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In a ceremony in Texas, Adm. Thomas B. Fargo welcomes the addition of the new Stryker Interim Armored Vehicle (IAV) to the U.S. 2nd Infantry Division, based in the Republic of Korea. The Stryker IAV is a deployable-wheeled armored vehicle that combines firepower, battlefield mobility, survivability, and versatility, with reduced logistics requirements.
Photo by Steven Bachelder |
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Readers of the Asia-Pacific Defense FORUM will encounter many articles covering bilateral and multilateral exercises and multinational forums. It’s useful, then, for our readers to understand how we determine the parameters of some of these exercises, and what we hope to achieve.
In the U.S. Pacific Command, our mission is to deter conflict, dissuade potential adversaries, and assure others of our commitment to a peaceful Asia-Pacific region. When necessary, we will defeat adversaries swiftly and decisively, while defending U.S. territory and our alliances.|
In the past – in this forum – I have mentioned the importance of what we in the Pacific Command consider the regional “constants” – these are the long-standing bilateral alliances, friendships, and presence of our forward-deployed combat forces. Although our five alliances are the foundation of Asia-Pacific security, many of the security efforts in the region are multilateral. That is why many of our exercises are multilateral. We work – through these exercises – to achieve several goals. |
One clear objective is to build confidence among the region’s armed forces’ leadership. Success in training, where we apply in practice what we’ve documented in plans, breeds faith in those plans and decisiveness in executing them. Exercising those plans also reveals weaknesses or unforeseen factors that ultimately lead to strengthening our concepts and procedures.
Another goal of our regional exercises is to enhance joint and multinational readiness for rapid responses to crisis action situations. Readiness is a unit’s capability to fully perform its mission. Simply put – readiness is everything. We employ it as an indicator of competence and consider it a state of preparation and availability for action. Dynamic exercises reflect potential real-world crises and are critical to realistically assess our combined capabilities. |
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Adm. Thomas B. Fargo meets with many military leaders to help maintain a peaceful Asia-Pacific region. Here he receives a memento from Gen. Cao Gangchuan, Minister of Defense of the People’s Republic of China, during Gen. Cao’s October 2003 visit to Headquarters, U.S. Pacific Command in Hawaii.
Photo by PH1 Clinton Beaird, USN |
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A third objective is to create habits of planning, exercising, and operating together. Countries of the Asia-Pacific region are an amalgamation, culturally and procedurally diverse. This diversity naturally surfaces during our multinational training events. These exercises permit us to adjust our differing procedures or establish acceptable norms for all participants. They also give us a chance to become accustomed to new methods and learn to understand the nuances of other players and to modify our team approach accordingly.
In the U.S. Pacific Command, we consider our exercise program robust, realistic, and mission-oriented. And I think you’ll find – as you read this issue of the Asia-Pacific Defense Forum – that it is also successful.
The Roman warrior emperor Augustus once said, “Practice is the master of all things.” It is precisely why we plan, exercise, refine, and exercise again our tactics, techniques, and procedures. Interestingly, it was the Greek playwright Aristophanes who said, “Let each man exercise the art he knows.”
It seems both the warrior and the philosopher agree that we must train as we will fight – and, when called upon, fight to win as a capable team. |
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