*EPF204 07/23/2002
Text: Pacific Commander Says Supporting War on Terrorism Top Priority
(Admiral Fargo lists U.S. Pacific Command's top five priorities) (3740)

Fighting the war on terrorism is the U.S. Pacific Command's (PACOM) number one priority, according to its commander, Admiral Thomas Fargo.

Speaking in Honolulu, Hawaii, at the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies July 17, Fargo said figuring out how to successfully conduct the war on terrorism is a "tough problem," in part because traditional thoughts about deterrence and defense "aren't really applicable."

The United States and its allies, he went on, have had to adopt "new strategies and new methodologies to defeat this threat."

To be successful, Fargo said, the United States has decided that it must "go after these terrorists -- to take the 'offensive' if you will."

U.S. strategy, he continued, is to deny terrorists the places where they can "hide, plan and conduct their attacks."

PACOM has set up the Joint Interagency Coordination Group for Counter Terrorism to accomplish that goal, Fargo said.

Forgo said his four other top priorities were to: improve PACOM's readiness and joint warfighting capability; reinforce "constants" such as the important bilateral relationships the United States has in the Asia-Pacific area, and the forward presence of U.S. combat forces; improve the quality of service for servicemen and women; and promote "the kind of change needed to improve our Pacific security posture for the future."

Following is the text of Admiral Thomas Fargo's July 17 remarks:

(begin text)

UNITED STATES PACIFIC COMMAND

Remarks as prepared for
Admiral Thomas B. Fargo, USN
Commander, U.S. Pacific Command

Remarks at APCSS Biennial Conference
Honolulu, HI, July 17, 2002

Adm. Fargo: Thank you, Hank for that generous introduction and for the marvelous job you've done in preparing and presenting this conference. I also recognize that part of the much larger APCSS effort -- their contribution to the region is hugely important to our future.

Hank has asked me to join you to offer some of my insights on the region and security cooperation and I'll spend the balance of my time tonight there. I'm also happy to take a few questions afterward.

Now I know you've been hearing, and discussing, much about the security challenges we all face in the Pacific. The role of the U.S. Pacific Command in all this is to promote the security and peaceful development of the region, deter aggression, enhance security cooperation, respond to crisis, and if need be, fight and win.

Sounds pretty simple, but as you have discussed, all that we face here in the Pacific makes this a fairly complex task.

What makes me lay awake at night? Maybe I should ask YOU to fill that in for me. In fact, my sense is my list of fundamental challenges is probably pretty close to precisely what you have been discussing this week in both your formal and your offline discussions.

The threat on the Korean peninsula, the potential for instability, a miscalculation between strategic rivals, terrorism, and certainly in my case, the need to keep U-S forces trained and ready now and in the future ... so it is a tall order. And as a result, you've got to set priorities. At Pacific Command, we have identified five for the near term, and I thought I'd discuss them with you tonight.

1. First, as I just mentioned, sustaining and supporting the Global War on Terrorism.
2. Second, improving the readiness and joint warfighting capability of PACOM forces.
3. Next, reinforcing what I call the "constants" in our region, like our important bilateral relationships and the forward presence of our combat forces. 4. Improving upon the quality of service for our servicemen and women.
And last,
5. Promoting the kind of change needed to improve our Pacific security posture for the future.

It's no accident that I listed supporting the global war on terrorism first. A terrorist expert named Paul Wilkinson once said, "Fighting terrorism is like being a goalkeeper. You can make a hundred brilliant saves but the only shot that people {often} remember is the one that gets past you." He said that in 1937, and that sentiment is true to this day.

I already mentioned some of the characteristics of this new fight against this international enemy. This is a tough problem and our traditional thoughts about deterrence and defense aren't really applicable. As a result, we've had to adopt new strategies and new methodologies to defeat this threat.

It is clear to me that there are essentially unlimited targets for international terrorists to attack. If we defend one particular place, gathering or piece of infrastructure, and make that place look "hard", the terrorist will go elsewhere, and the threat isn't necessarily eliminated. The terrorist will persist until he finds a target that he CAN exploit successfully.

So we are required to go after these terrorists -- to take the "offensive" if you will. And as I said, it takes new thinking to close the seams where terrorists hide, plan and conduct their attacks. At Pacific Command, we have formed the Joint Interagency Coordination Group for Counter Terrorism to do just that.

This coordination group works in my headquarters and serves as the hub where our intelligence and law enforcement agencies, federal officials and military can sift through the vast array of financial, intelligence, diplomatic and criminal information and begin to piece together the "mosaic" that reveals terrorist planning and operations.

When they develop what we would call "actionable intelligence", they are then able to work with the appropriate agency -- the FBI for example, or our country team -- to disrupt the operation or target the terrorist, work with the foreign nation empowered to take action, or in some cases, take military action directly.

This coordination group works closely with the governments of our friends and allies in the global war on terror as well. Pacific Command has counter-terrorist liaison teams with our embassies in the Philippines and Indonesia, and is coordinating liaison requirements with Malaysia, Bangladesh, Singapore, Thailand and India. And we are beginning to make some of the "saves" the goalkeeper is seldom remembered for -- disrupting terrorist operations, drying up the money terrorists need to operationalize their activities, and so forth.

We also recognize the significant contributions of our friends and allies in the war on terror. Singapore and Malaysia have made significant and dramatic arrests. The Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia have signed an important tri-lateral agreement to share information and strengthen the kind of controls -- like border controls -- needed to combat terrorism and disrupt terrorist operations. Other nations have also expressed interest in joining this tri-national agreement.

In Afghanistan, we have the critical support of friends and allies. Japan, Korea and Australia -- among other nations -- have helped defeat our Al Qaeda enemy in ways they are most comfortable with, either providing logistic and support forces, or in some cases, appropriate combat forces.

We have also responded to the request of treaty allies like the Republic of the Philippines to advise and assist them in developing an effective counter-terrorist capability in their armed forces. We have helped create a comprehensive intelligence architecture, and are training the Armed Forces of the Philippines in the joint operations and tactics they need to eliminate the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG).

And their effort has been rewarded. The ASG has shrunk from 800 members to about 80 on Basilan Island and several of their senior leaders have been arrested or killed. The Armed Forces of the Philippines have dramatically reduced their OWN casualties, and at the same time, the ASG is on the run, unable to obtain the funds necessary to even eat, let alone operationalize their planning and activities.

Our goal is to help the Armed Forces of the Philippines develop an enduring and self-sustaining counter-terrorist capability. We are committed to helping this important ally.

I'm asked frequently when the Global War on Terror will end. As the Secretary of Defense has made abundantly clear; this is not a short war. We still have a long ways to go, and there are still key terrorist players associated with Al Qaeda and their surrogates, like Jemaah Islamiyah, at large. But the progress and conviction of freedom loving nations is strong.

Clearly, there is no "one-size fits all" set solution for defeating terrorism. But, whether it is the Pacific Command JIACG/CT group, the independent efforts of our allies, or our train, advise and assist mission in the Philippines, the overall results have been dramatic. Terrorist havens are disintegrating, and collectively, the nations in the region have independently or cooperatively helped assault terrorism's logistical, operational, educational, training and economic infrastructures.

Improving the readiness and joint warfighting capability of Pacific Command forces is my next priority. We have a solid foundation to build upon here. The speed and response of U.S. and coalition forces in Afghanistan, for example, was exceptional. Aircraft carrier battle groups like the Pacific Fleet's CARL VINSON Battle Group and Air Force bombers flying from Diego Garcia and Missouri combined with Army special forces and the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit to bring immediate combat power to bear against the Taliban and Al Qaeda. The capabilities these units brought to battle were the result of continuous, robust, joint training. Not after 9/11 -- beforehand.

The resourcefulness of Army special forces, integrating Northern Alliance horse cavalry tactics with high tech GPS receivers and carrier aviators trained in time critical strike personified the utility and effectiveness of our joint force training and will be an enduring image from the war in Afghanistan.

In the Pacific, all of our operating forces expect to be trained, prepared and employed in a joint and coalition operational construct. One of the Pacific Command's important efforts during Admiral Blair's tenure was the development of the Joint Mission Force (or JMF) and Multinational Mission Force concepts. This is an effort I support strongly and will give my continued attention.

The JMF leverages existing component commander infrastructure and relationships with the responsiveness and readiness of the Pacific's forward-deployed forces through web-centric technology. Its key objectives are to improve the speed of response, their precision and their effectiveness across the full spectrum of missions.

We employ this concept routinely in real world contingencies and we will continue to both work with our allies on their joint integration efforts, as well as ensure they can operate in conjunction with this concept during coalition or combined operations.

We also need to be continually re-evaluating our capabilities in comparison to the evolving threats. In the Pacific specifically, we have to be able to deal with mines, missiles and submarines.

Land, sea and airborne theater missile and short-range ballistic missile defenses, anti-ship missile defense, undersea warfare advances and organic mine warfare weapon systems are essential to our ability to assist our friends and allies during times of crisis. We will work to ensure these capabilities keep BOTH our forward deployed and U.S. based forces prepared for every eventuality.

So as you can imagine, continuing to evolve both our capabilities AND our operating concepts are an important day-to-day concern.

Our third priority is to reinforce what I call, the "constants" in the region, like our important bilateral relationships and the effectiveness of our forward-deployed combat forces in the region.

The foundation of the U.S. security equation in Asia and the Pacific has been -- and will continue to be -- our long-standing bilateral alliances, of which our alliance with Japan is our most important. This relationship has been fundamental to regional stability and security for almost 60 years.

Australia remains one of our oldest allies and a special partner in the Pacific. We have worked hard to eliminate the potential technology barriers between our forces and they have taken a lead role in East Timor's security, as a partner in the Global War on Terror, and in the security and democratic development of nations in the South Pacific.

Our relationship with the Republic of Korea has served as the keystone for security on the Korean peninsula for fifty years. The Philippines and Thailand are important allies and are critically important to stability throughout Southeast Asia.

We have important friendships with Malaysia and Singapore, and a new relationship with India will also contribute greatly to the security of the region.

In the many areas where our interests converge, we can -- and must -- conduct multilateral efforts for our mutual benefit. I mentioned the potential for instability in the region brought about by transnational threats. Important missions like humanitarian assistance, search and rescue and peacekeeping serve to limit the potential for these instabilities and can be effectively conducted by coalition or combined forces.

In that sense, our theater security cooperation programs, including our bilateral and multilateral exercises, and forums like the Asia-Pacific Center seek to address our vital interests, enhance our readiness and access, and help to develop effective coalition partners. These are important mechanisms for facilitating the relationships, and the coordination and training necessary to conduct combined or coalition operations.

I was very impressed with exercise COBRA GOLD this year, a combined Thailand-U.S.- Singapore exercise just completed in May. It included training in peace operations, counter-terrorist techniques, non-combatant evacuation operations and both humanitarian assistance and disaster relief. It is sophisticated and relevant.

I visited the exercise during the non-combatant evacuation phase, and was really pleased by the professionalism and the ability of the three participating nations to plan and conduct a very realistic NEO operation.

Additionally, COBRA GOLD had 18 observer nations, including Russia, China and Vietnam, learning about humanitarian assistance and civil affairs planning.

We have developed important tools to support these coalition efforts. The Asia Pacific Area Network (or APAN) is our collaborative planning net and has almost 5000 users from 67 countries. They have access to the kind of information that would facilitate their understanding of standard procedures and planning in a coalition operation.

Pacific Command's Multinational Planning Augmentation Team (or MPAT) workshops help train staff officers from different countries as a cadre of planners ready to reinforce coalition headquarters. These workshops include representatives from non-governmental organizations, UN representatives, and military personnel from many nations and focuses on multinational military operations and small-scale contingencies -- like peacekeeping operations. The MPAT is also helping develop a set of standard operating procedures (or SOP) that can be used by any nation that may lead a coalition effort and to enhance the interoperability for all participating nations.

The Asia Pacific Center is very clearly now a constant. It provides an opportunity to engender personal relationships throughout the region and enhance the mutual understanding of our issues and concerns. It also provides a unique venue for officials from Asia and the Pacific to look for ways to address the immediate critical security issues facing all of us.

The presence of U.S. forces is another "constant" in regional security as well. Our forward capability brings great flexibility in our response to crisis and does much to deter and dissuade military competition in East Asia.

The most important element of this forward-deployed force is undoubtedly our combat capability; and while it will likely continue to evolve in shape and operating concepts as the threat and our technology allows, our forward presence transcends any movement on the Korean peninsula.

My next priority is an important one as well... and although it may not be obvious at first, our allies make an important contribution here.

But improving quality of service for our servicemen and women means providing the operating facilities, the spare parts and the information technology necessary for them to achieve their goals and execute their missions with a minimum of frustration. Clearly, most of this is a U.S. responsibility and I won't dwell on it here. But, I must add that state of the art facilities like Singapore's aircraft carrier pier at Changi, and the important force protection contribution made by our friends and allies in support of visiting troops and assets is important to this effort.

I would be remiss if I failed to note that the Department of Defense and Congressional efforts to dramatically improve military pay and benefits have also resulted in exceptionally good retention rates during the last year or two. Focused leadership and proper emphasis on quality of service has resulted in the U.S. military averaging about a 75 per cent retention rate -- truly phenomenal in my lifetime.

Finally, promoting change and improving our Asia-Pacific defense posture for the future is our final priority. After all, with new capabilities come new operating concepts and force constructs. Promoting the kind of change we need to help us leverage more frequent joint and coalition interactions, develop new force and mission capabilities, and mature our ability to execute is an imperative.

Some of this means adapting new capabilities that can speed the accuracy and precision of our power projection forces and enhance our deterrence.

In addition to the forward-force capability improvements I noted earlier, we will enhance our ability to rapidly deploy, and then employ, Aerospace Expeditionary Forces. We will develop new operating concepts and deploy the Navy and Marine Corps Expeditionary Strike Groups and the Army Interim Brigade Combat Team and develop the ability to operate new weapon systems like the converted Trident submarine or SSGN.

In the very near term, we will also develop new operating patterns, to include a more appropriate balance of time operating in the Western Pacific littoral. Quite frankly, by "balance," I mean I'm looking for more time.

We will mature our Joint Task Force and coalition operations in the kind of operational missions we may be all called upon to conduct.

Lastly, we will continue to foster a climate of experimentation and create a culture of innovation to take advantage of the capabilities that technology brings us; like a common operating picture, enhanced intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance networks, and advanced concept technology demonstrations.

Well I've shared with you my "top 5." Perhaps not as entertaining as those you might hear on the David Letterman show tonight I know, and clearly, we could talk for hours about anyone of these issues and priorities.

But as I said at the beginning, my job as CINCPAC is very much about promoting the security and peaceful development of the region. So I hope I've left you with the sense that, the battle against international terrorism -- the presence of U.S. forces in the region -- our important bilateral alliances and friendships -- our ability to deal with regional threats both now and in the future -- and the participation and insights that all of you bring to multinational forums like these -- are critically important to our ongoing dialogue, the sharing of ideas about regional stability, and ultimately -- that peaceful development, security and prosperity we are all interested in.

I look forward to working with all of you in our bright, but challenging future.

Thank you.


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(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

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