Bush: Further Delay in War-Spending Bill Will Impact Troops

By Steven Donald Smith
American Forces Press Service

April 15, 2007 – President Bush yesterday once again called for Congress to send him a clean emergency war-spending bill that does not include tacked on funding measures and a timeline for U.S. troop withdrawal from Iraq. Without the supplemental funds requested by the White House in early February, military officials will be compelled to shift money around to fill expenditure disparities, Bush said during his weekly radio address to the nation.

"In the next few days, our military leaders will notify Congress that they will be forced to transfer $1.6 billion from other military accounts to make up for the gaps caused by Congress' failure to fund our troops in the field," he said. "That means our military will have to take money from personnel accounts so they can continue to fund U.S. Army operations in Iraq and elsewhere."

The $1.6 billion is in addition to the $1.7 billion in transferred funds U.S. military leaders notified Congress about last month, Bush noted.

"In March, Congress was told that the military would need to take money from personnel accounts, weapons and communications systems, so we can continue to fund programs that protect our troops from improvised explosive devices and send hundreds of mine-resistant vehicles to the front lines," he said.

Bush said further delays in the war-spending bill would negatively affect U.S. troops. "The longer Congress delays the worse the impact on the men and women of the armed forces will be," he said.

On April 18, the president plans to meet congressional leaders of both political parties at the White House to discuss the emergency war funding request. Bush said he will veto the bills already passed by the House and Senate because they impose restrictions on U.S. military commanders, set a timeline for withdrawal from Iraq, and include billions of dollars on domestic projects that have nothing to do with the war.

"We owe it to the American people and to our troops and their families to deliver our full support," he said.

Bush said he realizes political differences are inherent in Washington, but stressed U.S. troops should not be trapped in the middle of such differences.

"Supporting our troops is a solemn responsibility of all elected officials in Washington, D.C.," he said.

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Enlisted Advisor's Presence in China Visits Highlights NCO Importance

By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service

March 27, 2007 – The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff emphasized just how important U.S. military leaders believe noncommissioned officers are by including his senior enlisted advisor in all his talks with senior Japanese and Chinese leaders. Marine Gen. Peter Pace made sure that Army Command Sgt. Maj. William J. Gainey was in on every meeting, dinner and exercise during the weeklong trip March 19-27.

"It raised some eyebrows, especially with the Chinese," a Joint Staff official traveling with Pace said. "They are not used to enlisted personnel being anything more than technicians."

The general sees Gainey's participation as a plus for all involved. He gets another set of eyes examining problems, and the foreign military leaders get a firsthand look at what NCOs bring to the table.

"I think the Chinese have a much better understanding (of the role of NCOs in the U.S. military)," Pace said during an interview. "But because they don't have that concept in their military, they still don't have a complete understanding of what our NCO corps is all about."

Pace took every opportunity to talk about the sergeant major and his place in the NCO corps and how important the U.S. NCO corps is to American military success.

"I think that resonated with the Chinese," he said. "Having him side by side with me was a projection to the Chinese of the whole cloth of the leadership of our armed forces."

The chairman wants more military-to-military contacts between the United States and China. For his part, Gainey wants to see that some of those contacts are between NCOs.

The sergeant major offered to sponsor a senior Chinese NCO during the next Chinese delegation to visit Washington. "I hope they will allow the NCO to visit me, and I will have him meet with a group of U.S. NCOs," Gainey said during an interview. "It's important we create understanding between the militaries. The NCO corps is basic to understanding the U.S. military."

In China, NCOs are not trainers as they are in the United States.

"I had a full briefing on their NCO and enlisted policies by their (chief of personnel)," he said. "The general and I talked about how he could establish an NCO corps. He was taken aback by how General Pace would allow me to have as much authority. They were very open about it. The general told me that he could not understand it.

"I explained to him that General Pace delegates authority, but he cannot delegate responsibility," Gainey continued.

Gainey accompanied Pace to a military exercise at Dalian Military Training Area. The sergeant major, an Army scout, noticed that every tank or armored personnel carrier was commanded by an officer. "In our tank platoon, we have one officer and the tank commanders are NCOs," he said.

Follow-up will be interesting, Gainey said. He said he plans to work with the chairman and the Joint Staff to promote military-to-military contacts.

"I think we learned a lot from each other, and I think we broke some new, very positive ground," he said of the Chinese. "We need to keep moving."

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