Pace Seeks Ideas from Future Top Military Leaders

By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Dec. 1, 2005 - The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff today challenged military and civilian leaders being groomed for top leadership posts in the future to think outside the box in coming up with ideas to confront terrorism.

Speaking today at the National Defense University at Fort McNair here, Marine Gen. Peter Pace asked each student to read the 35-page "National Strategy for Victory in Iraq." The report, released by the White House on Nov. 30, defines the U.S. plan for success in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Pace urged the members of the National Defense University audience to use their brainpower to come up with suggestions about how the U. S. should go about accomplishing its goals.

As one of the country's premier joint professional military education institutions, the NDU brings together military members identified for increasingly responsible positions, as well as their counterparts from other federal agencies and allied militaries. Many students have served in Iraq and Afghanistan, Pace noted.

Together, the group brings a wealth of experience in military, political and economic issues that can contribute a lot to the fight against global terrorism, Pace said.

"Take time to think about, what are the big ideas?" the chairman urged the group. "What are the things from your own experience that would help us all better understand how to achieve these objectives more effectively and more efficiently for our own government?"

Pace encouraged the group to think beyond just Iraq and Afghanistan, and to consider the long-term challenges the United States and the free world face in fighting terrorism.

He urged them to consider the best ways to:

- Fight an enemy inside countries with whom the United States is not at war;
- Promote interagency cooperation to bring it on par with joint operations within the military fostered over the past 20 years; and
- Build coalitions and remove barriers to their effectiveness and efficiency."This is a long war," Pace said, noting that members of today's audience will be the leaders who will carry it forward. "You are the leadership for this country for the next 20 years," he said.

"Failure is not an option," he told the group, and patience and resolve will ensure victory.

"But it's also true that inside of that patience and resolve, we should execute our mission as smartly as we possibly can," he said.

"And that's what this opportunity for you is all about ... to help us critique ourselves, to take a look at (the National Strategy for Victory in Iraq) ... and see what it is that we could do collectively, that would get us to the goals in that document as fast as humanly possible."

Biography:

Gen. Peter Pace, USMC [http://www.defenselink.mil/bios/pace_bio.html]

Related Site:

National Strategy for Victory in Iraq [http://www.whitehouse.gov/infocus/iraq/iraq_strategy_nov2005.html]

Related Articles:

Pace Responds to Critics of Iraq Strategy [http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Dec2005/20051201_3508.html]

Joint Chiefs Chairman Defines Victory in Iraq [http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Dec2005/20051201_3511.html]

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the official website of the U.S. Department of Defense, at
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Dec2005/20051201_3513.html.

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