European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 05, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse Wednesday october 5, 1994 commentary the stars and stripes Page 17 Haiti a from a military Point of View the most remarkable aspect of the ongo ing haitian crisis is the make up of the Landing Force a truly Radical organization that puts together army and Navy inlays never before attempted. Although some critics see it As yet another example of log rolling by the service chiefs in the Pentagon to ensure As in the 1983 Gre Nada operation that each Branch has a piece of the action they Are Flat wrong. Far from being a relic of interservice rivalry it is a Harbinger of America s future organization for Cor it. The haitian Landing Force vis not assembled by the Pentagon in Washington b it by am. Paul David Miller in Norfolk va., the Csc or comma Ider in chief of the . Atlan tic come the least known but most powerful military com Mander in the world. Until last year the Heads of the army Navy air Force and Marine corps in the Pentagon had a major say in the commitment of their forces in the United states not As signed to the overseas combat commands such As Neucom european com Pacoma Pacific come and cent com Central com which has responsibility for the Middle East and South West Asia. But in october 1993, All military forces in the Continental United states were As signed to a greatly strengthened . At lactic come formerly As a primarily Navy command known As Lan com but now More appropriately called us Acom. With Over a million Active and Reserve men and women in its ranks us Acom includes the warships of the Navy s Sec Ond Fleet the eight combat divisions of the army s Iii corps and xviii air borne corps the combat aircraft of the air Force s 1st, 8th and 12th air forces Harry g. Summers and the Marine corps ii Marine expeditionary Force. Along with its traditional responsibility for military operations in the Atlan tic including the Caribbean Ocean us Agim now has the responsibility for ensuring the joint . All service train ing and readiness of response forces and for providing such joint forces to the War fighting cincs., in his new role As joint Force capabilities coordinator Miller took a totally new approach to providing such re info ments. As he told the Senate armed services committee last March while permanently stationed overseas forces remain part of the Security equation the reality is that this infrastructure and forces lev Els Are declining. Now is the Correct time to account for More efficient ways of operating and look for new one Way he said is to assemble tailored joint Force pack Ages which Are trained at an advanced level deployed for a Given time period and supported by designated surge units in the Continental United called adaptive joint Force pack aging Millers s concept Calls for new and innovative ways to mix service capabilities. Using the rubik s cube As a Model Miller Points out that adaptive joint Force planning can also be arranged in Many different by rotating the sides of a capability cube us Acom and its components can assemble a joint Force package from a wide variety of assigned forces and capabilities. Tailoring the package to re. Spond to specific Mission require focusing on capabilities not numbers of ships squadrons or Battal ions Miller told the International sea Power symposium at the naval War col lege in last november we have to break with the momentum of the past and actively explore new ways to provide our theater commanders with the capabilities they really need. in a May interview Miller said the had a Long standing personal Bias that we look to the nation s capability ahead of the service capability. And the leadership should look for employing that As effectively As we can across service in words that presaged the composition of the current haitian Landing Force Miller said that from my personal Vantage Point an air Craft earner is 4.1 acres of Mobile real estate. And we need to be Able to have whatever capability the . Needs to operate from that controversial among the theater com Manders when it was first announced fit tingly it is within his own Atlantic theater of operations that Miller s adaptive joint Force packaging concept is getting it stirs real world operational test. Off the coast of Haiti it was not Only a traditional Navy Marine amphibious task Force but also infantrymen from the army s 10th Mountain div embarked on the aircraft Carrier Eisenhower and special operations forces including army Ranger battalions embarked on the aircraft Carrier America. While the invasion Force has turned out to be a Landing Force its very composition is evidence that America s armed forces Are structured and ready for the 21st Century. C Loa Angeles times everyone s very religious before the election the Messy Campaign in Massachusetts is wonderful for Many reasons not the least of which is that sen. Teddy Kennedy is of roughly three minds on the hallowed words spoken by his older brother 34 years ago when he sought to reassure the Baptist ministers in Houston that really it was a matter of Zero Conse Quence that he Jack Kennedy was a Catholic. He did t say it exactly in As Many words but was the signal he gave. The words most often quoted Are i do not speak for my Church on Public matters and the Church does not speak for me.". That was never a fully satisfying declaration on How a candidate separates Church and religion in his own in the years immediately after his election pres ident Kennedy would discover by so simple a Means As listening to the words of Martin Luther King that on reason Why the denial of civil rights is wrong is that we _ Are All god s creatures " it would not have been easy to transcribe one or King s exhortations if the editorial task had been to re move from it entirely that part of it prompted by religious considerations. So along comes candidate Mitt Romney. Teddy has always found it vaguely amusing to be opposed in Massachusetts by a Republican on Vious understanding that he will not be threatening. But Romney is doing very Well in the polls and accordingly the Kennedy people began to look for a Little extra artillery and happily hit on Romney s religion he is a mormon. The word was passed out do the voters of Massachusetts know about that arcane religion How they feel about Blacks about womeji2--up until of year go Black men could not be ordained in the mormon Church for reasons that reach Back to the Arcana of theological epiphanies lost tribes of Israel business. Rep. Joe Kennedy who has proclaimed himself the pit Bull of the Campaign strode Forth to instruct the mormon Church on politically Correct tribal lore until someone tapped him on the shoulder and whispered that the mormons had come around on the Black min ister he paused said he was sorry and then went into the matter of no women ordinations. This was yeasty material for senator Teddy who has called for the Catholic Church to ordain women. Somebody should have been there when he said this to Whis per i do not speak for Ray Church on Public matters and the Church does not speak for if the senator were known to have spent Many hours in the lonely gardens of theology prob ing contemporary applications of traditional practice then his views on ordaining women might have attracted the Atten Tion of serious people. It is not widely expected that Kennedy will devote much Energy in the Days to come in or out of the sen ate to whether women Are ordained in the Priesthood. The introduction of the mormon business was transparently motivated. Of course it s about Reli Gion commented Martin Nolan of the Boston Globe. Mormonism is an exotic concept in Massachusetts. It s part of his game plan to create doubt about his oppo nent any Way he Here Romney has attempted to protect himself in two ways. _ the one hand he has said flatly that he Wilt not discuss his religious views. William f. Buckley on the other hand he has declared that he supports a woman s right to an abortion favors a ban against discrimination against homosexuals but does not favor Laws that would authorize Gay marriages. One needs to fondle the perspectives merely to keep them in sight. _ if someone belongs to a religious denomination in which explicit preferences Are Given to one ethnic racial division does membership in that denomination Dis qualify a candidate for statewide consideration _ if so then orthodox jews must not run for office does the persistent refusal of the Catholic Church among others to endorse homosexual marriage weaken the standing of Catholic political candidates Are they to be judged to the extent hat they involve themselves in movements within their own Church de signed to modify or Jettison doctrines that Are a pop i what exactly does it mean then to say that the Church does not speak for you nor you for the Church does it mean that the candidate s loyalty to the Church is diminished to the extent the Church s Doc Trines do not conform with his political Credenza it would be reassuring to think that the Kennedy gang and the Romney gang consider these questions important enough to pursue after nov. 8. But they Don t.". Universal press Syndicate the opinions expressed in the columns and cartoons on this Page represent those of the authors and Are in no Way to be considered As representing the views of the stars and stripes or the United states government j
