Cohen Touts Force Protection Via Worldwide Video-Call

By Linda D. Kozaryn
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Oct. 27, 2000 - Pentagon leaders and top
commanders around the world talked force protection for
more than an hour during an Oct. 26 video teleconference.

Defense Secretary William S. Cohen and Army Gen. Henry H.
Shelton, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, made the
conference call to ensure commanders are reviewing force
protection measures and making any necessary changes.

The goal is to "make a good system better," Pentagon
spokesman Ken Bacon said during a news briefing.

Cohen frequently makes video conference calls, Bacon noted,
but they normally involve fewer people. "But this is an
important issue and everybody sees it as an important
issue," he told Pentagon reporters. "They did before the
call, and they did certainly after the call."

U.S. forces in the Middle East and Turkey are currently on
alert for possible terrorism in the wake of the Oct. 12
suicide bombing of the USS Cole. Military officials have
declared Threat Condition Delta, the highest level, in
Bahrain and Qatar.

The military's four threat levels, Alpha, Bravo, Charlie
and Delta, each bear a set of increasingly restrictive
security precautions. Threat Condition Delta is normally
declared as a localized warning when a terrorist attack has
occurred or intelligence indicates likely terrorist action
against a specific location.

About 1,100 U.S. service members are in Bahrain and about
50 are in Qatar. About 280 U.S. personnel are on the ground
in Aden, Yemen, and another 540 are aboard ships in the
area. In all, about 20,000 service members are stationed in
the Central Command area of responsibility, which covers 25
countries from the Horn of Africa and Egypt eastward
through the Arabian Peninsula into Southwest and Central
Asia.

About 7,000 American military personnel and family members
are in Turkey. U.S. forces there are part of European
Command.

The Cole tragedy in Aden, Yemen, that killed 17 sailors and
injured 38, Bacon said, has generated concern and
heightened awareness on U.S. bases around the world.

"I think there is wide appreciation throughout the
military, from the newest private to the most senior
admiral, that the Pentagon has done an awful lot since
Khobar Towers in 1996, and that force protection is atop
everybody's list of priorities," he said. "But it doesn't
mean that there aren't ways to improve protection and the
point of this conference call was to focus on some of those
steps that can be taken."

Following the June 25, 1996, Khobar Towers bombing in
Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, that left 19 American airmen dead
and about 500 others injured, defense officials launched a
vigorous campaign to safeguard U.S. service members. An
independent review board concluded DoD needed more money
and people, better intelligence and advanced technology for
force protection.

The conference call was very useful, Bacon noted, because
the commanders, as well as the service secretaries and
chiefs, got to hear other commanders were doing, and they
were also able to bring up common concerns. Regional
commanders from European, Central, Pacific, and Southern
Commands and the commander of U.S. forces in Korea were on
line. The chiefs of the military's functional commands --
Strategic, Special Operations, Joint Forces, Transportation
and Space commands - also participated in the discussions,
he said.

The Pentagon leaders gave some specific directions and then
the commanders "reported actions they are taking, actions
they plan to take and actions that would be worthwhile to
take in the future," he said. They also discussed the need
to acquire the latest technology for force protection,
detection and perimeter defense, Bacon said.

"That's something we've devoted a lot of time to, a lot of
money," he noted, "but we have some other projects in the
pipeline. They could be accelerated over time."

Commanders' also discussed the need for more money for
force protection, he said, adding that enhanced force
protection obviously will require greater resources.

Secretary Cohen does not believe one can be overzealous in
pursuit of force protection, but it must be kept in
context, Bacon said. U.S. forces have a worldwide mission
that will not be deterred by the threat of terrorism. "We
need to remain forward-deployed," he said.

"Our ships will be at sea. Our soldiers will be exercising
around the world. Our airmen will be flying. Our Marines
will be deployed in their amphibious ready groups, and the
Coast Guard also will continue to patrol sea lanes around
the world.

The world is a dangerous place and America's service
members face threats every day, he said. "Given that we are
a power with worldwide responsibilities, we have to figure
out how best to deploy in ways that reduce the risks our
troops face.

While you may never reach "a perfect level of force
protection," he said, "it's something for which you always
strive."