Work in the Aircraft) and my fingers are still healing from JMPI (Jumpmaster Personnel Inspection). If you’ve been to the course, you know exactly what I’m talking about!

Why would anyone put themselves through this? First, one might wonder why anyone would want to jump out of a perfectly good airplane. Not a bad question…. It’s simply a way to work for many in the military regardless of their branch of service. We in the military must be able to get to work from the land, air or sea. Jumping from an aircraft propels us through the air (under canopy…hopefully) and to our place of work (whatever that “work” may be) as quickly as possible. But why is becoming a jumpmaster worthwhile? One reason is that the jumpmaster must be responsible for the safety of every jumper during an airborne operation. People’s lives are in the balance and there is no room for incompetency, therefore, it is a distinguished mark of leadership.

Although ensuring safety is an important reason for becoming a jumpmaster, to me, an equally vital rationale is about pulling oneself out of the comfort zone. In other words, it is important that we constantly keep our finger on the button of progress (so to speak). Striving to become a jumpmaster is one endeavor that challenges an individual’s status quo. Of course, there are many ways to challenge oneself, develop professionally and stray outside the comfort zone.

The military offers so many chances for men and women who serve to excel. Of course we are constantly “out of the comfort zone” when in combat (tens of thousands are there every day), but we can still push ourselves to do the best possible for the mission while deployed. In my opinion, the ultimate goal of the military experience is to seek greater professionalism through constant challenge, whether in training or in real-world situations. From cooks striving to make the best meals for their units to military intelligence analysts digging deep for critical information to support an operation to (in my community) Special Forces Soldiers solving complex issues on the ground worldwide, we breed better individuals and teams by working and training hard, regardless of the tasks involved.

Interaction with other professionals adds to the experience as well. The team of NCOs from the Ft. Benning MTT epitomized professionalism. All of my classmates and I are better because of their hard work. In addition, we were all enriched by our interaction with each other, regardless of whether we graduated or not. The only way that one of us could ultimately fail is to concede defeat and never try again. We all accepted the jumpmaster challenge and every ounce of our determination went into becoming one. Some of us can begin our march towards the next challenge on the horizon, while others of us will have to grind down the path again someday, peeling finger cuticles off  during “the circles” and scouring brains to remember JMPI sequences and deficiencies.

Congratulations to all of the graduates: three SOCEUR Soldiers, four 1st Battalion, 10th Special Forces Group Soldiers, seven 5th Quartermaster Company riggers, one 173rd Airborne Soldier and four Air Force personnel, to include the commander of the 435th Contingency Response Group, Col. Tim Brown. Fourteen of our classmates were given the opportunity to try again next time – it was not easy to pass this course, but of course, that adds to the challenge. Nothing worthwhile is ever easy as the old saying goes!

MAJ Jim Gregory
SOCEUR PAO

Just left historic Munich, Germany where I was fortunate to attend and speak at their annual Security Conference.

Senator Lindsay Graham, of South Carolina, myself, and Senator John McCain, of Arizona, at the 46th Munich Security Conference.

What an all star crowd of attendees! There were senior and impressive delegations from around the globe, including all NATO nations, most of the Afghan contributing countries, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Russia, China, India, South Korea, and many others. From the United States, the Congressional delegation included Senators McCain, Lieberman, Graham, Kerry, and Udall, as well as Representatives Sanchez and Harmon. I had the chance to talk with all of them and benefited from their collective wisdom.

Also, I was very happy as always to see two former SACEUR’s “in the house,” General Joe Ralston and General Jim Jones – both of whom took a great deal of time and trouble to give me expert advice as I became the first “Admiral” in this venerable post. General Jones, of course, is currently the National Security Advisor to the President and heads up the executive branch delegation. My good friend, and current U.S. Ambassador to NATO, Ivo Daalder, was also present.

I must also say that my views and thoughts about NATO have been shaped by two superb European officers with whom I serve every day – and both were present – Admiral Giampaolo Di Paola, the Chairman of NATO’s Military Committee; and General Stephan Abrial, the “other Supreme Commander,” in his case of transformation.

Afghan President Karzai speaks during the conference.

There were two speeches that stood out to me. The first was given by Afghan President Karzai. He spoke at length about the possibility of reintegration and reconciliation with more moderate Taliban. Secretary General Rasmussen also delivered an excellent speech focusing on his hopes for positive strategic cooperation with Russia.

There was a great deal of discussion about the NATO Strategic Concept, which is forthcoming, late this fall. I think the key word is “balance.” Life is not an on-and-off switch; it is a rheostat. We must be capable of dialing-in the solutions to the challenges we face – as people, parents, diplomats, or soldiers and sailors.

I think we need to achieve a balance between:

Article V Collective Defense.................Overseas engagement
Hard Power.........................................Soft Power/Humanitarian operations
Conventional threat.............................Emerging threats / NBC / Terrorism

From an operator's perspective, I have been emphasizing several key ideas in terms of the Strategic Concept:

CYBERSPACE. In today’s world, the likelihood of disruption and perhaps attack with a gravity bomb from the wing of an aircraft against one of our member nations is low; but the chance of offensive photons flowing down a fiber optic cable is high. (More on this in my blog next week!)

Ms. Madeleine Albright answers questions during a NATO strategy panel discussion.

COMPREHENSIVE APPROACH. In the end, we will never fully deliver security from the barrel of a gun; not in Afghanistan nor anywhere else. It will come as a combination of the so-called “3 Ds” – Defense, Diplomacy, and Development. I say it is even broader than that, and will require political, economic, cultural, linguistic, military, skills – in simplest terms, combining international, interagency, and private-public approaches. And all must be undergirded by strategic communication.

NATO COOPERATION WITH EU. We should work hard to define a better operational working modality between NATO and the European Union. We need complementary operations, and what is happening in counter-piracy off the horn of Africa is a good example of where we need to go.

TRANSFORMATION. We can and should restructure the operational side of the Alliance to make it more lean and efficient. I’ll leave it to others to decide the Brussels side of the headquarters, or Supreme Allied Commander Transformation, but, I believe we can streamline and reduce command structure from Allied Command Operations. We should not be afraid of that, and we should levereage innovation, new technologies and approaches to make sure this works properly.

I am engaging in conversation at the 46th Munich Security Conference.

Overall, I am a strong believer in the Alliance and I tried to communicate that in Munich. What connects us within NATO is vastly more important than what divides us today, despite the potential for some differences in views.

NATO remains the richest, strongest alliance in history; with $31 Trillion in GDP, 3+ million soldiers and sailors under arms and 80% of them are volunteers. No nation has ever attacked a NATO nation; nor has a NATO nation ever attacked another NATO nation. Not bad for 60 years of age!

The future is complicated, but I’m confident NATO will continue to be a global force for good. To me, that was the message at the Munich Security Conference.

Adm. James Stavridis
Commander, U.S. European Command and
Supreme Allied Commander Europe

The family photograph of delegates at Lancaster House attending the Afghanistan, The London Conference in London, UK Jan. 28, 2010. (Photo by: Geoff Caddick/newsteam.co.uk/Crown Copyright - For editorial purposes only - For further inquiries please contact News Team International)

I'm in California this week to give a couple of talks on NATO, Europe, and cyberspace – all of which have a lot in common. I'll be speaking up north in Monterey, and down south in San Diego. It is always pleasant to return to the west coast where I spent so much of my seagoing career – well over a decade in four assignments at sea. Both of my daughters were born here, as well. California is full of memories.

Yet, at the moment, I am thinking about a superb international event that happened last week: the International London Conference on Afghanistan. Last week, I wrote about my last trip to Afghanistan as we prepared for it. The media has thoroughly covered the conference (here’s a sample of recent coverage, based on an interview with me), and you can watch key presentations online, like this one from Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen’s review of the conference on his video blog. So rather than reiterating what's already been said, I thought I'd share with you some personal thoughts and impressions, and my interpretations of the atmospherics.

First of all, it was held in the historic Lancaster House, literally around the corner from Buckingham Palace. Given the seniority of the delegations, the crush of black SUVs pulling up to the front door was staggering. As I walked into the ornate Victorian building, I felt a real sense of luck to be part of the NATO team led by our Secretary General. As I saw 80 delegations from around the world gather to reaffirm their support for Afghanistan, I was amazed, excited and -- above all else -- honored to play a small part in this essential effort, working with so many smart, dedicated professionals, both in and out of uniform from so many countries.

I was struck by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown's sense of resolve. The British, of course, have a long history in Afghanistan and understand it well in all of its challenges and opportunities. The Prime Minister clearly believes in the mission, and was particularly welcoming to who spoke after him.

His Excellency Hamid Karzai, President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, at Lancaster House speaking the Afghanistan, The London Conference in London, UK Jan. 28, 2010. (Photo: newsteam.co.uk/Crown Copyright - For editorial purposes only - For further inquiries please contact News Team International)

President Karzai spoke very passionately about his plans for his nation in his second term. While he addressed all aspects of the challenges ahead – governance, corruption, security, economics – I was particularly impressed with his thoughts on reconciliation. I do believe some level of political reintegration of parts of the Taliban will be helpful in resolving the situation in Afghanistan, and it clearly must be led by the Afghans. The President seemed prepared to open that dialogue.

One of my very close friends in Afghanistan is their superb Minister of Defense Abdul Rahim Wardak. He was singularly convincing and moving in his speech about Afghan security forces – including an honest assessment of the challenges in building up to the right level of forces and fully integrating them with the coalition security team. I believe that process is underway and going reasonably well at this point.

In both my remarks and those of General Stan McChrystal who followed me, we spoke of the courage and tenacity of the Afghan security forces, who are sustaining 75% of the casualties in the conflict. They are clearly "in the fight,” and their capabilities are growing. I pointed out the good job they had done repelling attacks in Kabul last week without coalition assistance, as well as the increasingly complex missions they are undertaking, like the special forces raid conducted on January 4th from Afghan-piloted MI-17 helicopters.

We were followed by superb interventions (which is NATO for "presentations”) from a wide variety of nations that properly focused on governance and development, including an address by UN Secretary General Ban-Ki Moon. Secretary General Rasmussen also spoke very directly and clearly about the commitment of the alliance to this vital undertaking.

Overall, it seemed to me that there was a tangible sense of resolve and unity amongst the participants. Our strategy is clear, and while it will be difficult, there is renewed determination and momentum behind it.

After California, I'll be passing through Belgium en route to Istanbul for the NATO Defense Ministerial and then close out the week in Germany for the Munich Security Conference. The Munich Security Conference is to the international security community what the Oscars is to Hollywood … minus the red carpet, the awards, the movie stars, and the fashion. Everyone will be there, and the conversations will be fascinating. I'll fill you in next week on the details!

Adm. James Stavridis
Commander, U.S. European Command and
Supreme Allied Commander, Europe

Maj. Kristi Beckman is the Chief of Social Media for European Command Public Affairs

I’m sitting here at work in Stuttgart, Germany, looking out at the snow. Well, I guess I’m not looking at it now as I’m typing, but you get the picture. It’s not sticking yet, but I think it just might. It was just a few months ago that I was running along the water in Tampa, Florida, and it was 80 degrees. It is interesting adjusting to the cold so quickly here! Brrrr!

That being said, I am loving it here in Germany. To this day, I’m in awe that I get the privilege to work and live here as a U.S. military member with my family at U.S. European Command. It’s amazing to think about where our world was just 20 years ago.

If you don’t know, then you are hiding under a rock somewhere, but today marks the 20th Anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Just turn on any news channel and you will see the stories. I was in high school in Virginia when the wall fell and while I watched it on the news and understood it was a big deal, I didn’t really understand the impact it had. That one event marked the fall of communism in Eastern Europe and forever changed our world.

To think about how this wall went up in the first place is unbelievable as tens of thousands of people in East Germany were instantly cut off from their jobs in West Germany and countless families were separated. Can you imagine the fear and desperation?

When the wall finally fell on Nov. 9, 1989, there were many U.S. servicemembers serving in West Germany who witnessed that event and got to see the East Germans reuniting with family and friends in West Germany. It must have been an overwhelming experience to be there. Even today, I can’t help but get chills as I watch the newscasts replay this history and hear the accounts from the people who were there.

If you were there or have a good story to tell about the fall of the Berlin Wall and what this meant to you, please share!

It is autumn, harvest time here in southern Germany. People are celebrating what has been planted in the spring with fests in Munich, Stuttgart and even in smaller towns like Garmisch-Partenkirchen where I have been for the last three days.

Our EUCOM Interagency Group has also this week “harvested” something we “planted” in the spring. Then we conceived of an international, interagency partnering conference to be held at the George C Marshall Center in beautiful Garmisch. We wanted the conference to focus on the “3Ds” (Defense, Diplomacy and Development) collaborating and cooperating better together. You can see from the photo below that that idea bore fruit.

VADM Gallagher, EUCOM Deputy Commander, exchanges plaques with LTG Glatz, German Army, Commander of the Bundeswehr’s Operations.

George C. Marshall Center for European Studies, Garmisch, Germany –EUCOM’s International Interagency Symposium participants from 18 nations, EU and NATO.

We had the chance to listen to how select “example” nations do “whole of government” efforts, namely, Switzerland, Germany and the US. Their examples and offers of continued assistance were helpful in building “whole of government” capacity among participating nations from the Black Sea region (Turkey, Ukraine, Armenia, Moldova, Georgia, Bulgaria, Romania, Azerbaijan) and the western Balkans (Albania, Montenegro, Macedonia, Croatia, Kosovo, Bosnia-Herzegovina).

“There is no Development without Security. There is no Security without Development”. This phrase captured the complexity of ensuring coordination among all “3Ds” in a crisis area. I found the benefit of the symposium, as one participant noted, was that we were “talking to the other D’s, not about them”.

What were some of the key best practices that were “harvested”?

1. Conduct Joint civil-military training and exercising

2. Push for personnel exchanges between Departments

3. Create civilian stand –by expeditionary capacity

4. Strive for common strategies and shared goals

I think this partnering event produced a most important additional “D” – necessary “Dialogue”. Balkan and Black Sea states, the focus of the conference, admitted that they had a ways to go in terms of building up civilian capacities. They acknowledged that their focus for the past decade has been their militaries. They now want to answer NATO’s call for implementing a “Comprehensive Approach” and we may be able to help them with a civilian-oriented IMET–type program.

Harvest time in southern Germany gave us a chance this week to reap fruit for further collaboration and dialogue. Considering our security and stability challenges our conference participants believe there is no viable alternative to a “Comprehensive Approach”. We agreed that whole of government solutions are essential. As VADM Gallagher noted, by using them we are all “stronger together”.

Mr. Mike Anderson
GS-15, Deputy Director
Commander’s Interagency Engagement Group

This past weekend I had the pleasure of meeting the national delegations at Combined Endeavor 2009’s regional site at Bülows Kaserne, Fredericia, Denmark. Delegations at this site are from Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Ireland, Slovenia and Sweden with additional support personnel from the United States, Austria and Germany.

BÜLOWS KASERNE BASE, Denmark — Swedish Army Capt. Stefan Eklund runs fiber optic cable to his nation's workspace. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Manuel J. Martinez)

Bülows Kaserne is nestled on the shoreline of Fredericia, which is surrounded on three sides by ramparts. These fortifications figure prominently in Danish history and tied to the defense of the kingdom. Construction started in 1650 and is central in the story of the battle to free Fredericia on the 5th and 6th of July 1848.

Our visit started with a briefing by the Danish delegation chief, Lieutenant Colonel Erik Schwensen, providing an overview of the site and his responsibilities as host for the delegations in Denmark. We then participated in the daily coordination video teleconference with the other regional site in the Netherlands and main site in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

BÜLOWS KASERNE BASE, Denmark — Danish Army Lt. Col. Erik Schwensen looks over the ranks of nine countries during the Combined Endeavor opening ceremony Sept. 3, 2009 at Fredericia, Denmark.  (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Manuel J. Martinez)

The highlight was visiting each delegation and learning of the tests they had scheduled for the week, the challenges in establishing the test network and the ad hoc partnering and experimentation that was taking place. They all emphasized the challenges introduced to the exercise with having delegations and their equipment spread between three locations, vice what had become the norm with one primary location in Germany. All wanted me to clearly understand the distributed architecture to support this year’s exercise injected a level of complexity that if not managed properly, could easily distract from their stated aim of testing, validating and documenting interoperability interfaces.

Overall I was most impressed by the genuine enthusiasm, passion, pride, teamwork and excellence evident in the working relationship between these professionals, each with their national objectives, but always willing to assist others where they could.

Denmark is the host at Bülows Kaserne and much of their effort was focused on site support and connecting the three exercise locations together with their satellite communications equipment…this is huge and critical task for overall exercise success. Their interoperability testing was focused on their preparation for support of the NATO Response Force.

Finland’s focus was on preparation for their responsibilities to the European Union Battle Group (EU BG) in 2011 with partners from Ireland, Sweden and Estonia. Testing for the exercise is focused on interoperability for this division sized force. Of interest was also their test of the NATO STANAG 5066, that defines how to send e-mail over HF radio, using four different radios. Most impressive was the description of a very simple, but elegant, solution to allow two nation’s secure radios to interoperate while allowing each nation to use their own methods of securing the radio transmissions with their national crypto. Simply brilliant! I was also pleased and surprised to discover that for the past five years they have conducted their own internal Finnish Combined Endeavor as a national C4I interoperability exercise. All of the lessons learned are folded back into the training objectives for their communications and signal forces.

Slovenia was involved in robust testing of single channel HF radios supporting IP networks and command and control. One C2 system being tested is used at the company and platoon level for situation awareness and can swap tracks of forces via HF, VHF, SATCOM and IP networks. I was most impressed that Slovenia is also testing elements of recent Microsoft enterprise capabilities for their tactical forces that we have not yet fielded within the HQ USEUCOM network enterprise. When delays in establishing the testing network, which were outside of Slovenia’s control, threatened their ability to complete some of their key test objectives, the cooperative spirit of their partner delegations sprang into action to ensure their partner would have the opportunity to achieve their exercise objectives. This spirit of cooperation is just one example of the teaming and partnership throughout the site.

The team from Estonia included personnel that were charged with the responsibility to establish their national signal and communications training center for the military. CE09 is the first deployment for Estonia’s new tactical communications system called ESTTACS. In addition to validating their new kit with their regional partners, they were also responsible for network traffic monitoring for the network in Denmark supporting this element of the exercise. Additionally, they also brought a special team to evaluate new HF radio equipment that might complement their current capabilities.

Sweden was in tight collaboration with the other EU BG countries testing HF and C2 systems. They were also conducting tests with Finland on TACOMS (Tactical Communications Standards for Joint Operations). The TACOMs website describes the initiative as, “…neither a NATO program nor a NATO funded project. Rather it is a project comprised of NATO nations and non NATO nations, operating outside the normal NATO infrastructure, and funded by the Nations themselves. However, NATO prescribes the projects Military Operational Requirements and Technical Requirements…” This project is an opportunity for collaboration and innovation between the 16 partner nations.

Ireland was keen on preparing for international peacekeeping operations. They too were very interested in the additional capabilities for HF as well as NATO compliant C2 systems. During the mid planning conference for the exercise, they decided to modify, through a very quick turn development, their national friendly force tracking capability to be interoperable with NATO’s friendly force indicator protocol. Initial testing indicates success.

No doubt I’ve not done justice to all of the accomplishments I witnessed in my short visit to Bülows Kaserne, but the biggest take away of the day was that Combined Endeavor demonstrates that we are all, as the US European Command motto states…“STRONGER TOGETHER.”

Next stop...Combined Endeavor's site in The Netherlands.

Brigadier General David A. Cotton
Director, Command, Control, Communications
and Warfighting Integration (J6)
Facebook: dacotton
Twitter: DavidACotton

I started last week in Lisbon, on the heels of a trip to Stuttgart the previous Friday for staff briefings at European Command (EUCOM) and EUCOM's Annual Summer Reception, which included a spectacular concert with an Elvis Presley impersonator in full U.S. Army regalia!

I was in Lisbon for a significant event: the change of command of the major NATO Headquarters there, where a senior French officer took command of a key NATO military post.

Me handing the guidon to Lt Gen Philippe Stoltz

I was very proud to officiate and speak, along with the Portuguese Minister of Defence, Nuno Severiano Teixeira, as Lieutenant General Phillipe Stoltz, a French Army 3-star, proudly took command.  Over some good Portuguese wine in the officer’s mess later, I was able to personally welcome Phillipe. I said, “C’est un jour important pour France, mais c’est un jour magnifique pour notre l’Alliance.” (It is an important day for France, but it is a magnificent day for our alliance).

I also visited an innovative organization: the Maritime Analysis and Operations Center. This small group with representatives from seven European nations is focused on counter-narcotics from their operations center in Lisbon. Comparable to the U.S. Joint Interagency Task Force South in Key West (with whom they frequently collaborate), they seek to coordinate the law enforcement efforts of European nations to stem the flow of into the continent drugs (estimated by JIATFS to be in the region of 550+ tons of cocaine annually, for example). Headed up by an exuberant Brit, Tim Manhire, they have shown much success and I hope to partner with them under my European Command hat in interagency and international counter-narcotic work.

ANA soldier on patrol in a poppy field

From there, I flew to Kabul. I left one important area of the world to another one that I care deeply about. I had meetings first with our brilliant NATO Commander, General Stan McChrystal.  Although relatively recently arrived, the energy, drive, and intelligence of the new commander were on clear display. We had a long talk about our approach, as well as his initial tactical directives. We generally agreed that:

• Protecting the Afghan people must be the central focus of our operations   – protecting them and gaining their trust
• We must quickly build the Afghan National Army and Police to a level that permits them to gradually take responsibility throughout their land. At the end of the day, “all true security is local.”
• Cooperation with all civil elements – the United Nations mission, the various embassies, all of the international aid organizations – is crucial. Based on my experiences in Latin America and the Caribbean, I’ve come to believe that security is seldom delivered by the barrel of a gun.
• International, interagency, combined military and even private-public integration will be the keys.

President Karzai and me

I also had meetings with President Hamid Karzai; Minister of Defense Abdul Rahim Wardak; NATO Senior Civilian Representative, Ambassador Fernando Gentilini; Special Representative of the UN Secretary General, Ambassador Kai Eide; and U.S. Ambassador Karl Eikenberry and his team of senior leaders (including five full ambassadors).

Minister Wardak and me

Everyone recognizes the seriousness of the situation, and there is a great deal of focus on the upcoming election, scheduled for 20 August. Ensuring proper security and a full and free path to the polling stations is foremost in everyone’s mind at the moment.

My scheduled trip to the north – to Konduz, where our German allies are working hard – fell through with an aircraft problem, but both General McChrystal and I were able to provide the North Atlantic Council and Military Committee (28 Ambassadors and 28 senior military representatives) with a full briefing from the field.

Kocatepe Mosque in Ankara

After leaving Afghanistan, I flew directly to Turkey for two days of meetings and visits with our Turkish allies.  In addition to placing a wreath at the Mausoleum of Ataturk, I held meetings with Ambassador Jim Jeffries and the Turkish senior leadership.  I had a good one-on-one with General İlker Başbuğ, the Turkish Chief of Defense, and we discussed Turkey’s excellent contributions in Afghanistan, their increasing regional leadership role, cooperation on the border with Iraq against the terrorist PKK, and future engagement.
 

Mr. Mustafa Hakki Ozer, Muftu of Ankara, Mr. Kadir Temel, Imam of the Kocatepe Mosque and me

Turkey is a vital and important NATO ally, and for me it was a chance to return to the nation from which my grandfather and grandmother emigrated to the United States, after stopping briefly in Greece.

As I write this flying back to Mons and my new home in Belgium, I am struck by the scale of the past week – Stuttgart to Lisbon to Kabul to Ankara – and the range of issues.  All are connected by the NATO alliance: the bridge that allows a flow of ideas, interaction, and good works, today on three continents in this turbulent world.

The NATO Sea Day – held only once every two years – was an unqualified success. The object is to bring to sea the key decision makers in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization: the Secretary General and his Deputy; the entire Permanent Representatives from NATO’s decision-making body, the North Atlantic Council (all 28 nations of course have an ambassador-rank official assigned to Brussels); the Military Committee (each Chief of Defense – those of us from the U.S. would say Chairman of the Joint Chiefs – is a member, and each has a full-time, very senior representative in Brussels); and key personnel from the operational staff, i.e. Allied Command Operations / Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe.

We flew largely as a group from Brussels to the beautiful Spanish Naval Base at Rota, Spain, just across the bay from historic Cádiz, from which so many expeditions were launched from Europe to the New World.  As I saw the sparkling water of the mid-Atlantic from the plane, I could not help but think of the power and importance of that trans-Atlantic link, reflected in the bridge of the deep blue ocean.

In Spain, I had a chance to meet the impressive Minister of Defense of Spain, Carme Chacón, who also had a meeting with the Secretary General, my good friend and NATO boss, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer.  The Secretary General is wrapping up an exceptionally successful five plus years as the leader of the Alliance, and it was good to see him.  After our meetings with the Spanish senior civilian leadership, we all manned up five different NATO ships and got underway.

The squadron was composed of ships from Portugal (the Corte Real, the flagship of the maritime group), Spain, Germany, the Netherlands, and the U.S.  We divided our party of more than 60 people into groups and set sail on a perfect summer’s day in the Mediterranean.  Each ship conducted a series of demonstrations for the visitors, including gunnery, close maneuver, special operations, and particularly anti-piracy.  This NATO squadron has just returned from a long deployment to the Horn of Africa, where they successfully conducted anti-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden.  Their work was a welcome complement to the European Union efforts of a similar ilk, Operation Atalanta.  Learning how to balance NATO and EU efforts operationally is something I am keenly interested in and will focus on in the time ahead.

After an initial couple of hours on the frigates, we all flew helicopters to the aircraft carrier USS DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER (CVN 69).  As the current SACEUR, it was a nice feeling to touch down on the massive U.S. warship named for the first and greatest of all SACEURs.  President Eisenhower, who returned after retiring to become the first SACEUR, had a clear and compelling vision for the Alliance which lives on today. The ship which bears his name – 95,000 tons, four and a half acres of flight deck, 6,000 sailors and aviators and more than 60 aircraft – is testament to the enduring capability of NATO.

On the carrier, we were treated to an air power demonstration by Carrier Air Wing 7, a close aboard sail-by of the five frigates, and tours with attendant briefs on anti-piracy operations.  On a personal note, it was fun to be at sea with some of the very senior leadership of the Alliance – in addition to the Ambassadors and the Military Committee I had a chance to spend time with Admiral Giampaolo di Paola, the distinguished Chairman of the NATO Military Committee.  He’s commanded a frigate, submarines, and the Italian aircraft carrier Garibaldi– a rare triple crown.   Also aboard was General Karl-Heinz Lather of Germany, the Chief of Staff at SHAPE; Admiral Sir Trevor Soar, the British Commander-in-Chief of their Fleet; Admiral Mark Fitzgerald of the U.S. Navy; General Egon Ramms of Germany, and Admiral of the Fleet, D. Juan C. Muñoz-Delgado, Commander in Chief of the Spanish Fleet.

The mission: let our senior NATO leadership come to sea and learn about the maritime potential of the Alliance, from anti-piracy to counter smuggling boarding operations to surveillance to strike. It was a good day, and as I flew home into the twilight of a long summer’s day, I felt we’d done a good job. It was fun to be back at sea, if only for a day.

In March I hosted senior military, business and community leaders from Germany and France aboard the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) aircraft carrier as it made its way through the Mediterranean Sea.

Today, I have the opportunity to escort military and community leaders from Poland and Germany aboard the “Ike” and I can’t think of a better platform to demonstrate the United States’ commitment to building partnerships here in Europe. It’s my sincere hope that our guests walk away with a greater appreciation and understanding of that commitment.

The importance of these visits rests on my shoulders as I continue to encourage partnerships and build friendships within the theater. The United States’ commitment to promote continued peace and stability throughout Europe is a role I don’t take lightly.

As NATO members, Germany and Poland play key roles in global anti-terrorism efforts. And the efforts by these two nations – and all nations within the European Command’s area of focus – to strengthen their commitments as strategic partners is testimony for long lasting stability in Europe.

VADM Dick Gallagher
Deputy Commander
U.S. European Command