Blog Posts from June, 2010
LOGEX 10: Building a Bridge to a Secure Future
Hello again and welcome to the latest update on LOGEX 10. I am currently writing from the historic city of Bucharest, Romania. I noted in previous blogs that we were in the middle of a series of five bilateral workshops that prepare participants for the actual exercise in September.
Participants stand in front of the Cercul Militar National (CMN) building during the US-Romania bi-lateral NSE/LOGFAS/RSOM workshop in Bucharest, Romania.
These workshops are designed for each participating nation to develop NATO National Detailed Deployment Plans (DDPs) for use at the Final Workshop next month.
The more workshops I attend, the more I see how these events are great sources of information and learning for everyone. The workshops break the participants down into small working groups that develop national DDPs, learn about deployed contracting concepts, and review National Support Element (NSE) guidelines. One could say that the participants are building a bridge to not only a successful exercise, but to a stronger and more capable national logistics capability that contributes to NATO-led operations.
For NATO-aspirant nations, these achievements, among others, are potential ways to reach Membership Action Plan (MAP) goals. Started in 1999, The Membership Action Plan (MAP) assists those countries which wish to join the Alliance in their preparations by providing advice, assistance and practical support. It is important to note, however, that participation in MAP does not guarantee future NATO membership, but oversight from NATO does provide aspiring countries with critical feedback on their preparations for achieving future membership, and may also suggest a range of additional activities designed to strengthen each aspirant country’s candidacy.
Planning continues in Romania and Hungary this month as we quickly approach execution. July will also be a busy month as we conduct the Final Workshop and Final Coordination Conference. Of those two remaining events, I submit that the Final Workshop is perhaps the most critical of the workshops because it is time where all the participating nations get together and consolidate their national plans into one cohesive and executable plan that will be inputted into the exercise data base for execution. It is truly a multinational effort, so it is important that the team get it right the first time because we all know that, “garbage in is garbage out.” It is for this reason that nothing in the LOGEX series ever done in a vacuum, and all decisions require a consensus from everyone involved. I am confident that we will have a challenging and rewarding exercise.
I would like to extend my gratitude to the Romania Ministry of National Defense (MOND) and LTC Cornel Comeaga, LTC Ion Lazarescu, and MAJ Bogdan Pascal who have all worked hard to ensure the success of this event. Equally important are the hours and hours of preparation for the course material and lectures from the training team that includes subject matter experts from JFCOM, Allied Command Transformation and the NATO School.
So the bridge framework appears secure and the destination is certainly leading our allied partners towards a stronger and more capable Alliance. Stronger Together.
That does it for this month; join me next time for another edition of LOGEX 10.
Noroc!
MAJ Matt Williams
United States European Command J4
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NATO chaplains work to be Stronger Together
Military chaplains from Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway, Canada, Poland, Germany, Czech Republic, Lithuania, Italy, and the U.S. comprised the group that met at the Italian Air Force (ITAF) Headquarters for the annual NATO Air Force Chaplains Conference in Rome from June 13-18.
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Albania looks to EUCOM for chaplaincy advice
I spent the week of June 7-11 in Tirana, Albania, hosted by the US Defense Attaché and Office of Defense Cooperation. They invited me to help assess the need for the Albanians to establish a military chaplaincy as they anticipate the possibility of casualties from their combat mission in Afghanistan. Currently, their law prohibits religious expression in the military even though its permitted by law in the civilian population since 1991.
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Time for a Paradigm Shift?
If you are a cable news junkie, then you’ve probably watched BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation), one the largest, if not the largest, broadcasting organizations in the world. Yesterday, I had the opportunity to listen to Nik Gowing speak courtesy of ADM Stavridis’ 'Notable Film and Author Series’ and the EUCOM J9 Directorate. Nik presents the BBC's flagship news program, The Hub, which reports on global news for audiences across South Asia and the Middle East. He interviewed ADM Stavridis about operations in Marjah this past February and also recently wrote 'Skyful of Lies' and Black Swans, a study that addresses the role hand-held, multi-media technology plays in shaping public perceptions of government responses in crisis situations.
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Jumping In
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 66th 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.
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Building Bridges
Our Commander, Admiral Jim Stavridis, often challenges us to serve like a “bridge” linking U.S. European Command to others. In May, we linked EUCOM with three varied groups, acting as a kind of bridge spanning oceans and generations.
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Public–Private Collaboration: The Next Big Thing
Over 25 years ago our defense establishment – pushed by Congress – started the process of creating a “joint” military – where services plan, train for, and execute military missions together. Then about five years after that, mainly because we found we needed better coordination among agencies conducting peace and stability operations, the government started to work on creating an interagency culture and process.
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"Dress right dress!"
This military verbal command, which is used to line up troops, is probably still ringing in the heads of the U.S., French, and German military members that lined up side by side in several ceremonies yesterday in the Normandy region of France.
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Passing the legacy of American troops one generation at a time
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.
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D-Day Paratrooper Keeps Watch from Church Steeple
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.
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D-Day's legacies live today
I’m new to EUCOM, new to Europe altogether, and I cannot imagine a better time of year: we just celebrated Memorial Day and the 66th Anniversary of D-Day is here. And I’m in Europe for all of it.
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A Memorial Day to Remember: On the Road to D-Day Anniversary
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.
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I am looking forward to see all of you next month in the same place in Bucharest. Maj Bogdan Pascal