Gates: Iraq Visit Wrap-up, Q&A; Services Must Balance Old, New Capabilities
Secretary of Defense Robert Gates' Q&A with soldiers of the 1st Cavalry Division's 4th Advise and Assist Brigade working in U.S. Division North.
Gates Wraps Up Iraq Visit, Arrives in UAE
By John D. Banusiewicz
American Forces Press Service
ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates, April 8, 2011 -- Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates concluded a three-day visit to Iraq with two stops in the north today before flying here to meet with Crown Prince Mohammad bin Zayed Al Nubayan.
The meeting with the crown prince, who is the deputy supreme commander of the United Arab Emirates armed forces, was the latest in a series of visits Gates has made to Middle East leaders in recent weeks to exchange perspectives during a period of regional unrest.
Gates left Baghdad for northern Iraq this morning to meet in Irbil with President Masoud Barzani of the Kurdish regional government. He then traveled to Mosul where he spoke with soldiers of the 1st Cavalry Division's 4th Advise and Assist Brigade working in U.S. Division North.
The secretary thanked the soldiers for their work in mentoring Iraq and Kurdish forces. As the person who signed their deployment orders and those of all other service members sent into harm's way, he added, his highest priority has been to get them what they need to complete their mission successfully and go home safely.
Noting that he was pleased to be able to offer his gratitude to them in person, Gates asked that the soldiers pass his personal thanks to their families the next time they email or call home.
"Their support is what makes it possible for you to do what you do," the secretary said.
In a question-and-answer session, Gates said a continued U.S. military presence in Iraq beyond this year is possible if the Iraqi government wants it. An agreement between the two nations calls for all U.S. forces to be out of Iraq by Dec. 31. The secretary said he discussed the possibility of a continued U.S. military presence in Iraq with all of the Iraqi officials he met with this week.
"My basic message to them has been [that] if there is to be a presence to help them with some of the areas where they still need help, we're open to that possibility," he said. "But they have to ask, and time is running out in Washington, because we've got a lot going on around the world. And in terms of prioritizing and how we employ and deploy the force, we've got to make some decisions."
Any presence beyond this year would be a fraction of the 47,000 U.S. troops serving in Iraq today, Gates added, and would have to be worked out if Iraqi officials seek it. Whether it would be for a finite period or the long term and what kind of mission it would be would depend on what the Iraqis want and what the United States can provide and afford, he said.
Gates: Services Must Balance Old, New Capabilities
By John D. Banusiewicz
American Forces Press Service
MOSUL, Iraq, April 8, 2011 -- As they move ahead, the services must find the right balance between the new capabilities they've had to develop in Iraq and Afghanistan while maintaining the traditional capabilities they used in previous wars, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said here today.
During a visit with soldiers of the 1st Cavalry Division's 4th Advise and Assist Brigade serving here in U.S. Division North, Gates said that when "dwell time" at home stations between deployments increases to two years, which should happen by the end of the year, soldiers will be able to resume the full-spectrum training that has suffered from long and frequent deployments over the last decade.
"What I want to be sure of is that as we come out of Iraq, and eventually out of Afghanistan, we don't forget what we've learned in Iraq and Afghanistan," he said, "and we [also] need to get back to people training with armor and artillery and so on."
The secretary noted that aircraft carriers have dominated the Navy, fighters and bombers have dominated the Air Force, armor has dominated the Army, and amphibious capability has dominated the Marine Corps.
"What I'm trying to get people to appreciate is that in the 21st century, ... the [U.S.] Army meeting an army like the Soviet army coming through the Fulda Gap in Germany is not likely to happen," he said. "So the Army has to have a full range of capabilities -- and it needs to buy equipment that gives a full range of capabilities -- so it can do all of the different aspects of the mission."
As another example, Gates noted that the United States hasn't had an Air Force pilot shot down in air-to-air combat since the Vietnam War, though air-to-air and bomber capabilities have dominated the Air Force for most of its history.
"But guess what?" he said. "Last year, the Air Force flew 37,000 combat support missions in Afghanistan. They medevaced 9,700 soldiers, airmen, Marines and sailors. Those are important missions. So I want the Air Force ... to have bombers and tac[tical] air and an air-to-air capability, but I don't want them to forget about that combat support mission. I don't want them to forget about medevac. I want them to have the equipment to do all of that."
The big challenge facing all of the services, Gates said, is finding the right balance of capabilities and how to go about it jointly.
"We've operated jointly in this theater and in Afghanistan in ways we've never done before in the American military," the secretary told the soldiers. "But we don't procure jointly. Very few of our acquisitions are joint, so I think we've got to figure that one out, too, particularly in a time of limited budgets."
Situations Similar to Libya Unlikely, Gates Says
By John D. Banusiewicz
American Forces Press Service
MOSUL, Iraq, April 8, 2011 -- It's unlikely that a situation like the one in Libya would occur in another country, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates told U.S. soldiers here today.
As part of a three-day visit to Iraq, Gates visited the 1st Cavalry Division's 4th Advise and Assist Brigade to thank the soldiers for their work in U.S. Division North mentoring Iraqi and Kurdish forces.
Before posing for a photo with each of the hundreds of soldiers present --- and handing each a commemorative coin with his personal thanks --- Gates fielded questions. One soldier asked whether the recent turmoil in the Middle East and North Africa could result in military action similar to the NATO-led effort under way in Libya.
The rate of the spread of unrest in the region is without historical precedent, the secretary noted.
"I was the deputy national security advisor when we went through the liberation of Eastern Europe in 1989, and that went from about February until December," he said. "But this is all happening in like 10 weeks, and so I think our overall approach has to be that we support addressing these political and economic grievances. We believe that the demonstrations ought to be nonviolent, and the actions of the governments need to be nonviolent."
Within those principles, Gates said, each country must be considered individually.
"And I think what has made Libya unique is, first of all, a request which is unprecedented in my experience --- which only goes back 45 years --- of the Arab League actually asking for an intervention in the Middle East to take on an Arab government mistreating its own people," Gates said. "That was then supported by a resolution of the Gulf Cooperation Council, and then the U.N., and the demands, frankly, of our allies like Britain and France.
"So it's hard for me to imagine those kinds of circumstances being replicated anyplace else," he added.
After the troop visit, Gates had lunch with soldiers in their dining facility before leaving Iraq to continue his overseas trip in the United Arab Emirates. He visited Saudi Arabia earlier this week, continuing a series of recent visits to countries in the region.