CHAIRMAN JOINT CHIEFS TELLS TROOPS 'MILITARY MUST BE FORWARD-DEPLOYED'

FROM:  U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT
Dempsey to Naples-based Troops: Military Must be Forward-Deployed
By Jim Garamone
DoD News, Defense Media Activity

NAPLES, Italy, June 11, 2015 – The United States military needs to be forward-deployed because America does not want to “play a home game,” Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey said in an all-hands call at the naval air facility here.

During the event, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff spoke to service members, DoD civilians and local nationals, answering questions about the extremist threat, Russia and cyber security.

Dempsey said that when the budget gets tight, there is an inclination for many to think the best way to save is by bringing troops back from overseas postings and doing everything from the continental United States. “The truth is, in our line of work, the very last thing we want to do is play a home game,” he said.

Shaping Conflict

“We really want to play an away game and we need teammates to do it. We need to be forward. You need to be forward," he continued. "We need to be closely partnered with NATO allies and other partners who share our values. And we need to be sure that as conflict approaches -- and conflict will approach -- we have a shot at shaping it before we’re in it.”

Dempsey quoted Chinese philosopher Sun Tzu, saying “The side that understands when to fight and when not to fight will take away the victory.”

The American military expends great effort training for the fight, the chairman said, but equal thought is placed on when and when not to fight. “We need to make sure that we have friends and partners in a web, a network of allies so that we bear this burden together,” he said.

This security network -- tended by service members around the world -- is what sets America apart from other large powers, Dempsey said. They do not have these allies and partners, the chairman said, and this worries them. “We’ve got to preserve that system of alliances and we’ve got to play away games,” he said.

ISIL's Threat

Dempsey took questions from service members, and many wanted to know if the United States is doing enough to combat the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. The extremist group is the latest manifestation of extremist ideology and is operating in the Middle East, North Africa and West Africa.

The chairman said part of the campaign against such extremists is military, and part of it is building regional partners so they “don’t get sucked into this crucible.”

He said the United States is providing capabilities and ensuring regional partners provide the capabilities that they should provide, but asked, "Will it continue to be enough?”

Dempsey detailed the recent decision to open a new training base in Anbar province to train Iraqi forces and reach out to Sunni tribes. It is one of a number of bases in the country to train and supply Iraqi and Kurdish forces.

"If we get to the point where we have to protect our interests, our people [and] our facilities and to guarantee the success, then we’ll have to do that," he said. "But in the meantime, the strategy is to enable them to do it, to have them develop the strategy and we enable it.”

The United States military can do a lot, but it’s up to the Iraqis, Saudis, Israelis and Turks to create an environment where these groups don’t keep appearing, the chairman said. “I’m not portraying for you that I think this will be easy or quick,” he said. “I think we’ve got the right outcome identified and now we have to navigate toward it.”

Addressing Cyber, Budget Issues

On cyber, Dempsey told the service members that there is a healthy debate going on in America over privacy versus security. He said some modest progress has been made. “We do need cyber standards, we do need information sharing agreements between the government and the private sector,” he said. “As to the future, I think like most things we will figure it out. I just hope it doesn’t take a crisis to get us there.”

The DoD budget continues to concern service members. Dempsey explained the situation in Washington and said that the service chiefs are united in telling Congress that American defense is endangered.

“Since we testified to that, we’ve had the following issues manifest themselves: We’ve had an emerging threat from Russia as it becomes aggressive in Eastern Europe, we’ve had ISIL increase its capabilities, we had a deployment because of Ebola, [and] Libya and the Chinese reclamation project in the South China Sea,” the chairman said.

On Russia, Dempsey said the need is to harden allies in Eastern Europe. NATO has to maintain a technological advantage, and the United States must ensure the trans-Atlantic link cannot be severed.

“All of which makes it clear to the Russian Federation that may have had success in eastern Europe with countries that are not NATO allies, that it won’t work on countries that are NATO allies,” he said.

CHAIR JOINT CHIEFS SUMMARIZES NATO LITHUANIA MEETINGS

FROM:  U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT 

Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, center, talks with Army Gen. John Campbell, commander of the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan, right, between sessions of the NATO Military Committee conference in Vilnius, Lithuania, held Sept. 20-21, 2014. DoD photo by D. Myles Cullen.  
Dempsey Recaps NATO Meetings in Lithuania
DoD News, Defense Media Activity

WASHINGTON, Sept. 21, 2014 – Russia’s continuing aggression in Ukraine, vulnerabilities posed by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and other threats along NATO’s southern borders, and the alliance’s continuing commitments in Afghanistan were the chief topics in meetings with NATO’s chiefs of defense in Vilnius, Lithuania, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said today.
In a statement summarizing the meetings, Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey added that today’s agreement between Afghanistan’s presidential candidates to form a new national unity government “puts us in a much better place than we were a week ago.”

“Now we need a signed security agreement and a NATO [status of forces agreement], both of which should be accomplished fairly quickly,” Dempsey said. The agreements are necessary for U.S. and NATO forces to have a role in Afghanistan beyond the current mission, which ends Dec. 31, and both candidates said during the election process that they would sign the agreements.
The chiefs of defense also elected Gen. Petr Pavel, the chief of staff of the Czech Republic's armed forces, to be the next chairman of the NATO Military Committee, the chairman said. “His appointment is significant, because he will be the first Eastern European military leader to take the job,” he added.
Pavel will take the post in July, succeeding Danish Gen. Knud Bartels, whom Dempsey called “a trusted friend.”

CHAIRMAN JOINT CHIEFS RECOMMENDS HELPING VIETNAM BUILD NAVAY

FROM:  U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT 

Dempsey Favors Building Vietnamese Naval Capabilities

By Jim Garamone

DoD News, Defense Media Activity

WASHINGTON, Aug. 16, 2014 – If the United States lifts the embargo against the sale of lethal weapons to Vietnam, Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey would recommend providing materials for the Peoples’ Navy, he said during a news conference in Ho Chi Minh City today.

In the first trip by a chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to Vietnam since 1971, Dempsey visited Hanoi, Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City.

Forty-five years ago, the United States was in a conflict with North Vietnam, and Dempsey was a cadet at West Point preparing to join that war. “The challenge now is to think 45 years ahead,” the highest-ranking U.S. military official said.

By 2050, there will be 9 billion people on Earth -- 7 billion of whom will live in the Indo-Pacific. “Where the people are is where the issues are,” the chairman said.

Vietnamese reporters questioned Dempsey on China’s territorial claims in the East China Sea. “We’ve been very clear that we don’t take sides in the territorial disputes, but we do care very much how they are resolved,” he said. “They should not be resolved through use of force.”

The United States has longstanding defense agreements with nations in the region -- Thailand and the Philippines are treaty allies. “We are interested in becoming a partner with a strong and independent and prosperous Vietnam,” the chairman said.

Still, at its core the solution to the East China Sea issue hinges more on stronger multinational response brokered through the Association of Southeast Asian Nations rather than a question of “‘What does the United States intend to do about it?’,” he said.

The United States and Vietnam have common interests. “We’re encouraging many of our ASEAN partners and friends to take a multinational approach to maritime security and maritime domain awareness,” he said.

Building capabilities for maritime domain awareness is important to any effort in the region, Dempsey said, including patrol boats, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance assets and search and rescue equipment.

“Our advice is that we look at this regionally, not country-by-country,” the chairman said. “We’re working our way forward in that spirit.”

There is a growing sense among U.S. elected officials and non-governmental organizations that Vietnam has made progress on the human rights issues that initially led to the embargo being put in place more than three decades ago.

“I think in the near term there will be a discussion on how to lift it,” Dempsey said. “My military advice … will be if it is lifted that we begin with assets that would make the Peoples’ Navy more capable in the maritime domain. That would generate a conversation on what that means, but I think the maritime domain is the place of our greatest common security interest right now.”

This could include intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance assets and even some weapons they don’t yet have for their fleet, the chairman said.

Vietnam is uniquely and importantly positioned as the 13th largest economy in the world, he said. While it is located in Southeast Asia, the nation is the springboard into the Indo-Pacific region.

“I do see Vietnam occupying a key geostrategic region,” Dempsey said. “In terms of managing its maritime resources and managing the territorial disputes -- I’d suggest as goes Vietnam, I think as goes the South China Sea.”

CHAIRMAN JOINT CHIEFS VISITS VIETNAM

FROM:  U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT 

Right:  Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Lt. Gen. Do Ba T?, Vietnamese chief of defense, in Hanoi, Vietnam, Aug. 14, 2014. DoD photo by D. Myles Cullen.  
Dempsey Building Trust in Vietnam Visit
By Jim Garamone
DoD News, Defense Media Activity

WASHINGTON, Aug. 15, 2014 – Building trust and confidence is the theme for the first visit by a chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to Vietnam since 1971.
Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey met with his Vietnamese counterpart Lt. Gen. Do Ba Ty in Hanoi. The two men discussed the future of the military-to-military relationship between their countries, but also the legacy of the Vietnam War. The chairman will also visit Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City during his visit.
Dempsey’s visit is a message to the region that the United States is serious about the rebalance to the Asia-Pacific, even as the American military is confronted with challenges in other parts of the world, defense officials said.

Dempsey said in an interview with USA Today’s Tom Vanden Brook that his formative years were colored by the specter of the war in Vietnam. Dempsey graduated from the U.S. Military Academy in 1974 -- too late to serve in that war.
“I said to General Ty that ‘I spent the first four years of my military career preparing to fight you,’” Dempsey said. “There’s something profound about being here now trying to build a relationship on the basis of common interests.”
And the two countries do have common interests. Vietnam’s geostrategic position -- sitting between straddling China and Southeast Asia -- makes the nation an important factor player in finding a peaceful solution to the territorial issues in the South China Sea, the chairman said.

“They probably have more influence on the South China Sea and how it evolves than any other country,” he noted.

The two military leaders also discussed longstanding issues related to the Vietnam War, including the U.S. Agent Orange remediation program, finding and recovering U.S. personnel and addressing the problem of leftover unexploded ordnance. The two countries cooperate closely on all these issues, Dempsey said. “We owe it to each other to keep making progress on those [issues],” he said.
These programs were more prominent in discussions a year ago than they are today, Dempsey said. “We’re moving beyond those legacy war issues and toward a new relationship,” the chairman said.

All relationships are founded on trust “and that doesn’t happen overnight,” the general said.

The U.S. and Vietnamese militaries are working together in maritime security, disaster relief and humanitarian assistance. “We’ve made a tentative agreement to increase the frequency and depth of our staff talks so we understand each others’ long-term strategies for the region,” Dempsey said. “That’s the place where we can make the most progress.”

Dempsey said he’s seeing more information sharing happening between the United States and Vietnam in the maritime domain as well as more work with maritime law enforcement.

“We’re working most closely right now with their coast guard, to establish a law enforcement capability to protect their economic exclusion zone … so they don’t get militarized,” he said.

U.S. officials are also working with Vietnamese counterparts to enhance the training program for maritime operations.

Dempsey stressed that the U.S. interest in Vietnam is not all about countering China. “The shadow of China hangs over the region,” he said. “Everyone thinks our interest here is just about China. It’s not.”

The rebalance toward the Asia-Pacific region is inevitable as the area grows and expands in economic, political and diplomatic clout, he said.

“This is important and we do have our shoulder behind it,” the chairman added.
This was Dempsey’s first visit to Vietnam and he said he was struck by the vibrancy of life and the colors of the city.

“…Standing on the platform for the honor ceremony, listening to the two national anthems and seeing the two national flags flying side-by-side, it occurred to me that often adversaries in the past can become our closest friends,” the chairman said. “That won’t happen without some effort, but I think there’s a possibility there.”

CHAIRMAN JOINT CHIEFS DISCUSSES THE MILITARY AS INSTRUMENT OF POWER

FROM:  U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT 
Dempsey Discusses Use of Military Instrument of Power
By Jim Garamone
DoD News, Defense Media Activity

HONOLULU, July 2, 2014 – The nation’s military instrument of power works best when used in conjunction with all aspects of American might, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said here yesterday.

Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey told the members of the International Forum at the Pacific Club here that the military instrument is powerful, but also nuanced.
The chairman’s speech brought to mind the expression “To the man whose only tool is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail.” Dempsey said the United States shouldn’t be afraid to use other tools, but that there will be times when the nation will need to drive a nail, and the military provides that option.
The general spoke about the greater implications of the global security environment and how it requires the United States to broadly apply the military instrument of power.

The U.S. military is the most powerful, versatile and sophisticated in history, the chairman said. “It is also one of the most flexible and adaptable tools that our nation has at its disposal and available to our elected leaders,” he added. “It has to be to address the complex world in which we live.”

Mere military presence can shape behavior, the general noted, pointing out that a waiting American military presence can bolster diplomatic initiatives, provide support to partners and allies and deter potential adversaries. The U.S. military can share intelligence, sustain reconnaissance and provide security, he said, and American service members can and do bring relief to disaster areas and provide humanitarian supplies across continents.

The military can do a lot, and it sometimes is the default option for leaders, especially if something needs to be done quickly, Dempsey said.

The chairman said his job is to give civilian elected leaders military options. “I must articulate how our military instrument can be used to provide options and to achieve outcomes that support and protect our nation’s interests,” he explained. “More specifically, I must be clear about what effects our military can and cannot achieve. I must represent how fast we can do it, for how long, at what risk and with what opportunity costs.”

And this can’t be done in a vacuum, he added. “I must also consider how our military action or inaction contributes to or detracts from another important instrument of our national power, and that is America’s enormous power of emulation,” he said.

Dempsey touched on the geographic differences he must consider. In the Asia-Pacific region, he noted, there is a rising tide of nationalism. The region also poised to be the economic engine of the 21st century. “Traditional power-on-power relations will shape the region and ultimately decide if it will achieve its potential,” the chairman said.

Conventional military power will be important in the Asia-Pacific region, Dempsey said. In contrast, he told the audience, the tide of nationalism is receding in the Middle East and North Africa at a remarkable rate. “We see the norms of statehood being superseded by centuries-old religious, ethnic and tribal tensions,” he said. “As the region wobbles along a fault time that extends from Beirut to Damascus to Baghdad, state power continues to ebb.”

Using conventional military power in that environment rarely yields expected results, the chairman noted. “Finding ways to deal with this paradox is one of the many challenges before us,” he said.

Continuing the nautical metaphor, the chairman said Europe appears to be at slack tide, with a desire for greater unity on one hand and an instinct for national self-interest on the other. Europe faces transnational extremist threats along its southern flank, the general said, and Russia is flexing its might and stoking ethnic impulses along Eastern Europe’s periphery.

“Europe is approaching an inflection point where decisions to follow either the instinct for collective interests or individual interests could transform that region into a very dangerous operational theater,” Dempsey said.

Terrorism, extremist groups and crime syndicates threaten stability, he said. Added to this is cyber, which Dempsey called “the fastest growing, least understood and potentially the most perilous factor that connects us all.”
“We must understand how this affects all our instruments of power,” he said.
Given all this, the chairman told the audience, the military exists to provide options, and those options fall into two categories: insurance and assurance.
The military is America’s insurance policy, the nation’s top military officer said. “Our most fundamental task is to protect the homeland and our citizens,” he added. “We keep the nation immune from coercion.”

The U.S. military must be prepared to take direct combat action at any time, in any place, against any adversary, Dempsey said. “Our adversaries rightly fear our dominance in the air, on the ground and from the sea,” he added. “When all our options remain on the table, our ability to change the course of events is indisputably superior to any other nation.”

The U.S. military also assures allies, he said, as the presence of U.S. service members provides reassurance to allies and deters enemies.
It’s in this second category -- assurance -- where most of the challenges reside today, the general said. The United States does not face an existential threat as it did during the Cold War, he added, and now allies are seeking assurances.
In the last month, Dempsey has visited Afghanistan, NATO headquarters in Belgium, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom. In each place, he told the audience, there is a growing demand for U.S. assurances against an increasing number of threats. “There is an increasing appetite for our leadership to help maintain the international order,” he said.
“Frankly, our ability to provide this assurance is at risk, due to a growing deficit between supply and demand,” the chairman added. “Each action comes with greater opportunity costs -- that is the trade-off of some other action somewhere else due to constrained resources. Each choice requires us to assess and accept increasing risks with eyes wide open. This supply/demand imbalance demands that we bring our military instrument of power back into balance with itself.”
The U.S. military will get smaller, Dempsey said, but it is important it become more agile, more lethal and balanced.

“We want to become more predictable to allies, more confusing to adversaries,” he said.

CHAIRMAN JOINT CHIEFS SAYS WORLD SECURITY ENVIRONMENT IS CONFUSED

FROM:  U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT 

Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, speaks with service members during a town hall on Fort Shafter, Hawaii, June 30, 2014. Dempsey told U.S. Army Pacific soldiers that he hopes the military services can retain their own unique field uniforms, adding that having separate military services brings perspectives to the table that are the epitome of “jointness.” DoD photo by U.S. Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Daniel Hinton.  

World Faces Confused Security Environment, Chairman Says
By Jim Garamone
DoD News, Defense Media Activity

FORT SHAFTER, Hawaii, July 1, 2014 – The world faces a confused security environment, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said here yesterday, but the United States can deal with it.

Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey told soldiers of U.S. Army Pacific during an all-hands call that it is the right time and the right thing to rebalance U.S. interests in the Asia-Pacific theater.

Different areas of the world mean different security situations, the chairman explained.

“In this region of the world, there’s a rising sense of nationalism among the countries,” the chairman said. “The effort and intent of China to emerge on the world stage presents a different type of security challenge.”

In the Middle East, he told the soldiers, nationalism is breaking down amid fragmentation of national identity and the emergence of extremist groups.
The situation in Europe is somewhere between that in Asia and the Middle East, the general said. “There’s a group of nations trying to pull Europe together with organizations like NATO and the European Union,” he added, but he noted that in parts of Europe, there’s also a countervailing trend to see things in terms of national interests and ethnic identities.

Worldwide, Dempsey said, the security environment is confused. “It’s something we have to address,” he added. “You take the world as you find it, not as you hope it to be. And fortunately, we’ve got a great group of leaders and men and women in uniform that are willing to do just that.”

This security environment means the U.S. military must be prepared for different operations in different parts of the world, the nation’s top military officer said. “In this region, it is nations competing with other nations,” Dempsey said. “In the Middle East, it is about groups who don’t even care about borders competing with each other. In Europe, it is something in-between. That makes it very difficult to understand how to build the force.”

In the Asia-Pacific region, the threat of conventional conflict -- nation versus nation -- is higher than anywhere else, he said. In the Middle East, the risk is the long campaign against global terrorism.

“The use of military power in the Middle East is very much different than it would be if something broke out in the Pacific,” Dempsey said. “In Europe is a new challenge with Russian aggressiveness and assertiveness that we are trying to shape through NATO.”

American service members need to be ready to confront a myriad of threats, Dempsey said. “I wouldn’t put away your field manuals that describe how to do maneuver and combined arms effects and traditional conflict,” the chairman said. “It’s probably a little early. We need to do both.”

The Asia-Pacific region has many security interests for the United States -- so many interests and implications for the region and the world, the chairman said, that the U.S. rebalance really is the right thing to do and the right time to do it.
South Asia and Southeast Asia alone have 17 percent of the world’s land mass, he noted, but 50 percent of its population.

“Frankly, the distractions we are facing elsewhere shouldn’t distract from our interests and to posture ourselves better in the Pacific,” Dempsey said.

U.S. CHAIRMAN JOINT CHIEFS, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER MEET ALONG WITH RESPECTIVE SERVICE CHIEFS

FROM:  U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT 

U.S. Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and his wife, Deanie, exchange greetings with British Navy Rear Adm. Mackay as they arrive on Stansted Airfield, England, June 9, 2014. Dempsey later met with British Prime Minister David Cameron at his residence at No. 10 Downing Street and with defense counterparts at the British Defense Ministry. DOD photo by U.S. Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Daniel Hinton.  
Dempsey, Service Chiefs Meet With British Prime Minister, Chiefs

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, June 10, 2014 – Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the U.S. service chiefs met in London today with British Prime Minister David Cameron at No. 10 Downing Street and with their counterparts at the British Defense Ministry.

A statement from the British Defense Ministry said the day-long series of discussions among the military leaders at defense headquarters in Whitehall marked the first time the Combined Chiefs of Staff had met since the 1940s.
Dempsey and the U.S. service chiefs met with Britain’s chief of defense staff, Gen. Sir Nicholas Houghton, and the United Kingdom service chiefs. Topics included how to continue the successful collaboration between the respective armed forces once the drawdown from Afghanistan has been completed and the importance of the transatlantic security alliance in advance of September’s NATO Summit, the Defense Ministry’s statement said.

"We share a remarkably close relationship -- not just as nations but as militaries,” Dempsey said after the discussions, according to the statement. “It's one founded on our history, our values and genuine friendships. Whether we're deployed in combat operations or in London addressing common priorities, our combined strength and experience make us better."

Houghton echoed Dempsey’s sentiments.

“This important meeting of the combined U.K. and U.S. chiefs of staff comes at a significant time for both our militaries as we transition beyond combat operations in Afghanistan and reconfigure for emerging challenges,” he said. “Discussions today have reflected the enduring and historic links between our two armed forces and underlined the closeness and strength of our military relationship.”

The Combined Chiefs of Staff met regularly during World War II between 1942 and the end of the war, but also convened in 1948 in response to the Berlin Blockade, the Defense Ministry statement said.

CHAIRMAN JOINT CHIEFS GIVE TAKE ON IRAN'S INFLUENCE

FROM:  U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT 

Dempsey Discusses Iran’s Influence on Region

By Jim Garamone

American Forces Press Service

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates, May 28, 2014 – A diplomatic solution to the problems caused by Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons technology is infinitely preferable to a military operation, but the military option remains available, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said here today.

Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey said in an interview that the United States maintains a “credible and capable amount of military force in the region so that if the diplomatic track fails, it is available to my leaders.”

President Barack Obama has stated many times that the United States will not allow Iran to develop nuclear weapons. “If [Iran] takes the opportunity and comes to that conclusion diplomatically, everyone will be better off,” he said.
But ending Iran’s nuclear ambitions won’t solve the problem the country poses to the region, the chairman said.

“They exert malign influence in others ways, to include surrogates and proxies [such as] Lebanese Hezbollah [and] the IRGC Quds Force. They are the region’s biggest trafficker in weapons. They are very active in a malign way in cyber,” he said. “There are many things that cause me concern about Iran, both regionally and globally, that will not be solved even if the nuclear issue is solved.”

Unless they change their behavior, Dempsey said, Iranian leaders will be held accountable for other things, adding that the United States would like Iran to change its behavior and be a constructive influence in the world.

“But we’re not naive,” he said. “There’s a pretty significant distance to where we are today with Iran and where we might like to be.”

With its rich history and a culture that has influenced the world, Dempsey said, Iran can take a constructive turn. “We certainly would hope Iran would take advantage of those things and stop its malign activities,” he added.

CHAIRMAN JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF SAYS U.S. "NOT POLITICALLY EXHAUSTED"

FROM:  U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT 

Dempsey Rejects Notion of Exhausted United States

By Jim Garamone

American Forces Press Service

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates, May 28, 2014 – The United States is not politically exhausted, “and it would be a mistake to come to that conclusion,” Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey said during an interview here today.

“In fact, it would be a mistake to decide that we are politically exhausted or weary militarily,” the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff told Sky News.

Many in the Persian Gulf region believe that the United States is exhausted from 13 years of war. They point to the withdrawal of troops from Iraq and the coming drawdown in Afghanistan as proof of this weariness, and they extrapolate a U.S. withdrawal from the region at large.

But this is not the case, Dempsey said, citing what has happened to al-Qaida as an example. Al-Qaida was a centralized organization based out of Afghanistan and Pakistan. The United States and its allies -- including the United Arab Emirates -- put pressure on the terror organization. Central al-Qaida is a shadow of its former self, but the group has adapted, the chairman said.

“They have taken advantage of unsettled and ungoverned spaces elsewhere in the Middle East and North Africa,” the general said. “The terror group is a long-term problem and not one the United States is giving up on.”

Rather than being weary or wary, Dempsey said, the United States is “rebalancing our efforts to build partners, to enable others and to do certain things ourselves -- but that should be our last resort.”

“For the most part,” he added, “we ought to address these challenges collaterally and collaboratively with partners.”

U.S. forces do face fiscal challenges, the chairman said, but he doesn’t see that affecting the Persian Gulf region. “We are going through a period of retraction in our budget, but it’s a matter of history,” he explained. “We go through this about every 20 years, and the United States still has the military capability to do many more than one thing at a time.”

The United States doesn’t face a choice to be either in the Atlantic or the Pacific, in Europe or the Middle East, or in Asia or Africa, Dempsey said.

“We have global responsibilities. We have global partnerships,” the chairman said. “One of the greatest strengths of the United States is its alliances, its partnerships, unlike some others who aspire to be great powers, but they don’t have friends, they don’t have partners. They try to go it alone. We, on the other hand, see our strength through our partners.”

U.S. CHAIRMAN JOINT CHIEFS ALARMED AT RUSSIA'S USE OF "BOTH MILITARY FORCE AND SUBVERSION"

FROM:  U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT 

U.S. Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, right, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, at the NATO Chiefs of Defense meetings in Brussels, May 21, 2014. DOD photo by U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Sean K. Harp.  

Dempsey Discusses Russian Tactics in Ukraine
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service

BRUSSELS, May 21, 2014 – Russia’s annexation of Crimea and its threats to eastern and southern Ukraine amount to an “alarming use of both military force and subversion” the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said here today.
Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey discussed the Ukraine situation with his counterparts at the NATO defense chiefs’ conference. The defense leaders used the phrase “proximate coercion and subversion” to describe Russia’s actions in Ukraine over the past few months.

Regarding Ukraine, the Russians have employed the threat of conventional force -- but only the threat, Dempsey said in an interview following NATO meetings. Instead of using conventional military power, he said, the Russians have employed surrogates, proxies, misinformation and economic levers to accomplish their goals in Ukraine.

“I don’t know if that is a new type of warfare,” Dempsey said. “One might argue that it is very similar to the issue in 2008 with Georgia, but it is certainly an alarming use of both military force and subversion to affect the future of a sovereign nation.”

And the tactic has caused great concern among other countries in Eastern Europe, the chairman added.

Defending or deterring this threat requires different capabilities, Dempsey said. “The military instrument of power generally deals strength-on-strength,” the chairman said. “It can array itself against strength and understand the outcomes. In this case, the use of subversive tactics … requires a different combination of stakeholders.”

If an Eastern European nation wanted to harden itself against such a threat it would require different instruments of deterrence, he said. There is a military piece, but there is also a law enforcement portion, an informational aspect and “some governance activities in order for these populations to feel safe within their own borders so they are not subject to being coerced,” Dempsey said.
“It’s a whole-of-government approach,” he said. “You can’t just do this with military power [only].”

NATO nations obviously have experience with this, the chairman said. He pointed to NATO forces deployed in Afghanistan where they have used the whole-of-government approach in establishing and running provincial reconstruction teams around the country.

Such an approach employed “the different agencies of different governments all coalescing on a campaign plan, contributing their unique abilities and authorities and producing a positive outcome,” he said. “They know how to do it externally; I think it surprised them that they might have to think that way internally.”

Meanwhile, there is still no sign of a Russian pull-back from the southern and eastern borders of Ukraine, the chairman said.

“I can’t speak on the exact number of battle groups or tanks or armored personnel carriers,” Dempsey said, noting Russian President Vladimir Putin “still maintains a very sizeable force on the borders of Ukraine.”

The chairman spoke about information the NATO chiefs of defense received during a briefing by Ukrainian army Lt. Gen. Mykhailo Kutsyn.

“He told a very persuasive narrative about the fact that they had built their military to be kind of expeditionary, out of area,” Dempsey said. “As he put it, ‘We believed the commitment our Russian brothers had made to us,’ which was that they wouldn’t affect their sovereignty.”

Ukraine’s army is small and there is no territorial army, no National Guard equivalent, and no ability to call up reserves with any speed or responsiveness.
“He told a clear tale to NATO and particularly the Eastern European countries that they must not make the same mistake,” Dempsey said of Kutsyn’s message.
Looking forward, the Ukrainian general told the chiefs that Ukraine will not use its military against its own citizens, but that the military will ensure the country’s sovereignty.

“He said, if they are invaded, they will defend Ukraine,” Dempsey said. “And he made an appeal for military, economic and political support.”

U.S. MILITARY IN AFGHANISTAN ADAPTS TO TRAINING ROLE

FROM:  U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT 

Right:  Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is greeted by Army Maj. Gen. Stephen J. Townsend, commander of the International Security Assistance Force’s Regional Command East and of the Army’s 10th Mountain Division, upon his arrival on Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, May 1, 2014. Dempsey is in Afghanistan to visit troops and commanders. DOD photo by Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Daniel Hinton.  

American Units Adapting to New Missions in Afghanistan
By Jim Garamone

American Forces Press Service

BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan, May 2, 2014 – As you walk into the headquarters for Regional Command East here, you see a photo of the second plane hitting the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.

Underneath the photo is an inscription: “Never again.”

“Our soldiers understand why they are here,” said Army Maj. Gen. Stephen J. Townsend, the commander of Regional Command East and of the Army’s 10th Mountain Division. “International terrorists will never use this country to launch attacks on the United States or our allies again.”

Townsend spoke during a break in meetings with Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is visiting here to confer with senior leaders.

But the mission American and coalition service members perform has changed from one in which Americans did the combat operations to one in which U.S. and coalition forces train, advise and assist Afghan forces.

When he does battlefield circulations, Townsend said, he tells the U.S. and coalition service members that the mission is to “get the Afghan national security forces stood up, so we can stand down.”

This, the general said, is the biggest change he has seen since his last deployment to Afghanistan in 2010 and 2011. In 2011, American and coalition forces conducted about 95 percent of the operations. A few Afghan soldiers accompanied them, he said.

“Now, it’s exactly the opposite, with 95 percent of the operations led by the Afghans,” he said. “In fact, between 80 and 85 percent of those operations are Afghan unilaterals. There’s nobody from the coalition with them at all.”
This does not mean that American and coalition forces are out of danger. Last week, two 10th Mountain Division soldiers were killed conducting force-protection patrols.

Veterans of multiple deployments understand what is happening, Townsend said. “They are very happy to advise the Afghans and help train them and encourage them as they leave the gate on a mission,” he said. “They stand by as part of a quick-reaction force if needed.”

But they understand that “victory has an Afghan face,” the general said.
The mantra now is to train the trainer. U.S. forces train Afghan officers and sergeants, who in turn train Afghan privates. “That’s the only way we can build an institution that can sustain itself,” Townsend said.

The effort also is transitioning from unit-based security force assistance to functionally based assistance. In the past, American soldiers have been covering down on Afghan kandaks, or brigades, to train all aspects of what that unit needed to function effectively. “Now we are shifting our lens to functions -- critical functions,” he said.

Logistics and intelligence are two of these critical functions. Training now strives to connect kandaks through the chain of command to the Afghan Defense Ministry. “A lot of the Afghan units are functioning just fine,” Townsend said. But they do need things from outside the unit to perform best, he added.

Spare parts, replacements and intelligence sharing are examples of functions outside a unit that are critical to the unit’s success, he explained. “We’re trying to get the Afghans to push their intelligence down through channels to the unit that needs it,” he said. “We’re trying to make that pipe work.”

With logistics, the Afghans have no historical data to forecast what spares will be needed. As a result, they are still buying bulk parts. This is inefficient, the general said, because “you end up buying too many of one widget and too few of another.”
“They don’t have enough money to be inefficient and wasteful,” he added. “They have to be very efficient. We’re trying to help them maximize their bang for the buck.”

When Townsend speaks with U.S. and coalition troops, he said, they ask him about the status of the bilateral security agreement that would allow a continued U.S. presence in Afghanistan beyond this year. They also ask if the United States will leave a residual force in Afghanistan, and what it will do. “They may operate at the foxhole-and-rifle squad level, but they think at a national level,” he said.
The general said he believes Americans should know about the work his troopers are doing here.

“We lost a soldier, … and I read a post on the Internet from an American that said, ‘I thought we were out of there,’” Townsend said. “The American people need to know we are still here and doing the nation’s mission.”

CHAIRMAN JOINT CHIEFS SAYS AFGHAN NATIONAL SECURITY FORCES PERFORMANCE POSITIVE

FROM:  U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT 
Dempsey: Past Year ‘Surprisingly Positive’ for Afghan Forces
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service

ABOARD A U.S. MILITARY AIRCRAFT, Feb. 25, 2014 – By both NATO and Afghan accounts, the past year “has been surprisingly positive” for the Afghan national security forces, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said.
Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey told reporters traveling with him to Afghanistan that both NATO and Afghan leaders underestimated the abilities of the Afghan security forces -- forces that didn’t really exist a few years ago.

Since taking the lead throughout the country last year, Afghan forces have done very well, the chairman said. The Taliban had a handful of objectives, he added: to reclaim territory, to use several high-profile attacks to return to prominence, and to discredit the Afghan security forces.

The Taliban obviously didn’t have much success, Dempsey said. They never retook territory, they launched few large attacks in the Afghan capital of Kabul, and they have not discredited the security forces. The question now is not how the Afghan forces are doing, he said, but rather how the upcoming Afghan election will come off, and whether there will be a political system to embrace the Afghan forces and their progress in the months ahead.

Afghan forces are in charge of April’s presidential election, providing the security with NATO forces staying far to the rear. Plans now call for limited NATO support for logistics.

The NATO combat mission ends at the end of the year. A follow-on NATO mission -- Operation Resolute Support -- begins Jan. 1, and it calls for NATO forces to stay engaged at the regional level helping to train, advise and assist Afghan army and police formations. It also calls for providing assistance at the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of the Interior in Kabul.

Before this can happen, Afghan officials must sign the bilateral security agreement that they negotiated with the United States and which a national council of tribal and family elders approved. Afghan President Hamid Karzai said he will leave it to his successor to sign the document. Once the U.S.-Afghan agreement is signed, NATO will negotiate a similar pact.

NATO needs the agreement to legally remain in Afghanistan beyond this year. Dempsey said the “shot clock” is running down, and there is a point at which the regional approach may no longer be feasible. “What I don’t want to do is run out of options for our elected leaders or for Afghanistan,” he said.

Dempsey noted he has made many visits to Afghanistan. “What I’m always struck by is that many of us -- our NATO partners and us -- continue to change jobs,” he said. “So there is always something new to learn, to see, to talk about. But I also end up speaking with the same Afghans time after time after time.”

The chairman said he had the same experience when he served in Iraq. “My counterpart in Iraq has been the chief of defense for eight years,” the chairman said. “So when I would come back to him and talk about what’s new, I’m not sure he could see what was new as readily as I could. But I don’t think I could see what isn’t new as readily as he can.”

The same is true in Afghanistan. “It has always been our challenge to knit those two together -- our ability to see things as they are changing, and maybe our partner’s ability to see the continuity of things,” he said.
Dempsey said he does have some clarity on the retrograde movement out of Afghanistan.

“Our ability to retrograde the entire thing -- should we need to, and which would be unfortunate -- we could retrograde with relatively low risk, given the time available,” he said. “As the time continues to expire, the risk on our ability to retrograde increases, and that’s another thing I need to look them in the eye to make sure I understand it fully.”

DOD LEADERS SAY U.S. ON TRACK IN AFGHANISTAN

FROM:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE 
U.S. on Track in Afghanistan, Military Leaders Tell Senate
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, July 18, 2013 - Despite Taliban resistance, U.S. military objectives in Afghanistan are on track, senior U.S. military leaders told the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey and Navy Adm. James A. Winnefeld Jr. told the committee during their reconfirmation hearing that the International Security Assistance Force mission is on track to achieve its objectives in Afghanistan and end its mission by 2015.
President Barack Obama nominated Dempsey and Winnefeld for second terms as chairman and vice chairman, respectively, of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Dempsey told the senators that Marine Corps Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., the ISAF commander, said he will achieve his campaign objectives in developing the Afghan security forces.

"Now, he does also acknowledge there are some potential gaps that he will have better clarity on after this fighting season," Dempsey said.

The chairman and vice chairman told the senators that they have given their recommendations for the size of a residual force the United States will leave in Afghanistan post-2014.

"We've provided several options," Dempsey said. "As the Joint Chiefs, we have made a recommendation on the size, and we've also expressed our view on when that announcement would best meet the campaign objectives."

The United States and Afghanistan must finalize a bilateral security arrangement -- with legal protections for American service members -- before a decision is made. Dempsey said he would stress this when he meets with Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

Dempsey told the senators he seeks opinions about Afghanistan.

"Besides speaking with General Dunford on a weekly basis and visiting him about quarterly, I also reach out to as many other people as I can possibly reach out to who can give us other views," he said.

All these reports align, the chairman added.

Having American troops in Afghanistan beyond 2014 is crucial to success in the country, Dempsey said.

"Although I've told you that the progress of the security forces has been significant," he added, "they would not have the level of confidence to sustain themselves over time if it happens that precipitously."

U.S. CHAIRMAN OF JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF SPEAKS OUT AGAINST SEQUESTRATION

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Sequestration Will Hollow Out Force Fast, Dempsey Says
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service

ABOARD A MILITARY AIRCRAFT, Jan. 17, 2013 - The across-the-board spending cuts that would result if a "sequestration" mechanism in budget law kicks in March 1 will hollow out U.S. military forces faster than most Americans imagine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said today.

Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey said during a recent news briefing that if sequestration happens, the American military "will be less prepared in months and unprepared in a year."

During an interview today on his return trip from NATO meetings in Brussels, the general said the cuts would quickly bring about a new type of hollow force.

The chairman stressed that deployed and deploying service members will be exempted from the effects of a sequester. The United States will not send any service member overseas without the best preparation, equipment and supplies possible, he said.

This actually covers a great many people. Service members in Afghanistan, Kosovo and Kuwait, aboard ships at sea, and flying and supporting deployed aircraft "will continue to have our unwavering support," Dempsey said. "We have a moral obligation to make sure that they are ready and the next [unit] to deploy is ready."

If sequestration is triggered March 1 -- six months into fiscal 2013 -- the department will have only six months to absorb those cuts, the chairman noted. So, if the deployed force is ready, and the next force to deploy is getting ready, "there's not going to be any operations and training money left for the rest of the force," he said.

The forces after the "next to deploy" will be the ones hurting, Dempsey added.

The U.S. military force generation process is such that when a unit comes home from deployment, it generally dissipates. Coming back is the natural time for service members to transfer to other units, go to schools or get out of the service. "It's an important point to remember: in our force management model, we are constantly rebuilding units," Dempsey said.

Rebuilding these units entails beginning with individual training and working up through collective training. For ground units, it starts with individual skills and moves through training at the squad, platoon and company levels. Battalion- and brigade-level training follows that, the general explained.

"That's why I'm saying that we will be unprepared in a year, because we won't be able to go to that level of collective training," he said. "Will we be able to go to the rifle range or go to the motor pool to turn a wrench? Sure. But we won't be able to do the kind of live-fire training that pilots need. Flying hours [and] steaming hours will be cut back, and it'll take about a year to feel the full effect."

Sequestration will cause a hollow military, Dempsey said, albeit different from the hollow forces of the past. Personnel problems associated with the transition of the military from a drafted force to an all-volunteer force caused a hollow force in the late 1970s. In the 1990s, personnel issues were fine, but there were problems with equipment. "The military took a procurement holiday in order to protect to the greatest extent possible end strength and training," the chairman said.

The kind of hollowness facing the military now is different, Dempsey said. "We've got the people. We've got the equipment that we need," he explained. "But we won't have the ability to train."

The Abrams tank is going to remain the king of the battlefield through 2025, but tankers will not be able to train on the tank or maintain it properly, Dempsey said.

"What we're experiencing is the potential for hollowness related to readiness," he added.

The lack of training opportunities could affect personnel. Dempsey noted that this generation of service members had incredible responsibilities in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"We pushed responsibility, authority, resources to the edge -- to where captains and majors and lieutenant colonels had capabilities, responsibilities and authorities that I didn't have as a major general," he said.

With this generation, the military can't "bring them back and sit them in a motor pool with no money to train," Dempsey said.

"We haven't even begun to model the effect of a prolonged readiness problem," he said. "I can tell you that readiness problems always have an effect on retention."