Ulchi Freedom Guardian Promotes Stability on Korean Peninsula

By Donna Miles

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON – As the United States and South Korea observe the 59th anniversary of the armistice that brought an unofficial end to the Korean War, their forces are sharpening their defensive capabilities through the Ulchi Freedom Guardian exercise.

More than 30,000 U.S. and South Korean service members are participating in what Army Gen. James D. Thurman, commander of Combined Forces Command, called “a key exercise in strengthening the readiness” of the two militaries.

Named in honor of a Korean military leader who repelled an invasion by China’s Sui dynasty in the 7th century, Ulchi Freedom Guardian 12 kicked off Aug. 20 and continues through next week.

Seven United Nations Command states also are participating: Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, and Norway, officials said.

One of two annual Combined Forces Command peninsula-wide exercises, Ulchi Freedom Guardian is centered on readiness, deterrence and the ability to defend South Korea.

Driven by computer-assisted simulation, it is designed so senior leaders can exercise their decision-making capabilities, U.S. Forces Korea officials said, while also training commanders and staffs from both nations in combined planning, command and control operations, military intelligence, logistics and personnel procedures.

“It is based on realistic scenarios and enables us to train on our essential tasks with a ‘whole of government’ approach,” Thurman said.

Ulchi Freedom Guardian is part of an ongoing focus on strengthening the U.S.-South Korea alliance while preparing South Korea to assume wartime operational control of its forces from the United States in 2015, officials said.

Thurman told the House Appropriations Committee this spring the U.S.-South Korea alliance is “as solid as ever,” and said it serves as the foundation for the combined readiness of the two militaries. The general said he and his South Korean military counterparts are guiding military leaders and units of both militaries “to work and train closely with one another on a daily basis, and that effort builds combined strength, faith, and trust -- qualities that are essential for us to successfully accomplish our mission in Korea.”

Training exercises like Ulchi Freedom Guardian, carried out in the spirit of the Oct. 1, 1953, ROK-U.S. Mutual Defense Treaty and in accordance with the armistice, advance those efforts, U.S. Forces Korea officials said.

“These exercises also highlight the longstanding military partnership, commitment and enduring friendship between the two nations, help to ensure peace and security on the peninsula and reaffirm the U.S. commitment to the Northeast Asia region,” they said.

Ulchi Freedom Guardian 2012 comes at a time of transition on the peninsula, with the new and relatively untested North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un, continuing Pyongyang’s pursuit of nuclear weapons in defiance of U.N. Security Council resolutions.

Navy Adm. Samuel J. Locklear III, commander of U.S. Pacific Command, told American Forces Press Service he considers North Korea the most pressing trouble spot in Pacom’s vast area of responsibility.

“If there is anything that keeps me awake at night, it’s that particular situation,” the admiral said. “We have to ensure that we maintain as much of a stable environment on the Korean peninsula as we can.”

Toward that end, Locklear relies heavily on Thurman’s leadership to ensure that South Korean and U.S. forces remain strong.  In March, he emphasized the importance of the U.S.-South Korean alliance in deterring aggression and maintaining security and stability and offered assurances of an “unwaverable” U.S. commitment to the alliance.

Pacom Works to Advance U.S.-India Strategic Partnership

By Donna Miles

American Forces Press Service

CAMP SMITH, Hawaii, Aug. 14, 2012 – As U.S. Pacific Command strives to build stronger alliances and partnerships across the Asia-Pacific region, one of its big focuses is on taking the military-to-military relationship with India to the next level.

The new defense strategic guidance announced in January resets U.S. priorities toward the region, specifically calling for investments in a long-term strategic partnership with India “to support its ability to service as a regional economic anchor and provider of security in the broader Indian Ocean region.”

Navy Adm. Samuel J. Locklear III, who took command of Pacom in March, is using that guidance as his marching orders as he implements the expanded Asia-Pacific strategy.

“We hope to partner with [India] to share the strategic landscape as it applies to how we apply security to the globe that allows prosperity and peace, freedom of movement and … prosperity in the world,” he told American Forces Press Service.

India’s strategic location between West Asia and the Middle East, and its ascent across economic, military, diplomatic and informational fronts makes it an influential leader in the region, said Army Col. Michael Albaneze, director of Locklear’s India strategic focus group.

The group of six military and civilian experts, one of three “mini think tanks” within the Pacom staff, advises Locklear and his senior staff on a broad range of issues that shape India’s strategic environment, and ways to advance the U.S.-India strategic partnership, Albaneze explained.

It’s a partnership that’s been slow in forming, he conceded. For the past half-century, India has been a leader in the nonaligned movement, and it has an official policy of being “strategically autonomous.”

That said, Albaneze recognized signs of India’s willingness to engage increasingly with the United States as it rises on the world stage. The two countries had their first strategic dialogue in 2010, with two more since then, the most recent in June.

Without a long history of cooperation, Albaneze noted a “maturing process” that could, over time, evolve into a more typical relationship characterized by routine engagement across the board. “We are not quite there yet, but there is a lot of effort in trying to move in that direction,” he said, adding that the relationship is continuing to deepen.

One high point is the exercise program. India partners with the United States in dozens of military exercises every year as it builds an increasingly strong military. Its navy is one of the world’s largest, and its army deploys routinely for peacekeeping operations, Albaneze noted.

Most of the exercises tend to be at the component level. The annual Exercise Malabar involves the U.S. and Indian navies, with several international observers during its latest iteration, in April. The U.S. and Indian armies train together through Yudh Abhyas exercises, frequently weaving humanitarian assistance and disaster response scenarios into the engagements.

The two countries’ air forces train together through Cope India exercises, and the Indian air force participated for the first time in the U.S.-sponsored Red Flag exercise in 2008. Although India has no marine corps, U.S. Marines train with an Indian army brigade that specializes in amphibious operations during Exercise Shatrujeet.

“Those are just the major mil-mil engagements,” Albaneze said, noting a broad array of other military-to-military engagements and exchanges at U.S. and Indian military training centers and schoolhouses.

Both the United States and India hope to increase the complexity of the exercise program over time, he said, and to elevate them into joint engagements that involve more than just one service.

Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta underscored during his visit to India in June, just ahead of the 2012 U.S.-India Strategic Dialogue, that a “close partnership with America will be key to meeting India's own stated aims of a modern and effective defense force.”

“We have built a strong foundation,” the secretary said. “But for this relationship to truly provide security for this region and for the world, we will need to deepen our defense and security cooperation.”

That, Panetta said, extends to closer collaboration in sharing defense technology and developing future systems. Despite India’s decision not to buy a U.S. advanced jet fighter, U.S. defense sales to India have grown to more than $8 billion with the potential to increase more.

The secretary recognized legal restrictions that have hampered some sales, and vowed to work to eliminate as many hurdles as possible.

“The United States is firmly committed to providing the best defense technology possible to India,” he told Indian leaders in Delhi, while recognizing India’s ambitions to advance its own defense industry. “We are both leaders in technology development and we can do incredible work together,” Panetta said.

Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter followed up that visit in July, encouraging India to move forward in engaging with the United States across the spectrum, from dialogue to exercises to defense trade and research cooperation.

“We want to develop a joint vision for U.S.-India defense cooperation,” Carter said. “We want to knock down any remaining bureaucratic barriers in our defense relationship, and strip away the impediments. And we want to set big goals to achieve.”

Recognizing the many mutual and converging interests the United States and India share, Albaneze said he’s hopeful about their future prospects.

“I am an optimist on the relationship,” he said. “Every time there is a hiccup, I just think that it’s part of our getting to learn more and more about each other, and how we interact.

“Sometimes it’s two steps forward and one step back,” Albaneze continued. “But at the end of the day, we still made a step forward -- and that is really what we are trying to do in the region.”

Carter ‘Walking the Walk’ on Strategic Rebalance

By Karen Parrish

American Forces Press Service

PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii, July 18, 2012 – Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter stood here today on the deck of the USS Missouri, the battleship that served as the site of the surrender that ended World War II, and summoned U.S. soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines gathered there to what he called “a new purpose in a new moment in our nation’s national security history.”

Carter visited Hawaii on the first leg of an Asia-Pacific regional tour that will take him to Guam, Japan, Thailand, India and South Korea. In Hawaii, home to U.S. Pacific Command, he told the roughly 150 service members in attendance that they will witness the U.S. strategic rebalance to the Pacific, while at the same time carrying on a long legacy of successful service in the region.

The USS Missouri’s teak deck the deputy secretary stood on is now part of a floating museum. The warship, the last Iowa-class battleship the U.S. launched and the last to serve, was anchored in Tokyo Bay on Sept. 2, 1945, when U.S and Japanese representatives signed the document marking Japan’s surrender and the end of World War II.

“The folks who fought that war were about your age, or some of you are younger, and they were -- they were the greatest generation of that time,” the deputy defense secretary said.

Carter said his main points in speaking to the troops were to thank them for their service, and to explain why that service is important.

“You all are the greatest generation of this time,” he said. “And I want each and every one of you to go home tonight, to your family or your close friends, or call your parents or whoever is close to you, and say that today you were thanked by the leadership of the Department of Defense, and your country, for what you do.”

Everyone who works in national defense supports an effort greater than themselves, and greater even than the nation, Carter said, “because the United States still provides security to much of the world.”

The Asia-Pacific region shows the value of that security in its booming economies and enduring peace, he noted.

“It really starts with the principles that we [in the United States] stand up for, that we uphold, and that we have stood for in this part of the world for 70 years now,” Carter said.

The U.S. military presence in the Asia-Pacific region has been constant and strong over those decades, he said, and is largely responsible for the region’s stability.

“In that environment of peace and security, first Japan was able to rise, then Korea was able to rise and now, yes, China [is] able to rise to develop their own people [and] to develop economically,” Carter said. “And that’s only possible in an environment of peace and security.“

Defense leaders “aim to continue to be the pivotal factor for peace and security in the Asia-Pacific region,” he added.

Carter noted the rim of the Pacific exercise, known as RIMPAC, which is underway now off the coast of Hawaii and involves the U.S Navy and 21 other nations’ sea forces. He said RIMPAC is a model of the U.S. Asia-Pacific strategy to further-strengthen partner nations’ military capabilities and build partnerships, alliances and friendships on which regional security and stability rests.

The deputy secretary noted that as President Barack Obama and Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta have outlined, the U.S. military’s focus will shift to the Asia-Pacific region as the last decade’s wars wind down.

The nation’s defense efforts have “understandably and justifiably” focused on Iraq and Afghanistan since 2001, Carter noted. Battling terrorism and countering insurgency “are important things to do, and they’re important things to bring to an end,” he added.

The deputy secretary noted U.S. forces have concluded their mission in Iraq, and are within sight of ending combat in Afghanistan.

“We have a plan that is shared with all our coalition partners, to bring that down -- our activity in Afghanistan -- to an enduring presence starting in 2015,” he said.

Carter said by shifting to the Asia-Pacific resources that had been dedicated to Iraq and Afghanistan, the rebalance can succeed “within the constraints of the amount of money that the country is able to give us.”

President Obama and Panetta understand, he said, that as the era of Iraq and Afghanistan ends, “we need to lift our heads up out of the foxhole we’ve been in, look up, look around, and see what the problems … and the security opportunities … are, that will define our future.”

“Those challenges and those opportunities are, very importantly, in the Asia-Pacific region, which you now serve,” Carter told the troops. “So this is where our future lies, and you, right here, right now, are a very important part of … that great transition that this great military is embarked upon.”

Carter noted his visit to the region follows trips by the president, Panetta and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.

“I’m out here in their wake, to show that when they talked about rebalancing our security effort to the Asia-Pacific theater, that we aren’t just talking the talk, we’re walking the walk,” he said.

The deputy secretary said on his week-plus travels, “I’ll be looking at our relationships with those countries and implicitly with all of the other countries in this area, and saying, ‘What is it that I need to go back to Washington and make sure we’re doing on our end to hold up our bargain with you?’”

Carter told the Pacom troops aboard the USS Missouri this is “a period, it’s a moment in history, that you should always, as you go forward in your lives and your careers, keep in your mind. This was an important moment to be here, to be doing what you’re doing.”

Earlier today, Carter met at Pacom headquarters with Navy Adm. Samuel J. Locklear III, Pacom commander, and senior representatives of the command’s Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps components, who briefed him on current and future operations implementing the rebalancing strategy.

The deputy secretary’s next stop is Guam, where he is scheduled to meet with Governor Eddie Baza Calvo and military leaders.

Senior NCO Lauds Growing Philippine Enlisted Professionalism

By Donna Miles

American Forces Press Service

MANILA, Philippines, July 16, 2012 – Saluting the growing professionalism of the Philippine military’s noncommissioned officer corps, U.S. Pacific Command’s senior enlisted advisor encouraged students at the sergeants major academy here to embrace opportunities opening to them and to become engines for continued progress.

Navy Command Master Chief Petty Officer Mark W. Rudes, traveling in the Philippines with Navy Adm. Samuel J. Locklear III, the Pacom commander, spoke today with 64 Philippine NCOs slated to graduate this week from the country’s top joint-service academy.

Rudes noted growing recognition within the Armed Forces of the Philippines and other advanced militaries around the world that “the noncommissioned officer is the backbone of your success as a military.”

But it’s a principle, he acknowledged, that has gained acceptance more quickly in some countries’ officer corps than others. Rudes challenged the next generation of senior Philippine NCOs to take advantage of the changing mindset within their military as they apply their strengths and talents to help their military advance.

“You are going to find that your up-and-coming junior officers are learning an awful lot about what capability a professional NCO corps brings to the military,” he told the class.

After office calls today with Marine Sgt. Maj. Edilberto Lustre, the AFP’s senior NCO, and Navy Capt. Allan Rusal, chief of staff of the Command and General Staff College, Rudes said he’s encouraged to learn that mid-range and senior officers, too, are enthusiastic about the potential this offers.

“Many of you are in a position now where you are going to see the fruits of that kind of thought process, because [officers] are going to increasingly turn to you and draw on your ideas and your capabilities,” Rudes told the NCOs. “I think that you are going to see that your officer corps is going to slowly start utilizing you in the capacity that you are being trained in.”

That’s particularly important now, he said, as the AFP transforms from an internally directed and largely army-centric force. In support of its enhanced maritime security focus, the decommissioned U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Dallas recently joined the Philippine navy.

“Now that you are starting to look outward at maritime threats and external threats, as opposed to inward, it is going to open up new opportunities,” Rudes said.

He reminded them of the important role they will play in this transition, encouraging them to take charge of key areas such as maintenance and the training that must underpin it.

“Hopefully you can take some of the skills you have learned in this school setting as you go to the field, the deck plates, the air strips … and use that to advance to the next level,” he said.

As they do so, Rudes encouraged the class members to seek out opportunities to exercise and train with their U.S. allies.

U.S. military training and education programs all recognize the role of NCOs, Rudes said.

“If you want to advance your military to the next level,” he added, “you absolutely need to empower your NCO corps and professionalize your noncommissioned officers so you can raise that overall bar.”

Although the U.S. has always held its NCO corps in esteem, Rudes told the class it’s only more recently begun to tap into its full capability. “I will tell you, in my time in service, our [military] has really turned to and tasked the NCO corps to take on an awful lot more of a leadership role in strategy development and changing our military’s ways of training, managing and equipping so we can be more efficient and more effective,” he said.

That capability, he said, comes primarily through the core NCO mission of taking care of people and developing their skills and leadership potential.

“It is not necessarily doing things for them,” Rudes emphasized. “You are challenging your soldiers, your marines, your sailors, your airmen to make the most of their time and their service with you. And in doing so, you are also looking out for their interests to remove obstacles, communicate with them and show them that they can become successful.”

Sharing his own experience, Rudes urged the Philippine NCOs to measure their own success through that of the service members they lead.

“I don’t need anybody to tell me I am doing a good job. I don’t need anybody to give me an award or recognize me in some way,” he told them. “I just look back at the sailors that I have had the privilege to be in charge of. And if they have succeeded in accomplishing the things that they need to, that, to me, is success.”

Locklear Arrives in Manila for Security Talks

By Donna Miles

American Forces Press Service

MANILA, Philippines, July 15, 2012 – The senior U.S. commander in the Pacific region arrived here today to reaffirm the strength of the U.S.-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty and to explore how the United States can support efforts to boost Philippine military capacity.

Navy Adm. Samuel J. Locklear III, paying his first visit here since taking command at U.S. Pacific Command in March, is slated to meet with President Benigno S. Aquino III, Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin and Armed Forces of the Philippines chief, Gen. Jessie Dellosa, for talks to center on maritime and regional security issues.

Locklear told American Forces Press Service during the flight here that he looks forward to building on the historic U.S.-Philippine bilateral defense relationship that marked its 60th anniversary last year.

The admiral recalled his days as a young Navy officer when the United States had a large presence at Subic Bay and U.S. military members worked closely with their Filipino counterparts. Although the U.S. footprint in the Philippines has changed significantly over the years, he said, the trust and collaboration established between the two nations hasn’t.

That foundation will be important, he said, as the United States helps the Filipino military transition from an army-centric, internally focused organization into one able to draw on more joint capabilities to address regional challenges.

“Now, as the security environment changes, many countries recognize that there has got to be more maritime domain awareness [and] more understanding of what is happening around them rather than [just] what is happening internally,” he said. “So what we are looking for is to try to provide [the Philippines] assistance that builds the interoperability of our defense forces over time.”

The United States isn’t alone in this endeavor, the admiral said, noting that other regional allies and partners are invested as well, recognizing that the broad challenges across the Asia-Pacific region demand strong multilateral cooperation.

Among those challenges are tense maritime disputes in the South China Sea. The Philippines, China, Malaysia, Brunei and Vietnam all claim portions of the contested waterways. The Philippines and China are currently locked in a naval standoff, with both claiming ownership of the contentious Scarborough Shoal. That dispute reached a new level just before Locklear’s arrival as a Chinese naval frigate ran aground about 70 miles off the Philippines’ western coast. The incident was resolved peacefully as the Chinese freed the stranded vessel earlier today.

Locklear, speaking with reporters in Australia before that latest development, said the United States doesn’t take sides in territorial disputes and encourages peaceful resolution through international legal processes. He warned, however, of excessive maritime claims that cause friction among neighbors, and if not resolved, could lead to “miscalculation” that threatens stability.

During his meetings with Filipino military and political leaders, Locklear said he’ll seek ways to expand the U.S.-Philippine military-to-military relationship in ways that promote regional stability and security.

“On the military side, a productive alliance requires us to be able to work together, to have connectivity with each other, to be able to share information, and to be able to bring our military systems together in a meaningful way across all aspects of military power -- whether it’s humanitarian assistance and disaster relief or a contingency or otherwise,” he said.

“I’m looking forward to giving the message to the Filipino military and to the leaders there that the United States is a very reliable ally,” he said. “We want the Filipinos to be a reliable ally to us as well.”

Locklear said he will reinforce the message of U.S. commitment that Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, made during his visit here in June. Dempsey and Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta had delivered the same message days before that visit when they met with Gazmin and Dellosa at the annual Shangri-La regional security summit in Singapore.

That discussion followed U.S.-Philippine “Two Plus Two” talks in Washington in April. Panetta, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Gazmin and Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario met for what Panetta called “very successful” sessions about expanding the alliance.

Locklear said he looks forward on building on this momentum in ways that deepen engagement between the two countries and identify ways they can work together to support common security goals.

“This is a reaffirmation that the Mutual Defense Treaty is still in place and still strong,” the admiral said of his visit here. “And it is an opportunity for us to find places and missions were we can partner and exercise together in a way that will increase our overall security cooperation and increase security in this critical part of the Asia-Pacific.”