By Adm. Thomas B. Fargo, USN
Commander, U.S. Pacific Command

This issue of the Asia-Pacific Defense Forum focuses on current and future interoperability among militaries of the Asia-Pacific region. Here, you will read about such exercises as BALIKATAN with the Philippine Armed Forces, COPE INDIA with the Indian Air Force, and COPE TIGER with the air forces of Singapore and Thailand. All focus on interoperability to help make the region safer. To quote from Republic of the Philippines President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s remarks at the opening of Exercise BALIKATAN, partnerships like this exercise teach us “how to make our lives safer for the … world.” In light of this focus, and given the region-wide interest in ongoing U.S. Department of Defense transformation initiatives, I thought it might be useful to review the principles that guide this aggressive transformation effort.

First, our network of alliances and partnerships is a crucial strategic asset and will remain the cornerstone of our security posture in the Pacific. Our transformation initiatives are designed to strengthen these bonds. As Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld has said, we are well aware that weakness invites trouble, and we will take no action to weaken any Pacific alliance.

Second, we are developing these improvements in full consultation with our friends and allies. It is quite reasonable that questions and counterproposals will accompany these discussions, as they do in any honest and open relationship. Forums such as the Defense Policy Review Initiative in Japan, the Future of the Alliance Talks in the Republic of Korea, and the Military Representatives/ Australia-U.S. Ministerial provide frank opportunities to pursue mutually beneficial improvements to the alliances. Moving forward, we will incorporate not only the improvements in U.S. and allied capabilities, but also the lessons learned from recent conflicts in Southwest Asia.

Third, the new security context makes very clear that the future posture of our forward forces, now generally positioned where history left us 50 years ago, must allow us to deal with uncertainty. We must also be able to meet existing security obligations while best positioned to respond promptly to future threats.

You should also know that we haven’t just singled out the Pacific in this transformation effort. Our program in the Pacific is part of a larger worldwide plan. The world has changed, and the initiatives we pursue in response are conceived not with a purely regional view, but to ensure U.S. Pacific Command-based forces are both globally relevant and globally employable.

Our fourth principle highlights the increasing relevance of rapidly deployable, immediately employable capabilities, with emphasis on expeditionary combat power that we can apply on short notice. STRYKER armored vehicles, lifted by C-17 aircraft or High Speed Vessels, for example, have great relevance not only on the Korean peninsula, where they’ve already been introduced, but also throughout the theater for short-fused crises ranging from major combat operations to counter-terror efforts. This principle also reinforces the enduring importance of forward-based forces.

Finally, dramatic changes in warfighting technologies demand that we view these improvements by focusing on capabilities, not numbers.

I hope you will keep these principles in mind as you consider the interoperability articles contained in this edition of the Asia-Pacific Defense FORUM.