Thanks to the work and cooperation of many, the Asia-Pacific region has grown significantly more secure in the past three years, while I have had the privilege to lead the U.S. Pacific Command.

On 20 May, East Timor became an independent country. Many organizations, countries, and individuals contributed to that achievement. Australia and its armed forces under Adm. Christopher Barrie did an absolutely splendid job forming the peacekeeping coalition.

Many other countries in Asia sent forces — Pakistan, Thailand, New Zealand, the Philippines, Bangladesh, Korea, Japan, Fiji, Nepal, Singapore, and Malaysia. Indonesia deserves credit, because in the end, the Indonesian government — including its armed forces — cooperated in the separation and independence of East Timor.

For the armed forces of the United States, East Timor set a new pattern. We were not in charge, but we provided such critical support as strategic airlift, Marine helicopters flying from U.S. Navy ships, and U.S. Army wideband communications. Staff officers in the U.S. Pacific Command created new doctrine and immediately put it into effect.

From East Timor has come a whole new impetus for multilateral military cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region. Officers of many nations have written new operating procedures for international coalitions. They gather twice a year to build a cadre of experienced officers who can form the core staff of the next coalition of Asia-Pacific nations. Later this month — during COBRA GOLD in Thailand — teams from 18 countries will observe exercises of peace enforcement, humanitarian assistance, consequence management, counter-narcotics, and combating terrorism. We can work more effectively together now than we could three years ago, and preparing together has taught us what we all have in common.

Two difficult and tragic crises occurred on my watch. The first was the collision in Hawaiian waters of the USS Greeneville with the FV Ehime Maru. The accident led to a sustained, dedicated, imaginative, and difficult series of actions by Americans and Japanese — to keep the alliance strong. The successful raising of the Ehime Maru, and recovery of the remains of eight of the nine missing crewmembers, was the deepest, heaviest recovery ever.

I would like to pay special tribute to the roles played by the Commander in Chief, U.S. Pacific Fleet, Adm. Thomas Fargo; the Commander of U.S. Naval Forces in Japan, Rear Adm. Robert Chaplin; the Chairman of Japan’s Joint Staff Council, Gen. Shoji Takegouchi; and two Japanese diplomats — Consul General Minoru Shibuya in Honolulu, and Ichiro Fujisaki, Director General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ North America Division. The government and people of Hawaii, many of Japanese ancestry, also played key roles, such as dedicating a memorial to the ship. The incident ultimately strengthened the U.S.-Japanese alliance, just as heat and pressure temper the strongest steel.

The second incident was the collision of two aircraft — a Chinese Navy F-8 with a U.S. Pacific Command EP-3 over the South China Sea. The first few days of that incident were dark — the Chinese pilot lost his life, and it was unclear whether the Chinese government would handle the incident in a cooperative way. My predecessor as commander in chief, Ambassador Joseph Prueher, led the efforts to find a way to resolve the incident. Many in the U.S. Pacific Command — both on my staff and in the Pacific Fleet — did a tremendous amount of analysis, planning, and logistics work — to support that diplomacy, and bring back the crew and the aircraft.

The net effect of that incident has been positive. Although very important interests of the United States and China were in conflict, both governments worked until they achieved a solution both could accept.

Finally, I would like to comment on the current campaign against international terrorism. I am extremely proud of the performance by U.S. Pacific Command forces in combat operations in Afghanistan — the USS Carl Vinson, Kitty Hawk, and Stennis Carrier Battle Groups, the USS Pelelieu and Bonhomme Richard Amphibious Ready Groups, the 13th and 15th Marine Expeditionary Units, the patrol squadrons from Washington state and Hawaii, and many other units. These forces handled an entirely new set of missions with stunning effectiveness.

I am also proud of the performance by U.S. trainers and advisors — soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines — in the Philippines today under Brig. Gen. Donald Wurster, working with the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the AFP’s Southern Command chief, Lt. Gen. Roy Cimatu, recently promoted to AFP Chief of Staff.