Blog Posts from September, 2010
EUCOM, USACE help with Sava River flood mapping
A panoramic view of the Sava River (Photo by Bojan Jaksic, Sava River Commission)
If you live near a river in Eastern Europe, you probably spent a horrific summer evacuating or preparing to evacuate due to floods. So, what better way to reach out to our partners than developing a plan to prevent and prepare for flooding, while promoting international cooperation?
I recently attended a plaque dedication ceremony for the Sava River hydraulic flood mapping workshop where representatives from Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia, Slovenia and Croatia attended. The flood modeling efforts were funded by EUCOM and built by the US Army Corps of Engineers in cooperation with the four nations. As the U.S. Ambassador James Foley said, “This work is invaluable and represents the type of projects that can be made through regional cooperation. It’s my hope that this spirit of cooperation can continue to lead to concrete results and I believe that this flood risk mapping will form the basis for follow-on work between the signatories of the Framing Agreement on the Sava River Basin who have cooperated so well today.”
The executive secretariat of the International Sava River Basin Commission (ISRBC), Dr. Dejan Komatina commented that it will be this regional cooperation that will sustain the (ISRBC) on issues related to navigation, economic development, comprehensive water management and environmental protection.
The mouth of the Sava River (Photo by Vlada Marinkovic, Sava River Commission)
In light of the ISRBC efforts and recent flooding in Central Europe this summer, the timing of the Sava River workshop was impeccable. The Sava is the third longest and the largest discharge of water to the Danube River contributing almost 25 percent and is an important asset to the Danube’s biological and landscape diversity, according to the International Sava River Basin Commission website. The river runs from Slovenia to the Danube in Serbia.
I am proud and honored to know this $100K project will greatly benefit the citizens and future generations of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia, Slovenia and Croatia. Not only will it provide greatly enhanced flood modeling to help prepare for flood mitigation, but the cooperation necessary to make it successful is also the key element necessary for regional stability and economic development. And EUCOM was an instrumental part of that!
Greg Zielinski,
CAPT, CEC, US Navy
“HA all the way…for the Love!”
U.S. European Command
J-4 EN Division Chief
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An “ICEman Cometh” to EUCOM J9
Kevin works in the J9 Interagency Partnering Directorate and is one of a growing number of law enforcement/border protection-oriented interagency representatives now on the EUCOM J9 “interagency team”. Kevin, for example, is also joined by a Customs and Border Protection representative, Christina Bell, and will soon be joined by a Drug Enforcement Administration representative, Mr Nick Brooke.
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EUCOM supports Azerbaijan Emphasis on Education
September 15 is the first day of school in Azerbaijan and I was fortunate enough to attend the opening ceremony for Barda school #2 located about 400 KM west of the capital Baku. It was a great honor to join the Deputy Minister of Education, Cabinet Minister for Internally Displaces Persons & Refugees, Regional Mayor and US Embassy Charge D'Affaires, Adam Sterling, in opening our 16th new or renovated school in Azerbaijan.School children flowers in hand, excited about their brand new school.
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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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First day of school excitement in Albania!
Have you been to the beautiful mountainsides of Northern Albania? It was my first time to this land called Shqipëria, and as it is known by its inhabitants the "Land of the Mountain Eagle," hence the two-headed eagle on their uniquely distinguished national flag.
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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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LOGEX 10: "Sound Off For Equipment Check....!"
These are the booming words of the jumpmaster of an airborne operation to his paratroopers just before exiting the aircraft. My scenario and actions are not so dramatic of course, but there are only a few more days left before the start of LOGEX 10 on Sept. 6 and I can gladly report that my "equipment check" is on track for a successful exercise. Everything from life support, transportation, budget and logistics systems exercise support for 70 or so participants and observers is prepared to go.
Comments: 3
Phantastic news! Congrats and best wishes to EUCOM!
GO EUCOM! Way to go...great way to invest our resources and huge benefits derived that will enhance development and regional stability. Great achievement!
Congratulations to EUCOM and the Corps of Engineers for this great work.