By Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
U.S. AFRICOM Public Affairs  Print     Share  

STUTTGART, Germany - The United States' senior-most military officer, Admiral Mike Mullen, talks to staff of U.S. Africa Command during a visit June 26, 2008, to Stuttgart, Germany. As chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Mullen is the senior military advisor to the U.S. president. (Photo by Vince Crawley, U.S. Africa Command)

STUTTGART, Germany, 

Jun 27, 2008 — Current concerns voiced by some people about U.S. Africa Command are based on the newness of the headquarters and fact that the U.S. military historically has not been widely engaged in Africa, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff told reporters during a visit to AFRICOM headquarters June 26, 2008.

Admiral Mike Mullen, the United States' most senior military officer, said he looks forward to a time, in the years ahead, when Africa Command is like other U.S. regional commands, enjoying a "comfortable relationship" with the countries in its region.

Following is a transcript of Mullen's press meeting:


QUESTION: You mentioned about changing the way that the government -- (inaudible). Why specifically do you think -- (inaudible)?

ADMIRAL MICHAEL G. MULLEN: Well, it's tied to the question I answered about capacity and the expeditionary aspect of what we're doing, the kind of engagements that we're in, and we dramatically downsized the military in the '90s and we have capacity requirements that are now supported by contractors, for example. We've got requirements for other parts of our government -- agriculture, treasury, commerce, and our Provincial Reconstruction Teams that make a huge difference in Afghanistan. Afghanistan's income is some -- 70 to 80 percent of it is agriculture, so having individuals who have that expertise can make such a huge difference in people's lives and in the long-term development there.

And so I just -- I think that our government structures have to be adjusted. And it's not just the departments; I think it's the funding streams. It goes right to the engagements we've got with various committees. I grew up essentially on the Defense Appropriations Committee and Defense Authorization Committee. I spend time now with Foreign Affairs, with Veterans, with Intelligence. It's just an example of how all of us I think have to reach in a more integrated way across the entirety of our government.

QUESTION: Do you worry about our perception in the world?

ADM. MULLEN: Do I worry about our perception in the world? I'm comfortable that what I said at the end in terms of the importance of the United States to continue to be engaged, and that's why Africa here is so important. And it's such an important, positive step to take in order to continue to be able to engage and establish relationships and partnerships where assistance is requested in an area like Africa, but other parts of the world as well.

QUESTION: You mentioned about its integrating agencies that work together. Are you worried that the government is just too cumbersome to make that happen in a timely manner, because it seems like we were a little bit behind the eight ball when these engagements, these operations happened in Iraq and Afghanistan and now we're playing catch up. And are you afraid that when we do catch up, the whole paradigm will have changed again?

ADM. MULLEN: Well, government is, by definition, terribly bureaucratic and tough to move. And there's some stability and goodness tied to that, but at the same time I think we're living in a world where we've got to be able to adapt and change, be more flexible. Individuals need to be -- units need to be in the military and I think our government structures need to be as well. And we can be very, very slow, and in that regard unresponsive.

And I do worry. In a time of change you worry about changing towards a -- you know, head in one direction and then by the time you get there the direction has changed. But that's why I talked about here it's a time of constant change, constant adjustment. We're not going to get to a steady state.

QUESTION: Speaking of change here in Europe, there has been some downsizing in the past several years but that came to a screeching halt and now there seems to be a rethinking of military transformation over here. Where do you see that coming from?

ADM. MULLEN: Well, first of all, the whole issue of how much we've changed across the board is pretty dramatic. Sometimes it's difficult to step back and really look at the differences in our military between 2001 and now. It's been pretty extraordinary. And an area to focus on in that regard is clearly the counterinsurgency capability where we -- we were not -- we didn't do it, basically, and now I think we're the leading counterinsurgency force in the world, and that's what, certainly, two wars will do to you, and it's happened pretty dramatically once we made up our mind we're going to do it.

I think we have to constantly assess the changes that we're making, so the footprint size in Europe is a good example and some of that is ongoing right now. That doesn't mean we won't continue on the path that we were on, but constantly assessing that. And I think it's more a factor of that than anything else.

QUESTION: Sir, please one more question.

ADM. MULLEN: Yes?

QUESTION: There is some misperception about what the function of the Africa Command is.

ADM. MULLEN: Right.

QUESTION: What is the source that -- how do we overcome that as we move forward?

ADM. MULLEN: I think some of it is tied just to the newness of it. We have not been engaged -- heavily engaged in Africa historically. So there are questions from people on the continent; there are questions from those who have been engaged historically, some of the former countries who were colonial powers in that part of the world. So I think a lot of it's tied to the newness of it. That's why I talked about this morning the importance of us constantly repeating the mission, constantly repeating the message about what the intent is, which is to have an engagement -- an engagement plan for a really vital time and a way to meet the challenges that are clearly there in a world that I believe demands that in terms of global and more than anything else.

So it's really going to be through this command more than anyplace else, certainly in our military and possibly in our government, that we're going to be engaging Africa in the next 10 to 20 years, and I really look to an end state similar to what we have in other combatant commands where it's a very comfortable relationship with the combatant commander in the Pacific and the countries around the region, and I think we'll get there. I think there's a -- it's just going to take us in this -- with this new command, new engagement here, it's going to take us some time to go through it.

STAFF: Thanks, guys.

(END OF TRANSCRIPT)

Transcript by
Federal News Service
Washington, D.C.