Illinois Guard members awarded Silver Star from Dempsey, others also recognized

Illinois National Guard report

CHICAGO  – Illinois Governor Pat Quinn joined Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, May 19, and Army Maj. General William Enyart, the adjutant general of the Illinois National Guard, to honor Illinois National Guard members Army Sgt. First Class Ryan Ahern and Army Capt. Tom Bozzay with Silver Stars for valor.

Dempsey presented the awards to Ahern and Bozzay for their heroic actions in Afghanistan in December 2009 while protecting a French military unit.

"As we honor our military heroes on Armed Services Day, we must never forget their sacrifices," Quinn said. "Sergeant first class Ahern and captain Bozzay are genuine heroes and a shining example of Illinois' best."

Ahern and Bozzay are both assigned to Company A, 2nd Battalion, 20th Special Forces Group in Chicago. While deployed to Afghanistan in 2009 and while under attack from a large enemy force, Bozzay moved under fire to provide medical care to five unit members who were seriously injured. With complete disregard for his own personal safety, Bozzay repeatedly used his body to shield wounded comrades from incoming fire.

Ahern was unconscious when the unit received fire, which wounded him and four others. After regaining consciousness from the blast, Ahern identified and fired at the enemy long enough to allow other members of the unit to reinforce their positions.

"The actions of captain Bozzay and sergeant first class Ahern prove they are not only heroes, but they are true protectors of this country," Enyart said. "They were selfless and fearless without hesitating to simply do their job. They are an inspiration to me and our fellow Illinois National Guardsmen."

The Silver Star is the third-highest military decoration that can be awarded to any branch of the U. S. military. Saturday's ceremony on United States Armed Services Day at the Pritzker Military Library occurred just as the Illinois National Guard played a key role in the weekend's historic NATO summit in Chicago.

Three additional Illinois National Guard Soldiers with Company A, 2nd Battalion, 20th SFG (Airborne) were also recognized on the field during Armed Forces Day at Wrigley Field.

Army Staff Sgt. Ryan Meister, Army Staff Sgt. Scott Blindt and Staff Sgt. Dan Schwarz were recognized, along with five other service members before the game, by Marine Corps Gen. John R. Allen, commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan.

Dempsey, NATO Defense Chiefs Gather for Conference

By John D. Banusiewicz

American Forces Press Service

BRUSSELS, April 24, 2012 – The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff will meet with his NATO counterparts and the defense chiefs of partner nations in a two-day conference that begins tomorrow at NATO headquarters here.

The chairman arrived here from Afghanistan today for the third stop in an overseas trip that began with a visit to Jordan.

NATO foreign and defense ministers recently met to set the agenda for the alliance’s summit in Chicago next month, when the heads of state and government gather to finalize commitments. Over the next two days, Dempsey said, the defense chiefs will discuss how to act upon the guidance.

“The ministers get together and provide us with political guidance, and we discuss how we turn that into military advice and planning,” the chairman explained.

But the Chicago summit will focus on the way ahead after 2014, when Afghan forces will have security responsibility for all of Afghanistan, he noted, and challenges remain in the meantime. Marine Corps Gen. John R. Allen, commander of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan, will brief the defense chiefs, as will Simon Gass, the alliance’s senior civilian representative in Afghanistan. Dempsey met privately with Allen at ISAF headquarters April 22.

Partnerships based on capabilities will be another important aspect of the defense chiefs’ discussions, the chairman said.

“Our new U.S. strategy rebalances our forces toward the Asia-Pacific region while sustaining our commitments in the Middle East,” he noted. “We and our partners need to innovate. We need to move away from our traditional paradigm and take a fresh look at re-emphasizing policies and procedures that allow us to provide the capabilities we all need.”

Rotations, exercises and military academy exchange programs go a long way toward building and sustaining partnerships and helping partner nations’ respective military capabilities fit together, the general said. “As we move forward in this direction,” he added, “we’re building on a strong foundation.”

The defense chiefs also will discuss the alliance’s mission in Kosovo, counterpiracy and counterterrorism efforts, and lessons learned from Operation United Protector in Libya. In addition, defense chiefs from Russia, Ukraine and Georgia will participate in discussions on the practicalities of NATO military partnerships and ways to deepen cooperation.

U.S.-Pakistani Military Relations Improving, Dempsey Says

By Jim Garamone

American Forces Press Service

ABOARD A U.S. MILITARY AIRCRAFT, March 29, 2012 – There may be more bumps in the road, but the military-to-military relationship between the United States and Pakistan is on the road to recovery, said Army Gen. Martin Dempsey today.

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff told reporters traveling with him that he had received the “CliffsNotes” version of the meeting between the U.S. Central Command commander, Marine Corps Gen. James Mattis, the commander of NATO’s International Security Assistance Force, Marine Corps Gen. John Allen, and Pakistani Army Gen. Parvez Ashfaq Kayani in Islamabad yesterday.

This was the first time since the Nov. 26 incident that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers that the leaders were in the same room, Dempsey said.

While the military-to-military relationship may be on its way to recovery, that does not mean that brightness and light is breaking out between the two allies, Dempsey said.

“Military personnel establish contacts, but they don’t make policy,” he said.

American and Pakistan officials need to categorize and prioritize issues by importance, the general said.

“There will be some things both of us want to resolve before the NATO Summit in May,” he said. One of these issues is the opening the ground lines of communication through Pakistan to Afghanistan, Dempsey said.”

It is important to remember that the Pakistani closure of the routes affect not only the U.S., but NATO countries and other contributing nations, Dempsey said.

Afghanistan is entering the fighting season, when those fighters who went to ground for the winter historically come out. The supply lines through Pakistan would make keeping all resupplied easier, the general said.

It also will help solve the physics problem the coalition faces as it begins withdrawing troops and equipment. “We’ve spent 10 solid years shipping equipment in to Afghanistan,” he said. “We are now beginning a process of flowing equipment out, and it would certainly be better to use two directions – North and South – to do it.”

Another factor complicating the U.S.-Pakistan military-to-military relationship is the decade where ties were cut. The Pressler Amendment forbade all military ties between the United States and Pakistan. At the time, government leaders believed it was fitting punishment for Pakistan developing nuclear weaponry.

“I am not an advocate of breaking contact with military-to-military relationships that we’ve taken decades to establish,” the chairman said. “We lost about 10 years of contact with our Pakistani military counterparts – they weren’t coming to our schools, they didn’t train with us, there weren’t any exercises, no military sales program, no technology transfer, no security cooperation.”

This isolated the Pakistani military the U.S., and it created a gap between the nations’ militaries. “I do believe there is a difference in the world view of the generation of Pakistan’s leaders who are more or less my peers, and the next generation,” he said. “That is having an effect.”

One program the U.S. military put in place to combat this is a vigorous liaison program. For example, at U.S. Central Command there are 64 different liaison officers working at the command, many of them from Pakistan.

“That program, plus our school exchanges is beginning to rebuild all that, but it doesn’t happen overnight,” Dempsey said.

U.S., Pakistani Officials Discuss Military Relationship

By Karen Parrish

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, March 28, 2012 – Senior U.S. officers met today with their Pakistani counterparts in Islamabad, Pakistan, Pentagon Press Secretary George Little said.

Marine Corps Gen. James N. Mattis, commander of U.S. Central Command, and Marine Corps Gen. John R. Allen, commander of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan, met with Pakistani officials, including Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, the Pakistani army's chief of staff, Little told reporters.

“The focus of the meeting was to discuss the U.S.-Pakistani military relationship,” he said.

This is the first such meeting in Pakistan since late last year, although military leaders from both sides have maintained other contact, Little noted. Relations between the two countries, and between NATO and Pakistani forces, have been strained since a Nov. 26 engagement near the Afghanistan-Pakistan border that left 24 Pakistani soldiers dead.

After that incident, Pakistani officials barred NATO forces from using ground cargo transport routes through Pakistan, which previously had carried most ISAF troop supplies transported into Afghanistan.

Little did not discuss details of today’s meetings, but said officials are hopeful that the ground supply routes will re-open soon. “They are important to our effort in Afghanistan,” he said.

Border coordination is much improved since the late-November incident, Little said. The Pakistani parliament is reviewing military relations with the United States, he added, and U.S. officials are open to dialogue.

“We believe strongly that the relationship with Pakistan is very important, and [this meeting is] a reflection of our commitment to the relationship,” he said.