Blog Posts tagged with "NATO"
Missiles and Pirates
In the week ahead, I'll focus on two topics that don't always get a huge amount of attention, but are very important: piracy and missile defense. These are two key missions we are undertaking today with NATO forces and reflect the kind of trans-national threats that the Alliance must be prepared to face in this turbulent 21st century.
A member of the maritime interdiction operations Visit, Board, Search, and Seizure team attached to USS Stephen W. Groves climbs down the boarding ladder to conduct a boarding exercise designed to enhance regional maritime partnerships among the 14 participating countries in their efforts to deter illicit trafficking at sea. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Edward Vasquez/Released) Let me begin with piracy.
We face a significant global problem that has caused extensive and expensive disruptions to the global maritime transportation grid. In particular, off the horn of Africa in the northern Indian Ocean, we've seen hundreds of pirate attacks and dozens of successful hijackings over the past five years. Costs to the international community are estimated to be as high as $5-10 billion per year, and hundreds of mariners have been held hostage for ransom.
Although the success rate and the numbers of attacks are down this year, we still have seven ships and more than 100 hostages held by Somali pirates on the largely ungoverned east coast of Africa.
NATO, along with the European Union and a variety of individual nations -- Russia, China, Japan, Korea, India, Iran, the Gulf States -- have maintained an average of 20-30 ships on patrol in the waters stretching from the Red Sea past the Gulf of Aden and down into the Northern Indian Ocean. These forces have captured hundreds of pirates, with 500 now in a variety of jails around the world.
The shipping industry has also responded forcefully by implementing a series of "best business practices" that include traveling in convoys, hardening defenses (such as concertina wire along the decks), posting additional look-outs, and hiring private security teams. To date, no ship with an embarked private security team has been successfully hijacked, although many have been attacked.
In London, the U.N. sponsored International Maritime Organization (IMO) will be co-hosting a conference September 24-25 that brings together many of the key stakeholders involved in the fight against piracy. That includes NATO (represented by British 4-star Admiral, Sir George Zamballas, commander of our Maritime Component Command in Northwood, UK, and myself); the European Union, represented by their senior naval commander; the heads of security for many of the world's larger shipping companies; as well as journalists, academics and other experts.
We'll share our thoughts and ideas on how to build on the successes of the past 12 months in facing this threat. Much of the conversation will center of improving private-public cooperation between the shippers and the protecting forces; as well as how we can move ashore to pre-empt pirate strikes and disrupt their bases and logistics, build local forces (i.e. coast guards), and utilize the "comprehensive approach" to reduce the attraction of piracy as an occupation.
Later in the week, I'll be turning my attention to missile defense.
The NATO center for missile defense is in Ramstein, Germany, at the Air Component Command ably led by US Air Force 4-star General Phil Breedlove, a deeply experienced airman with multiple tours in Europe during his 30+ year career. General Breedlove is working hard on putting the nascent NATO missile defense system in place.
The Ticonderoga class guided-missile cruiser USS Monterey provides the ballistic missile defense under the European Phased Adaptive Approach. Currently, we have a command and control system largely located in Ramstein; and advanced phased array radar forward deployed in NATO ally Turkey's southern region; and several AEGIS missile defense ships operating at sea in the Eastern Mediterranean. This provides the beginning of a missile defense system over Turkey, Greece, and parts of the Balkans.
Over time, our plan is to add additional radars and missile systems ashore, as well as to bring four additional missile defense AEGIS destroyers into the Mediterranean, to be stationed in Rota, Spain.
We will be working on burden-sharing, as many of the NATO allies have good missile defense capability at sea and ashore that can be linked into the system. Unfortunately, we still have some disagreements with Russia about the system (Russia is concerned this system may have the capability to defeat their strategic ICBM force, an assessment with which we do not agree, nor is it our intent, plan or policy to threaten their strategic force with this system, but we are working to dispel this misconception.), but that conversation continues. I'm hoping to eventually see a robust missile defense system in place that provides coverage for the entire Alliance.
Appropriately, I am spending a great deal of time on the challenges of Afghanistan and the Balkans at the moment; but there are other key issues at work facing the Alliance, and this week I'll be investing in these two areas.
Best,
Jim
Admiral, USN
Supreme Allied Commander, Europe
Commander, US European Command
"Stronger Together"
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- From the Bridge
- Aegis
- piracy
- anti-piracy
- Admiral James Stavridis
- European Phased Adaptive Approach
- countertrafficking
- NATO
- trafficking
- Mediterranean Sea
- General Philip M. Breedlove
An Active Autumn Ahead
As we wrap up high summer, it's a sensible time to look ahead at the fall and think about the big tasks facing the NATO Alliance and US European Command. The Olympics and the Jubilee fade to memory, and hopefully most folks have managed to break away for a short vacation to recharge. The autumn will be a busy time.
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EUCOM Turns 60 Today
Today we celebrate the 60th anniversary of the inception of our command. Our dedicated Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines and civilians are a fine time.
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Rejoinder to "Punch Them in the Nose ... and Then Leave" by CDR John Kuehn, Proceedings
While I certainly sympathize with the thrust of John Kuehn's title in his energetic article about the situation in Afghanistan, I'd like to offer a somewhat different perspective from my position as the Supreme Allied Commander for all NATO operations, including the 140,000, 50-nation coalition in Afghanistan.
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Three Good Events in Afghanistan
Afghanistan is always challenging. We continue to focus on the ongoing insurgency, the presence of terrorists across the border in Pakistan, and a persistent level of corruption. Yet over the past few days, we've had a string of fairly positive developments.
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NATO: A Summer Agenda
As NATO finishes up the successful Chicago Summit and moves into the summer months, several key issues are bubbling.
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Commitment to 2014 and Beyond
As the North Atlantic Council finished up the 25th Summit it is clearly evident that it was a summit of commitment. The Alliance made the commitment to complete transition in Afghanistan and to support Afghans in achieving a stable future. It also made the commitment to ensuring NATO is capable of dealing with 21st century challenges, as well as the commitment to further strengthen connections with our global partners. Most importantly, the Chicago Summit demonstrated our commitment to each other - the unbreakable bond between North America and Europe, which remains the bedrock of our security.
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Sailing on to the NATO Chicago Summit
We've just concluded the two big warm-up events that have brought into focus what we'll be doing at the NATO Summit in mid-May, scheduled to be held in Chicago.
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Happy 60th Birthday to Baden-Württemberg, EUCOM’s Partner and Host
Today, Baden-Württemberg (BW), Germany celebrates the 60th anniversary of officially becoming a state. I heartily congratulate them on this historic occasion.
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Risks, Opportunities, and Open Source Security
In the world of security, we are generally focused on "risk." We worry about the chances of war, the spread of weapons of mass destruction, the likelihood of a ballistic missile attack, or the possibility of a biologic contagion. Understanding risk allows us to calculate how much we should spend on defense compared to what our potential opponents are spending.
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Prepping for Congressional Testimony
One of the most important things I do each year is to testify in front of the US Congress. I'm at home this weekend preparing carefully for this annual opportunity to lay out the challenges, linkages, and initiatives of U.S. European Command.
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Happy Birthday, Lithuania!
Lithuania is a steadfast ally and friend of the United States. Also, US European Command is a bilateral partner with Lithuania’s new national Energy Security Center
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Back From Afghanistan
As always, Afghanistan presents a mixed picture; but I remain cautiously optimistic that we can execute our planned transition to Afghan security responsibility across the country by the end of 2014. We are continuing to build on a successful 2011 from a security perspective.
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Key Elements from the Munich Security Conference
Ah, the Munich Security Conference. Certainly the most prestigious of all the global security conferences, with routine appearances by heads of government, Defense and other ministers of state, brilliant academics, journalists and even a few Admirals and Generals.
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Outline shaping up for Chicago summit
After a busy week of meetings and presentations in London, Berlin, and Washington DC, I am beginning to see the outline of key NATO conversations at the summit in May.
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NATO in 2011 – Five Key Events
As I look back on 2011, I think we had a reasonably good year in the operational sense. Lots of good “end of the year” retrospectives are appearing in various magazines and on-line sites, and I thought I’d chip in with my own top five operational moments for the Alliance this past year – and a hope that it stays at least relatively quiet between now and the end of the year.Stavridis
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“Black Gold, Texas Tea”
Cooperation on Energy Security issues is in Lithuania’s and the United State’s common interests. The MOU outlines ways in which both organizations, EUCOM and the Energy Security Center, can continue to work and coordinate together.
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Our German Hosts
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.
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Developing a True Strategic Partnership with Russia
My visit was part of NATO’s outreach and desire to develop a “true strategic partnership with Russia,” as it says in the Strategic Concept approved at the Lisbon Summit last fall. In my role as the Supreme Allied Commander, I continue to search for zones of cooperation with the Russian military.
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Briefing the Ministers …
This coming week, the 28 Ministers of Defense of the NATO alliance will gather in Brussels for meetings and discussions. They will be accompanied by another 22 Ministers from additional troop contributing nations in Afghanistan — in essence, the entire coalition will be represented.
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Why Public-Private Collaboration?
A few weeks ago, I had the unique and exciting opportunity to address the 28-member NATO Military Committee regarding Public-Private Collaboration.
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Balkan Ghosts
Libya and Afghanistan seem to get all the headlines about NATO these days. But lately, I've been thinking and working on the Balkans. We need to make sure that the Balkan ghosts of violence from the 1990s don't reappear.
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Libya Update
NATO is conducting operations over Libya to support UN resolutions 1970 and 1973, which call for establishing an arms embargo, instituting a "no-fly" zone, and protecting the civilian population of Libya. These missions are going reasonably well, particularly the no-fly zone and arms embargo which are both clear mission successes.
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The Importance of Collaboration and Cooperation in 1648 and Today
The Treaty of Westphalia, signed in 1648 in the Rathaus of Muenster, Germany, ended one of Europe’s bloodiest periods: the Thirty Years War (1618-1648) fought mostly on German soil, and 80 years of war between Spain and the Dutch Republic. Today two nations that benefitted from that peace treaty, Germany and the Netherlands (it achieved its independence as a result), are the framework nations for a multinational NATO High Readiness Corps headquartered in Muenster.
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Three Transitions in Afghanistan
I'm flying over the Caspian Sea, returning from three days in Afghanistan. It was an eventful visit, my tenth over the past twenty months or so.
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Operation UNIFIED PROTECTOR Update
Since NATO took over the Libyan mission at the end of March (see my earlierblog for a description of the mission), we have launchedalmost 6,000 total aircraft sorties. Over 2,500 of them have been strikeand suppression of air defenses. While the US provides about 25 percent ofthe support sorties (intelligence, refueling, surveillance, reconnaissance,suppression of enemy air defense), the rest of the coalition provides theremaining 75 percent.
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My speech notes from the Atlantic Council Awards dinner: Why NATO Matters …
Thank you very much, Jim [Jones], for that extremely generous introduction. You could say between SACEUR 14 and SACEUR 16, you have the “long and the short” of it. Indeed, some would say the procession from Jim Jones, a towering figure, to my -- shall we say more compact -- frame, might indicate a diminishing of the Alliance, but I will try my best to look taller tonight.
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Reflections on Osama bin Laden's Death
It's been a long decade, but a key step in the global effort to end violentextremism has been achieved, executed by incredibly dedicated professionals.
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Efficiencies in Europe: adjusting the US Force Posture
There has been tremendous speculation over the past year about the future of U.S. Force Posture in Europe.
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A Pretty Good Birthday
Along with two of the youngest members of the command, I cut a birthday cake to celebrate the moment sixty years ago, on 2 April 1951, when SACEUR Dwight D. Eisenhower activated Allied Command Europe – the predecessor to today’s Allied Command Operations – and its headquarters, the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe.
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Odyssey Dawn, Unified Protector? Here's what it means...
Not surprisingly, I’ve received a lot of questions about what is happening in Libya in both my capacity as Commander of the US European Command (USEUCOM) and as the Supreme Allied Commander, Europe (SACEUR).
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Advances in Afghanistan
Amidst all the attention, appropriately, to Libya, Egypt, Tunisia, Japan, Yemen and other ongoing events around the world, there was an important and noteworthy development in Afghanistan yesterday.
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Meeting of the NATO Defense Ministers
We just finished an excellent two-day meeting in Brussels with the 28 NATO Defense Ministers -- including, of course, my bosses Secretary of Defense Bob Gates and Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen. The meeting focused on one expected challenge -- Afghanistan -- and one new issue, Libya.
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Strategy at the Heart of the Matter
A few weeks ago, I referred to myself as a “strategist” during a speech. This prompted someone to ask me what “strategy” means to me. What a superb question! So often the word is overused…it seems almost everything is “strategic” these days. And yet, in our business and in my current job, strategy is at the heart of what we do.
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Cyber Defense is a Team Sport
The theme of this conference was “Empowering a Cyber Defense Workforce" and included over one hundred participants with 40 partner cyber defenders from 18 countries, NATO, and other international organizations. The cheer squad came from USEUCOM's components, DoD agencies and industry.
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Munich Security Conference Brings out the Stars
There is something of a red carpet, a press of media, crowds everywhere, the buzz of deal cutting and gossiping, all held in an elegant 18th century hotel in the heart of Bavaria.
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A Few Days in Afghanistan
The security situation in Helmand Province was significantly different this month than it was when I last visited in January 2010. I was especially struck by the continued improvement in the performance and size of the Afghan security forces down south. In 2010, there were roughly 10,000 ISAF servicemen and 2,000 ANSF in Helmand Province, roughly a 5:1 ratio. Today, there are 30,000 ISAF and 30,000 ANSF – a 1:1 ratio with Afghan forces increasingly in the lead. Afghan flags fly across the province, schools are open, bazaars are thriving. There is a sense of progress.
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A Few Days in Afghanistan
Last week, I had a good visit to Afghanistan -- three days, including a swing through Helmand in the south.
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Five Great Reads for the New Year
Every year I look back through my reading journal and ask myself, “what were my top books of the year?” and why. Given my current job, some of them may seem obvious choices, but others may surprise. Here they are:
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Discussing Turkey, Foreign Policy and what lies ahead
Dr. Soner Cagaptay, Senior Fellow and Director of the Turkish Research Program at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy was a guest speaker for the EUCOM Forum for International Affairs Speaker Series Dec. 15.
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Dr. Strangelove Strikes Again!
Many of you know that we have a Notable Author and Film series at both my EUCOM and SHAPE headquarters, which allows us to routinely take a step back from our desk work and learn from some of the authors and artists who are observers, critics and practitioners of national security.
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When Cultures Collide
Often, friction is the result of cultural collisions – disagreements stemming from differences in fundamental belief systems, well established processes, and patterns of execution.
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Three Outcomes from Lisbon
We finished the Lisbon summit last week – really a high point thus far in the nearly 18 months I’ve been the Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR). While not without some challenges, overall the summit must be judged a real success.
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Admiral Stavridis' Thanksgiving Day Message
Admiral Stavridis' Thanksgiving Day Message
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The Silk Road, Then and Now
The historic Silk Road traversed 3 present-day US geographic commands; European Command (EUCOM), Central Command (CENTCOM) and Pacific Command (PACOM), as it wound its way from Italy in the west to China in the east by way of Afghanistan pretty much right in the middle.
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Off to Lisbon!
Currently, 28 NATO Heads of States and Governments (HoSG) are expected to convene at the NATO Summit. Over a series of meetings, our leaders will discuss a handful of issues central to the future security of Europe and North America, focusing on the new strategic concept and its subsequent implementation: crisis management; missile defense; the comprehensive approach; cyber security; and NATO headquarters and command structure reform.
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The Road Ahead
I had an experience last week I never expected when I began my naval career in the 1970s during the Cold War period: a four-day visit to Moscow and St. Petersburg, hosted by the Russian Chief of Defense.
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Admiral Stavridis comments on the Northern European Chief of Defense Conference
Military leaders from Nordic and Baltic countries to include Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Sweden, and of course, the host country of Norway joined the Admiral to discuss regional issues and challenges that they share.
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The Difference a Decade Makes
I spent a fascinating day in Kosovo last week, visiting as the NATO Commander just a few days before Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived to represent ongoing US support for Kosovo. In a phrase: What a difference a decade makes.I met with the clergy at Zociste Monastery in Southern Kosovo.
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No Trainers, No Transition
In the past ten months there has been measured progress in the Afghan National Security Force (ANSF); in quality as well as quantity. Since last November, NATO Training Mission Afghanistan has supported the Afghan Ministries of Interior and Defense to recruit, train and assign over 100,000 soldiers and police, an incredible feat. To achieve this, the training capacity was increased, moving from under 10,000 seats for police training alone to almost 15,000.
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Observations from a friend in Afghanistan
In a recent email to family and friends, he did a nice job of laying out the task ahead and the stakes, with a focus on information. I thought others might be interested in his thoughts and observations, and so I'm including him as a guest blogger today:
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Afghanistan's "East Point" Military Academy
On this last trip we took a tour of the National Military Academy of Afghanistan. Years ago a friend of mine, a graduate of West Point, proudly told me about “East Point”, the military academy in Afghanistan modeled after West Point. Last week when I spoke to a professor at the military academy, as we ended the conversation, he emphasized “one important point that you should know, we are modeled after West Point.” The pride with which they both described this relationship gave me a sense of the bonds being built by the Afghan soldiers and their ISAF partners.
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LOGEX 10: CAPSTONE
During the past week of LOGEX 10, I’ve had the distinct honor to serve among and work with some of the best people in the multinational logistics community. I was impressed by the professionalism and competence of our friends in US Joint Forces Command (USJFCOM) J7, Allied Command Transformation (ACT) and our NATO Allies and partners. These characteristics truly show during events such as this and I am proud to be associated with the exercise and everyone here.
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NATO's Challenges and Achievements in Afghanistan
Last week I completed my sixth trip to Afghanistan since becoming SACEUR. As always, I was struck by the challenges we face – corruption, ANSF attrition, and IEDs to name a few. More importantly, however, I am encouraged by the progress I saw during my visit and am more convinced than ever than we can succeed in Afghanistan.
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Vitality of Turkey, a Strong NATO Ally
I attended a fascinating event on Friday night in Ankara: the change of command ceremony for the Chief of the Turkish General Staff, the senior military officer in Turkey.
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International Response to National Disasters
As we learn time and again, Mother Nature demands our respect. Although the core competency of militaries is not humanitarian work, we are sometimes called upon to help respond to natural disasters, providing life-saving support to affected communities.
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In Recognition of Ramadan
You may be wondering why the EUCOM commander is taking the time to talk about the significance of Ramadan. I am a firm believer in learning as much as we can about the peoples that we work with and their cultures. It helps us understand each other better and it also brings to our attention key events that we should keep in mind when planning our operations.
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Why NATO Matters to the USA
Pretty surprising that a Supreme Allied Commander Europe – standing as I do in the footsteps of General Dwight D. Eisenhower, just 65 years after the end of WWII and after 60 years of the founding of the Alliance – would feel need to blog about “Why NATO Matters to the USA.”
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Continued Focus in Afghanistan
It’s been a busy couple of weeks since my last blog, including trips all over the NATO world. As regular followers of both US and NATO security interests, I’m sure you already know what a busy couple of weeks it has been.
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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.
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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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What’s Working In Afghanistan
Just back from two days in Kabul, and when I think back on the situation a year ago, the progress is very encouraging.
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Memorial Day: A path to service
As Memorial Day approaches, and brings thoughts of sacrifice, it makes me wonder what leads people into the military. It varies for everyone, of course, but in many cases, it is the power of family and community that draws us into the military. Here is my story.
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What's the next big thing?
As social networking or social media becomes commonplace and the youngest to the oldest are chatting on Facebook, Linked In, Twitter and YouTube; one wonders what the next big thing will be.
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Rough Waters in the Cyber Sea
Just back from Romania and Bulgaria, two countries that truly support U.S. and NATO efforts around the world. One thing we talked about was the cyber world and the implications for all of our nations.
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Time
We’re scrambling at the moment to figure out a way back to Europe, as an enormous cloud of volcanic ash has closed many of the airports in the region. It makes me realize, again, how valuable time is for all of us. In the end, it is the most important resource we have.
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LOGEX 10 Workshops: Two Down … Three to Go
As promised in February, welcome to another edition of LOGEX 10. This month’s events find me at the National Support Element (NSE) & Logistics Functional Area Services (LOGFAS) workshop in the Czech Republic, which is the second in a series of five workshops designed for each participating nation in this year’s exercise. Warrant Officer Martin Turner (RAF), Allied Command Transformation, provides instruction on LOGFAS.
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Headed home after four days in Australia and New Zealand
Headed home over the South Pacific after four days in Australia and New Zealand, strong allies and partners in Afghanistan as part of our 45-nation International Security Force – it was an excellent visit.
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The Loss of a Great Friend
I'm flying over the deep blue of the southern Pacific Ocean -- enroute to New Zealand and Australia for security discussions about Afghanistan -- and I've just learned of the death of Polish General and Chief of Defense Franciszek Gagor, along with the President of Poland and much of the senior leadership.
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Military chaplains evolve with changing religious landscape
From strategic to sensitive, the military chaplaincy prepares its clergy to advise commanders and provide spiritual counsel in time of contingency operations.
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Progress Continues in the Balkans
The good cooperation between NATO, the EU, and the Kosovo Police and Security Forces has been noteworthy. I had a chance to observe a very impressive exercise conducted between the three entities against a mock “riot.” The three layers of response (Kosovo Police, EU, and NATO) reacted properly and smoothly. It is clear that coordination between the local forces and the two external agencies are going well, and we’ll continue to improve on it.
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U.S., “Team Brussels” and EUCOM
On Nov. 25, 2009 I proposed in these spaces an idea of linking the leadership of U.S. European Command with the senior U.S. leaders based in Brussels, the “Capital of Europe.” Then I suggested a meeting involving America’s geographic military command in Europe - EUCOM, with the 3 U.S. Ambassadors representing America to Belgium, NATO and the European Union. I’m happy to report that that idea materialized into a productive, informative visit March 19, 2010.
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Social Media in Afghanistan and European Command
How do we do social media at U.S. European Command? My VLog is here to help answer that question, as well as tell you what the troops in Afghanistan are doing at the NATO Training Mission - Afghanistan. This is my first VLog so I hope you enjoy it and please share your thoughts ... And don't forget: It's a social thing, so let's socialize! [wpvideo 4iz3GiGe]
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Off to Washington!
I’m on Capitol Hill next week to update Congress on the successes and challenges of U.S. European Command and the security environment in Europe. As you’d expect, this is a BIG deal for us, and we’ve been preparing for months.
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Visiting our Allies in Western Europe
If you read this blog regularly, you know I am committed to engaging actively and personally around the region to futher our shared security objectives. Last week was yet another busy week of travel in Europe.
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A Rude Awakening in Kabul, Afghanistan
This is Day 6 for the EUCOM social media team training in Kabul, Afghanistan and it's one that I'll remember for a long time to come.
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Stronger Together: Logistics Exercise 2010 Mid Planning Conference (LOGEX10)
It is no secret that EUCOM remains committed to enduring partnerships and increased interoperability with NATO.... look at any Directors calendar and you'll probably notice how busy we all are towards that commitment. This year marks the third EUCOM-led logistics exercise, which is a Command Post Exercise (CPX) that is based on NATO doctrine which uses a multinational approach in supporting deployed forces in NATO-led out of area operations, and easily follows EUCOM's them of "Stronger Together."
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Social Medializing from Afghanistan--What Do You Want to Talk About?
I'm not blogging from Stuttgart, Germany today. Instead, I've made a little jaunt to Afghanistan to help out NATO Training Mission – Afghanistan with their social media strategy.
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Operation Moshtarak
And so began the Afghan-NATO offensive into Helmad province, known as Operation Moshtarak – which translates roughly as “Together.” We are focusing on the area around a town called Marjah, where there has historically been a great deal of insurgent activity and heroin production.
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Should the U.S. Military Communicate in the Social Media Realm?
As important as social media has become in the world, it is playing an ever-increasing role in the U.S. military. I’d like to highlight a great example from the International Security Assistance Force.
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A Global Force for Good
Just left historic Munich, Germany where I was fortunate to attend and speak at their annual Security Conference.
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Afghanistan: The London Conference
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.
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Redeployment Ceremony of the Czech Republic’s 601st Special Operations Force
601st Czech SOF’s multiple deployments they were embedded with our own Special Forces
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Afghanistan Visit and Way Forward
I came away encouraged and optimistic about our approach.
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Reaching Out to My Team at U.S. European Command
Last Friday I flew to my U.S. European Command (EUCOM) headquarters in Stuttgart to conduct an “All Hands” with the military and civilian personnel assigned to the headquarters at Patch Barracks. The flight from my NATO headquarters in Belgium was an airborne “sleigh ride,” and the landing a bit of a white knuckle experience. However, I really wanted to meet with the team and talk about the “way ahead” for 2010, share with them my perspective, and solicit their feedback.
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The Afghanistan Uplift
I've received a lot of good feedback on Afghanistan.
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Thoughts about Successful NATO Efforts in Kosovo
A very full day visiting our Kosovo Force (KFOR) troops.
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We don’t need you here anymore!...or do we??
“We don’t need you here anymore!” ...my friend didn’t know how to respond immediately.
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The Course for Afghanistan
Yesterday President Obama laid out the strategy for Afghanistan
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The World to the North
I just completed an excellent visit to Canada, our neighbor and NATO partner just north of the United States. As every U.S. citizen learns in elementary school, we sit side-by-side along the longest undefended border in the world, completely at peace with good friends who live in a land of remarkable beauty and culture.
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“Smart” Engagement with the “Capital of Europe”
Last week, I spent two days in Brussels attending two European Union conferences “EU Smart Power” and “Energy Security” and got the chance to visit with my counterparts at the EU Military Staff.
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Your Questions on Afghanistan and Russia
First, let us clearly understand that EVERY nation in NATO is "in the fight" in Afghanistan. This is a committed alliance.
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Building Capacity through Innovation: One Approach to Multinational Logistics
About a year ago, EUCOM’s Logistics directorate worked with the Czech Republic at the 2008 Senior NATO Logisticians’ Conference. The goal was to develop a Multinational Logistics Coordination Center where nations could collectively develop bilateral and multilateral support agreements to facilitate the operational employment and sustainment of forces for national or Alliance missions. As the year progressed, nations began to see a host of possibilities this center could offer.
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An Extraordinary Dinner in Berlin
In a small wood-paneled ballroom at the glittering Adlon Hotel of Berlin, a parade of speakers celebrated what is called in German “die Mauerfall” --"the fall of the wall." It came in the 60th year of the NATO Alliance, and was hosted by the Atlantic Council.
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Does social media allow you to care now?
So, based on my fellow blogger, Maj. Jim Gregory’s, last post on the relevancy of European Command, I’d like to take that one step further and put you on the spot, in a nice way of course!
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Defense Ministerial
I’ve just returned from Bratislava, Slovakia where the NATO Fall '09 Defense Ministerial was held, followed by an official visit to Slovakian senior defense leaders.
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Doing More with Less - Is Social Media the Answer?
Well, the NATO Secretary General is blowing me out of the water for sure on the blogging side of the house. It's been seven days since my first blog. Does the excuse that I just got here and I've got a staff of two count? And oh by the way, that staff of two was down to one this week? Yah, I didn’t think so…
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Three Days in Afghanistan
In three busy days in Afghanistan, I focused on Helmand province and the British and U.S. Marine Corps forces. Over the course of lunch with the provincial Governor - a man in his early 60s and a survivor of many challenging events in Afghanistan - I talked with him about the needs of the district.
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15 Things for Leaders
I’ve now spent over three years “on the bridge” of two very large organizations --- U.S. Southern Command in Miami and, of course, more recently U.S. European Command. As I reflect on my experience, both at this level and really since becoming a ship captain, I have come away with 15 things that have stood kept me in pretty good stead. Some of them I’ve picked up from my bosses along the way, some I’ve discovered through reading biography biographies of people I admire and history of events that have impacted my life and thought, and others are purely my own, often learned from my own failures and shortcomings.
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Switzerland takes part in Combined Endeavor for the 11th time
As you have read previously in this blog, Combined Endeavor is the world’s largest international Command, Control, Communications & Computers (C4) exercise. Participants of CE09 include nations within the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), Partnership for Peace (PfP) or other International Organisations. In recent years most NATO and PfP Nations have been taking part in Peace Supporting Operations (PSOs). Over 1000 participants from more than 40 nations take part in two weeks of intensive technical testing.
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Partnership Engagement
Last week, in the second of the EPTF blogs, I discussed the concept of framework nations and discussed a concept for getting framework nations involved in the EPTF.
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Thinking About Afghanistan
In both my U.S. European Command and my NATO “hats,” I spend a great deal of time focusing on the challenges in Afghanistan.
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What a week!
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!
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Back to sea!
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.
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Community outreach onboard USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69)
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.
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Back to Europe!
This is my first blog as Supreme Allied Commander, Europe and Commander of U.S. European Command. I am the first Admiral to assume these two jobs, and the fifteenth officer in a line stretching back to General Dwight D. Eisenhower.
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Illinois TAG (MG William Enyart) - Serving
Cold, rainy March, near midnight. Hanging out the window of a Warsaw hotel, not many months after the fall of the Berlin Wall, photographing the grim, gray hulk of the Soviet Embassy, thinking "Wow, I can't believe I'm doing this! A few months ago I would have been shot for this."
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Six Years Later…EUCOM Supports Professional NATO Chaplaincies
In November 2008 I became the Deputy Command Chaplain at U.S. European Command at Patch Barracks in Stuttgart, Germany. A couple of months ago I participated in a planning meeting for the annual NATO Chaplain Operations Course at the NATO School in Oberammergau, Germany. The meeting included some chaplains who had attended the pilot course held in February 2003, and others who had been students there more recently. Military Chaplains face challenges on the battlefield that go beyond the boundaries of pastoral needs for the troops. We work in multinational environments where synchronization with command religious programs, encounters with Civil Military Operations, and non-governmental organizations are critical to the success in combat. In war or peacekeeping missions, working in a cooperative military chaplaincy environment is a force multiplier for commanders.
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The Case for Forces in Europe
Today, however, US forces—from the Army, Air Force, Navy, Marines and Coast Guard—are here in Europe in numbers much reduced from the Cold War era for reasons that are uniquely suited to a drastically changed strategic reality. The United States “fights”—not just in combat but before and after hostilities as well—in coalitions. It is no coincidence that the vast majority of our coalition partners come from the European Command theater, where the US has maintained its commitment not only to the security of our European neighbors, but to the creation of partner capacity to bring peace and stability anywhere in the world it is needed. It is no coincidence that over 85% of the partner flags that currently serve in Afghanistan—a force of over 28,000—come from EUCOM’s theater. And it is no coincidence that some of our most reliable partners, day in and day out, are found here in Europe. Because US forces are a recognizable presence within Europe, because US forces train regularly with our Eu
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EUCOM Hosts NATO Conference
We had a superb turn-out at the EUCOM-hosted 2009 NATO Security Investment Program (NSIP) Conference held in Garmisch-Partenkirchen March 16 to 19. This event, held in cooperation with the NATO Strategic Allied Transformation Command, brought together over 170 representatives from 24 NATO nations, each of the NATO Headquarters and several of the NATO Agencies to discuss the status and future of this important Alliance program in transforming and sustaining NATO missions and operations.
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