ADM. STAVRIDIS PRAISES NATO AS HE STEPS DOWN AS COMMANDER ALLIED FORCES

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Stavridis Highlights NATO's Progress as 'Force for Good'
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service

MONS, Belgium, May 13, 2013 - As the flags of NATO's 28 nations cracked in the wind during a change of command ceremony here today, the alliance's outgoing and incoming supreme allied commanders noted the symbolism.

Navy Adm. James G. Stavridis passed the flag of Allied Command Operations to Air Force Gen. Philip M. Breedlove, who becomes the 17th commander of alliance forces, following in the footsteps of General of the Army Dwight D. Eisenhower and Army Gen. Matthew Ridgway.

Stavridis was the first U.S. Navy officer to hold the position. The flags, he said "are a beautiful, powerful symbol of how we sail together."

The 28 NATO flags, joined by the flags of 22 partner nations, also fly in Afghanistan, and "they represent why we will succeed in Afghanistan," Stavridis said.

"I will miss being part of a 50-nation coalition taking on jobs like Afghanistan," the admiral said.

NATO has made extraordinary progress in Afghanistan, Stavridis said. "We have collectively built an Afghan security force of 350,000, ... and they will take control of their country completely on General Breedlove's watch," he added.

In the next few months, Afghan soldiers and police will protect more than 90 percent of the Afghan population, the admiral noted, citing a few more facts to highlight the progress. Afghan life expectancy has risen from 42 years old to 62 over the past decade. More than 9 million children are attending school, including 3.5 million girls. Afghans use 17 million cell phones, and there are dozens of radio and television stations broadcasting in the country. More than 70 percent of the population has access to health care.

"These are signs of progress that are undeniable," he said. "Challenges remain, but I believe we will succeed in Afghanistan because of the larger coalition."

The admiral said he looks at the alliance effort in Libya with quiet satisfaction, because the alliance saved tens of thousands of lives by its timely intervention in the skies over the nation. Aircraft, aircrew and ships from NATO and partners such as Sweden, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates worked together to protect life in Libya, he added.

Along with the European Union, Stavridis said, NATO has made great progress in Kosovo. The alliance has withdrawn many of its troops, and the admiral said he believes there finally "may be peace in the Balkans."

Looking ahead, Stavridis said he sees great challenges in Afghanistan and the need to protect NATO ally Turkey from the civil war in Syria spilling over its borders. NATO still needs to train together to be able to work together, he said, and this will be a problem as troops deploy out of Afghanistan and financial pressures cause governments to look for easy ways to cut defense budgets.

Finally, the alliance needs to continue to build a stronger strategic partnership with Russia, Stavridis said.

"NATO matters to the world," he added. "NATO brings security. NATO is a force for good in the world. I've been proud to be a part of it for four years."

ADM. STAVRIDIS TELLS CONGRESS ABOUT NATIONAL SECURITY ISSUES

Admiral James G. Stavridis

FROM:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Stavridis Spotlights Top National Security Issues
By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service
 
WASHINGTON, March 15, 2013 - Asked by Congress today where the United States needs to focus attention to promote its national security interests, the longest-serving U.S. combatant commander cited three areas: cyberspace, trafficking and special operations.

Navy Adm. James G. Stavridis, commander of U.S. European Command and NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe for almost four years, and commander of U.S. Southern Command for three years before that, quickly told the House Armed Services Committee he "would put cyber at the top" of the list.

"I think in cyber we find the greatest mismatch between our level of preparation and the level of danger," he said.

Stavridis noted extensive effort across the military to prepare for counterterrorism, weapons of mass destruction and conventional scenarios.

"But in cyber we have a lot of work to do," he said, emphasizing that he refers to the "big we" that extends beyond the Defense Department.

"This is something that cuts across all parts of government and all parts of society," he said.

Stavridis noted in his prepared remarks that continuous technological evolution has made it increasingly easy for infiltrators to disrupt network-based operations, which he said elevates its strategic impact.

While the United States pursues improved defensive countermeasures and international norms to govern cyber operations, Eucom is working with its regional allies and partners in a whole-of-government effort to build strong, resilient cyber security, he said.

Stavridis noted cyber initiatives in Europe, including the new Cyber Center at Eucom, an annual cyber exercise program conducted in collaboration with U.S. Cyber Command, and the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defense Center of Excellence in Tallinn, Estonia. In addition, NATO is working to establish a NATO incident response center similar to the one in the United States, he said.

Turning to "an enormous problem" that crosses every combatant command, Stavridis said trafficking -- in narcotics, weapons, humans, cash and weapons of mass destruction -- directly impacts the United States and its interests around the world.

"These networks pose a growing threat to the U.S. homeland, as well as the security of our allied and partner nations," he said in his prepared remarks.

Stavridis emphasized during today's hearing the importance of counter-trafficking operations to address this threat, and the need for more intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance assets to better understand traffickers' operations and monitor the sea, air and land routes they use to move illicit shipments.

He noted initiatives by Eucom's Joint Interagency Counter Trafficking Center in support of the president's transnational organized crime strategy.

"Through these efforts, we are contributing to U.S. interagency efforts to disrupt and dismantle these networks," he said, "and assisting our partner nations to develop and refine the counter-trafficking and counterterrorism skills and capacity needed to keep these threats as far as possible from American shores."

Stavridis also told the committee special operations capabilities will remain critical into the future.

"I believe that as we move forward, that is going to be the comparative advantage for the United States," he said.

Stavridis emphasized the need for U.S. special operators to continue to improve in capability and to ensure their interoperability with U.S. allies as they conduct joint and combined special operations missions.

U.S. ADMIRAL STAVRIDIS SPEAKS OF A CAPABILITY GAP

FROM: U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT,
Stavridis Presses to Close Language, Cultural Skills Gap
By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Feb. 5, 2013 – Despite "the widest imaginable set of skills" among the Defense Department’s 3.2 million military and civilian members, the Defense Department has an "obvious capability gap" in its lack of foreign language skills that affect its global missions, the supreme allied commander for Europe and commander of U.S. European Command lamented in his command blog.

Navy Adm. James G. Stavridis quoted Charlemagne, who observed that "to know another language is to have a second soul."

"In this rapidly globalizing 21st century world, that simple statement summarizes the gift of regional expertise, cultural understanding and the ability to communicate directly in the language of an ally, partner or colleague," Stavridis wrote. Yet, he noted, fewer than 10 percent of DOD members speak a second language.

That leaves a gap that goes beyond mere linguists, he said.

"In order to operate in a world that relies more and more on coalition action to succeed," the admiral said, "we must develop the attendant skills of regional expertise and cultural understanding."

Yet, Stavridis said, he has seen "a mixed bag" of forces arriving at their combatant command assignments: some highly skilled in language, culture and history of their region, some with just a "dusting" of exposure, and others totally inexperienced.

"We can do better," he said. "I've learned that the shipmates who truly have the language, culture, and regional skills are often ‘silver bullets’ that can transform a difficult challenge into a success."

Stavridis said he regularly sees the fruits of these abilities as he oversees NATO’s global operations.

It’s evident in Afghanistan, where 50 troop-contributing nations are operating in a nation with complex language, culture and historical challenges as they conduct supporting the "largest single security mission in the world today," he noted. But it’s equally important elsewhere in the world where nations with diverse histories, traditions and beliefs come together to support common missions, he said, noting peacekeeping in Kosovo and counterpiracy off the Horn of Africa as examples.

"As opposed to many of our European partners, who effortlessly speak four or five languages and have a deep knowledge of each other's background and culture, we in the U.S. are failing to fully train and prepare for this kind of international work," Stavridis said. "This is an area in which we have much work to do."

As a linguist himself, Stavridis said, these skills have paid off during his seven years as a combatant commander at U.S. Southern Command and Eucom. He learned French as a child living in Europe, and uses that ability in his NATO role. He studied Spanish to the point that he could use it to conduct meetings, improving his ability to work with his Latin-American counterparts. Reading Russian literature and history and learning the culture improved his ability to work with his Russian colleagues, he noted.

So to promote language and cultural skills more widely across the Defense Department, he offered three recommendations:

-- Strengthen language programs, while considering mandatory second-language skills at least among officers, and more incentives and training militarywide;

-- Boost the foreign affairs officer field by providing better promotion opportunities, recruiting top-quality candidates into the field and ensuring continued growth through appropriate grade education; and

-- Build on the "Afghan-Pakistan Hands" model to establish similar programs in other parts of the world, including the Asia-Pacific, Latin America and Caribbean, Africa and other regions.

"These individuals would be the equivalent of ‘special forces’ in the world of global engagement, with truly deep, repetitive tours in the region, utter fluency in the language and graduate-level knowledge of history, literature, geography, economics and the like," Stavridis wrote.

"All of this requires investment -- not huge amounts, but smart money spent on smart programs," Stavridis recognized. But more importantly, he said, it requires "a belief that part of providing security in this turbulent 21st century will mean we must ‘know the world’ so much better than we do today."