CHAIRMAN JOINT CHIEFS VISITS TROOPS IN ESTONIA

 FROM:  U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT 

U.S. Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, second from left, and Estonian Lt. Gen. Riho Terras, commander of the Estonian Defense Forces, hold a news conference in Tallinn, Estonia, Sept. 14, 2015. DoD photo by D. Myles Cullen.

ABOARD A MILITARY AIRCRAFT, September 15, 2015 — The highest-ranking U.S. military officer today took part in his final official overseas troop event while visiting with U.S. rotational forces in Estonia.

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff greeted soldiers and U.S. personnel during a visit to the headquarters of the Estonian 1st Brigade in Tapa, about 60 miles east of Estonia’s capital city of Tallinn.

"I was especially proud to see those young men and women I met out in Tapa wearing the uniform of our country with the flag on their right shoulder," said U.S. Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, who retires at the end of this month.

Dempsey said there's no "greater symbol of commitment" than the presence of U.S. troops, America's sons and daughters, on the ground in the region.

The U.S. soldiers are with the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, based in Vicenza, Italy, and are on a six-month deployment to the Baltic nation to train alongside Estonian forces as part of Operation Atlantic Resolve.

The operation is a demonstration of continued U.S. commitment to the collective security of NATO and to enduring peace and stability in the region in light of Russia's illegal actions in Ukraine.. About 5,000 U.S. troops have rotated through Estonia since April 2014, with other rotations taking place in Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Bulgaria.

In a talk with the U.S. troops, the chairman thanked them for their service and their commitment to the mission and peace and security in the region.

"The United States in particular, but also several other of our NATO allies, responded quickly and effectively to create a new baseline of activity in Estonia and some of the other nations in the Baltics and in Eastern Europe," he said.

U.S. Army Pfc. Bradley Porter, who was manning a gun on a Humvee during Dempsey's visit, said he welcomed the joint training because it allows for the two nations to learn from each other.

"We get a lot of valuable feedback on the way we handle different situations," Porter said. "It's kind of nice to see the way they do things and then we can compare and change things up and make it better."

Sending U.S. troops to Estonia is a "strong gesture" in reassuring the people of the small Baltic nation, said Estonian Land Forces 1st Sgt. Pirger Laur, whose face was painted in camouflage and was manning a jeep disguised in leafy greens.

"One key factor I think [the training] brings here, if you do it on your own, sometimes you go in the wrong path," Laur said. "But if you exchange information, it improves the training."

Dempsey said he and his host nation partners, including Estonia, are assessing what worked and what needs improvement in the operation and looking at long-term strategy for the mission.

After his visit with the troops, Dempsey returned to Tallinn to meet with Estonian President, Toomas Hendrik Iles. He also held a press conference at the Tallinn airport with his counterpart in the Estonian defense forces before departing for Washington and bringing an end the weeklong tour that also took him to Germany and Turkey to close out his final foreign voyage as chairman.

CHAIRMAN OF JOINT CHIEFS TESTIFIES BEFORE CONGRESS ABOUT U.S. RESPONSE TO SYRIAN GAS ATTACKS

FROM:  U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT 
Forces Ready for Syria Contingencies, Dempsey Says
By Karen Parrish
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Sept. 10, 2013 - U.S. forces are positioned and plans are in place for a range of military options against Bashar Assad's regime in Syria, America's top general testified today before the House Armed Services Committee.

Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, spoke before the committee along with Secretary of State John F. Kerry and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel on authorization to use military force in Syria, which President Barack Obama has asked Congress to grant.

The general noted that Obama has determined that a limited military response to Assad's use of chemical weapons -- in one instance killing 1,400 Syrians, including some 400 children -- is in America's national security interest. Chemical weapons have long been outlawed under international agreements, one dating back to 1925, that prohibit their assembly, stockpiling or use.

"We've reached the point at which Assad views chemical weapons as just another military tool in his arsenal, a tool he's willing to use indiscriminately," Dempsey said. "And that's what makes this so dangerous -- dangerous for Syria, dangerous for the region, and dangerous for the world."

Dempsey said he has prepared at the president's request a list of target packages to meet the objectives of deterring the Assad regime's further use of chemical weapons and degrading its military capability to deliver chemical weapons.

"We have both an initial target set and subsequent target sets, should they become necessary," the chairman said. "The planned strikes will disrupt those parts of Assad's forces directly related to the chemical attack of 21 August, degrade his means of chemical weapons delivery, and finally, degrade the assets that Assad uses to threaten his neighbors and to defend his regime."

Dempsey added the strikes will send Assad a deterrent message that the United States can "hold at risk the capabilities he values most."

U.S. forces are ready to carry out the orders of the commander in chief, he said. Dempsey acknowledged that because of sequestration-mandated spending cuts, "the force that sits behind the forward-deployed force" faces readiness issues. But a limited operation in Syria to defend the nation's security interests is feasible, he said.

"I am concerned not about [funding] this operation, but in general that unforeseen contingencies will be impacted in the future if sequestration continues," he said.

Dempsey noted the limited nature of the planned strikes should decrease the potential for miscalculation and escalation, as well as minimize collateral damage. "However, we are postured to address a range of contingencies and we're prepared to support our friends in the region should Assad choose to retaliate," he added.

U.S. troops are exceptionally well trained and prepared, the general told the panel. "I'm honored to represent them," he said. "If called to execute, your military will respond."

ARMY GENERAL MARTIN E. DEMPSEY SAYS ROLES OF SERVICES CHANGING

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Land, Sea Roles Changing, Dempsey Says
By Claudette Roulo
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Oct. 10, 2012 - While the Navy's aircraft carrier fleet is sized correctly to carry out its mission, land forces are facing "significant changes," Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said here today.

"At this point in time, I believe we've got what we need," Dempsey said in response to questions following his speech at a National Press Club luncheon.

After the Budget Control Act of 2011 imposed about $500 billion in defense spending cuts over 10 years, he said, the Defense Department had to examine its strategic positions.

"Strategy that's not sensitive to resources is nothing more than rhetoric," he said. "There's always this balance between ends, ways and means. So the means changed. We had to take a look at the ends and the ways."

Part of that strategy includes a rebalancing of forces in the Asia-Pacific region, he said.

The Pacific is largely a maritime domain, the chairman said. "You've got to go a long way before you find anything with dirt on it," he noted. This makes the Navy and its capabilities crucial to the region, he said, at the same time they're doing a "remarkable" job of meeting defense needs in the Gulf.

In addition, the Navy has successfully balanced that mission with the maintenance requirements inherent to a nuclear fleet, he continued, but there's always the question of what's next.

"Is it something smaller? ... Is it something submersible?" he asked, noting the Navy's asymmetric advantage under the sea.

As U.S. strategy evolves, the Defense Department will attempt to answer those questions while continuing to examine the makeup of the fleet, he said, but at least until 2020, he believes the carrier fleet is what the United States needs.

As the chairman of the joint force, Dempsey said, he likes having four different service chiefs around the table. The Navy's role in the future force, he added, is just one part of a larger picture.

The idea that land forces are no longer necessary is a bad one, the chairman said. "I'm not in the camp that says, 'You know, you'll never fight another significantly big land conflict,'" he added, noting that the nature of land combat is changing.

When he entered the Army during the Cold War, Dempsey said, it was built by assembling the large organizations first -- the corps and divisions. "And then we said to ourselves, 'If we need something less than that, we'll disaggregate it,'" he said.

"I think that the era we're entering now requires us to think exactly the opposite," Dempsey said. "That is to say, we need to think about empowering the squad -- the 10-man group of individuals with everything we can empower them with -- and then figure out how to grow it from the bottom up."

That will take land forces in a different direction, he said, not just in the way they're designed, but also in the way they're equipped and trained.

"There are some significant changes coming ... in the way we think about building our land component," Dempsey said. "And I would suggest it's not from the top down, but rather from the bottom up."