Blog Posts tagged with "Europe"
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.
This year's event over the past three days featured four key elements to my eye.
The first was a rare "dual appearance" by the US Secretary of Defense and Secretary of State, Leon Panetta and Hilary Clinton. They spoke in sequence to the audience, and their remarks were streamed live as well.
The theme both of them hit hard was the enduring importance of the European partnership to the United States.
Secretary Clinton said, "Europe is the partner of first-resort of the United States," and echoed President Obama's quote that "Europe remains the cornerstone of US engagement in the world." Secretary Panetta lauded European participation around the world with the US, notably through the NATO alliance. As he pointed out, there are nearly 40,000 European troops in Afghanistan alongside 88,000 Americans -- and their proportional casualty rates are as high overall.
The Munich Security Conference.
Certainly there are questions in the minds of Europeans as the new US defense strategy articulates an emphasis on the Pacific and Middle East.
My view is that while the US sees strategic challenge in the Pacific and Middle East, we see enduring strategic partnership in Europe; and strategic opportunity globally, to include Latin America and Africa.
The US is a global power and will continue to work broadly in the world, alongside our best "pool of partners" -- Europeans.
A second key theme that emerged was concern over events in Syria.
Several commentators, including Senator John McCain and the Nobel Laureate Tawakkul Karman, commented on the need for the international community and especially the UN security council to condemn the violence of the Assad regime. Senator McCain and Secretary of State Clinton both spoke in particular on the need for Russia and China to cease their vetoes of appropriate resolutions.
A third dialog that caught my attention was on cyber. I feel as though in the world of cyber, we have the greatest gap between the level of threat and the degree of preparation -- we have a long way to go. I'm working with the NATO Center of Excellence for cyber security and thinking through how we might be more operational, a la the new US CYBERCOM.
Fourth and finally, there seemed to be clarity on the overall timeline in Afghanistan.The NATO alliance and the ISAF coalition of 50 nations all concur that we are on track with our transition to Afghan led security operations, and we intend to hand over security responsibility for the entire country by the end of 2014. We have already moved to place 50% of the nation's population under Afghan security responsibility. This will allow us to continue the process of turning over to our Afghan partners, recognizing that there will be combat operations throughout this period -- albeit with an increasing role for support to Afghans.
There is also a nascent discussion about what the ISAF and NATO presence will be post-2014. It will clearly include ongoing cooperation in the security sector, as evidenced by pledges at the 100-nation / international organization Bonn conference last fall -- stay tuned for the May Chicago NATO/ISAF summit.
All in all, a good conference that lived up to its billing as a top-flight gathering of those concerned about 21st century security.
Best,
Jim
Admiral, USN
Supreme Allied Commander, Europe
Commander, US European Command
"Stronger Together"
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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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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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Law enforcement links along the Danube River: ILEA and EUCOM
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.
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Providing Perspective on the “Muslim World”
I recently reached my halfway point working as the U.S. European Command Special Assistant for Muslim Outreach. As an Office of the Secretary of Defense Presidential Management Fellow, I’m here on a 6-month rotation to help the commands identify and develop a strategy for outreach and engagement with the Muslim world. I spent a fair bit of time thinking about this back in D.C. before heading to Europe. In my first week I asked command leadership what the main goals were in addressing Muslim Affairs. To help them out, I provided three goals that I thought were appropriate:A) Understand Muslim perceptions of U.S. operations in Muslim lands and address misperceptions.B) Improve our own understanding of operations in Muslim lands.C) Garner support from and partnership with Muslim nations for operations in places like Afghanistan and Iraq.
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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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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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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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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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Interagency Partnering -- Batter Up!
EUCOM’s Commander, Admiral Stavridis, often points to the importance that he attaches to “partnering,” both military and interagency partnering. In his recent Capitol Hill testimony he said that interagency partnering is “more than a tool or a method, 'interagency partnering' is an expanding paradigm at EUCOM and we are intent on serving as a model of interagency cooperation."
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A Week on Capitol Hill
As I told you in my last blog, I spent this past week on Capitol Hill. I testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC), the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) and the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction (HAC MILCON).
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Day 1: Community Service Issues and Top 10
Day one of the quality of life conference went pretty much how I thought it would. An array of issues and excellent observations from large instillations to small were discussed. I was impressed with everyone’s issues and participation; it made the day fly by.
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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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Camaraderie keeps troops warm during winter exercise
While taking photos of Norwegian Army engineers during a pause in their maneuvers as part of the Cold Response 2010 exercise, I had a chance to exchange dialogue about things that only we troops discuss when we ‘close ranks’ among ourselves – away from our officer counterparts.
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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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Joint Honor Guard Experience at the NFL Game in London
I had a pretty exciting day Sunday as I had the privilege of traveling to London, England, with the Joint Intelligence Operations Center Europe Analytic Center Joint Honor Guard. The Honor Guard was invited to the NFL game to present the colors and I couldn’t wait to experience this with them!
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How to Social "Medialize" at EUCOM?
So, here starts my first-ever blog as the Social Media Chief for European Command Public Affairs. I’ve been on the job a mere 18 days now, I know… a long time! In that brief period, I’ve already learned quite a bit about Social Media, something I knew dreadfully nothing about before I arrived here.
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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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The International Legal Conference promotes lively exchange between 33 EUCOM nations
Over 100 senior military and civilian attorneys from 33 nations joined together in Garmisch, Germany last week for the EUCOM / Marshall Center International Legal Conference.
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Making Friends in Croatia
I just returned to Patch Barracks, Germany from Knin, Croatia where I had the unique opportunity to spend time with a few of the Airmen deployed from the 435th Construction and Training Squadron (CTS), stationed at Ramstein AB, Germany. They function as a rapidly deployable construction unit with capabilities such as: carpentry, electrical, plumbing, HVAC, pavement and road construction. After seeing them in action, I know that the previous list is just a portion of their skills.
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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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EUCOM conference highlights National Guard State Partnership Program
For our followers who are not familiar with the State Partnership Program, it’s simply about building and nurturing relationships so we can enhance the military, civil authority and security capabilities of our 21 partner countries in Europe and Eurasia. From its groundbreaking start in 1993 after the fall of the Berlin Wall, this program has evolved into one of the premier tools of the U.S. government to bridge divides and help our partner countries train and build their military and civil security capabilities. SPP has been the U.S. government’s most economic capability-building tools for our partner countries. Through the powerful relationships between states and partners, everyone works together to develop military and security capabilities that can be fully employed locally, regionally and by NATO. In many cases, these relationships are so strong, the National Guard states and their partner countries form teams and deploy together to support operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.
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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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