Stars and Stripes 7.10.15

Volume 7, No. 29 ©SS 2015

FRIDAY, JULY 10, 2015 For information please contact Waverly Williams 803-774-1237 or waverly@theitem.com

Retired Marine Scott Standfast stands near what veterans believe to be helicopter wreckage on Koh Tang, Cambodia’s east beach, on May 12 following commemoration ceremonies for the 40th anniversary of the May 15, 1975, battle in which two helicopters crashed in the immediate area.

M ATTHEW M. BURKE /Stars and Stripes

‘WE CAME TO REMEMBER THEM’

Survivors of last Vietnam War battle go back to honor missing comrades PAGE 2

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Friday, July 10, 2015

COVER STORY

‘The heroes are still over there’

Retired Marine Clark Hale is overcome with emotion as he glances inland, toward west beach, from the pristine sands of Koh Tang’s east beach on May 12. Hale and his fellow veterans returned to honor their 41 fallen comrades on the 40th anniversary of the start of the “Mayaguez Incident.’’

PHOTOS

BY

M ATTHEW M. BURKE /Stars and Stripes

2 versions of battle exist – government’s and veterans’

BY M ATTHEW M. BURKE Stars and Stripes

KOH TANG, Cambodia — Forty years ago, scores of inexperienced U.S. servicemembers waged a largely forgotten battle in a largely unknown place to rescue a mysterious ship from an unfamiliar enemy.

Forty-one American troops were killed in the operation, including three Marines who were left behind in the confusion, ending the dark chapter of U.S. involvement in Southeast Asia — one that many were more than willing to forget.

In May, veterans of the battle of Koh Tang, also known as the “Mayaguez Incident” or the last battle of the Vietnam War, returned to the small, jungleblanketed Cambodian island in the Gulf of Thailand for the anniversary of the ill-fated mission. They disregarded health problems, braved the demons that have plagued their thoughts since 1975, and carried a message to the U.S. government and the American public: We will never forget.

“The heroes are still over there on the island or have been returned in caskets,” said Clark Hale, who was a 27-year-old Marine platoon sergeant in May 1975. “We came to remember them.”

Hale said he would make it his life’s mission to bring attention to the veterans of the battle and the fallen. He was joined by fellow Marine veterans Larry Barnett, Fred Morris, Gale Rogers and Scott Standfast; airmen John Lucas and Don Raatz; and Cary Turner, cousin of Lance Cpl. Joseph Hargrove, one of the men left behind after the battle.

Marble plaques honoring the 41 Americans killed during the May 15, 1975, battle of Koh Tang, which was fought between U.S. and Khmer Rouge forces, were dedicated on the 40th anniversary of the start of the “Mayaguez Incident,” May 12, 2015, at the entrance to the Cambodian military headquarters on the island. The plaques were placed next to those honoring the Cambodian dead from the battle.

The commander of Khmer Rouge forces on Koh Tang during the battle, Em Son, also accompanied the group to the island and spent several days with them.

Son has claimed he executed Hargrove.

Hale organized the trip with John Muller, commander of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 11575 Phnom Penh. Muller, a Vietnam veteran and security contractor, saw to it that the men and their families were treated like rock stars during their nine-day pilgrimage.

Not only did Muller see to it that marble plaques were finally erected on the island bearing the names of the fallen, he also organized catered boat trips up the Mekong on a Vietnam-era military surplus boat — blasting Vietnam-era songs out of an ammunition can stereo — and he negotiated a small flag-raising ceremony at the U.S. Embassy in Phnom Penh.

The program was designed to promote healing among the veterans and their families after years on the fringe — not quite Vietnam veterans in a majority of cases, but definitely combat veterans of the Vietnam era — and it accomplished that, Hale said.

The return to Koh Tang attracted renewed interest from Vietnam veterans living in Cambodia, western journalists from across Asia, a European documentary crew and Cambodia’s two major English-language daily newspapers, as well as legendary Vietnam Warera photographer Al Rockoff, who was portrayed by John Malkovich in the Academy Award-winning film “The Killing Fields.”

SEE REMEMBER ON PAGE 3

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COVER STORY

Remember: Incident began after US cleared embassy in Saigon FROM PAGE 2

The audience gave the veterans hope that the search for their five unaccounted-for comrades — a three-man machine-gun team that was left behind and two others who died in the battle — and remembrance of their sacrifice would continue, even with plans from a Russian consortium to turn the Cambodian military base into a resort.

The Mayaguez Incident The Mayaguez Incident began May 12, 1975, about two weeks after the U.S. military evacuated the embassy in Saigon, signaling an end to U.S. involvement in Vietnam, and about a month after the evacuation of the embassy in Phnom Penh.

The official government narrative says the U.S. merchant vessel SS Mayaguez was on its way from Hong Kong to Thailand with food, clothing and medical supplies when the Khmer Rouge opened fire and hijacked it in international waters about 60 miles southwest of the Cambodian port of Kompong Som, near Poulo Wai island.

However, mystery swirls around the ship, its cargo and its intentions. It flew no flag, was about 2 miles from Cambodian territory and left Saigon nine days before it fell. The captain destroyed a secret code upon capture, according to a 1981 article in the Boston College International and Comparative Law Review, written by University of Houston legal scholar Jordan Paust.

Paust analyzed court records from lawsuits later brought by the crew against the ship’s owner and the U.S. government. He claims the true contents of the ship’s cargo have never been released.

President Gerald Ford mobilized 2nd Battalion 9th Marines from Okinawa for a rescue mission.

Unbeknownst to the Marines, the crew had been separated from the ship and were spotted by air units heading toward the mainland. National Security Council meeting minutes from the Ford Library state that the president and his Cabinet were aware the hostages might not be on Koh Tang but pushed ahead with a rescue mission.

The Marines first traveled to Thailand in preparation. Most were fresh from boot camp and meeting each other for the first time, Hale said. They were told to expect a few dozen old men and farmers.

In reality, the Cambodians had been beefing up island defenses after clashes with the recently triumphant Vietnamese.

The Marines were to land under cover of darkness at a bottleneck on

M ATTHEW M. BURKE /Stars and Stripes

American veterans of the battle of Koh Tang and their families hike through thick jungle to reach their fighting positions on the northern part of the island. the island’s northern end, make contact with the Cambodians via translators and request the handover of the hostages. If the Cambodians refused, the Marines were to use force to rescue the hostages and retake the ship.

The mission began to fall apart before it started when 23 Air Force personnel died in a support force crash in Thailand.

Things went from bad to worse as the first of eight Air Force CH-53s, with radio call signs “Knife,” and HH-53s, with “Jolly” radio call signs, approached the island as dawn broke May 15.

Breaking the code Four U.S. helicopters were shot down and five more were damaged, with more than a dozen killed in the initial assault. In all, 230 Marines and airmen were caught in a life-and-death struggle on two beaches during the 14-hour battle.

Reports of the number of Khmer Rouge on the island vary. Son claims there were about 60. Some Marines and airmen who fought in the battle agree, while others have claimed there were hundreds.

At some point during the day, the Marines learned that the crew had been released. They only had to get off the island as darkness fell.

Air Force pilots braved enemy fire in barely functioning aircraft to evacuate them. On the last helicopter out, chaos ensued. Marines climbed over each other to get off the island, after-action

reports state. Khmers in “black pajamas” could be seen running through the tree line.

American commanders counted 38 dead, 50 wounded and three missing — Hargrove, Pfc. Gary Hall and Pvt. Danny Marshall, members of a machine-gun team guarding a flank.

Hale and the other Marines said they wanted to return to recover their three comrades. They said they were told to wait until morning. In the morning, they said they were told that there wasn’t enough ammo or enough transportation for a rescue. They said they were told diplomatic means would be used to get the men back.

That never happened.

“I leave the conversation when Marines say, ‘Marines don’t leave men behind,’ ” Hale said. “I blame the Ford administration for not letting us go back in. They made us break our code.”

Ford called the mission a success. Years later, word emerged from Cambodia that the three Marines were caught shortly after the battle and executed.

Survivor’s guilt Upon reaching the island May 12, the veterans gathered near the Cambodian military headquarters for the dedication of plaques hung at the compound’s entrance. As about 30 attendees crowded around, Hale and Lucas read the names of the fallen. Cambodian troops read the names of their fallen from plaques hung beside the others.

Then together, they observed a moment

of silence.

Son — who lost a leg to a land mine in later years — sat flanked by American veterans. He answered questions through a translator about his role in the battle.

Afterward, the veterans and their families hiked through the jungle, past livestock and old Cambodian military buildings, down the beaches and out to their old fighting positions. Some wanted to say goodbye to lost friends, others were looking for answers.

The emotions came flooding back.

They were young again, excited, scared, sad, determined and filled with wonder at what had changed and what hadn’t.

“It’s [expletive] up,” Barnett replied with a laugh when asked how it felt to be back. “[Expletive] up. But at the same time, it’s euphoric. I’m unable to put it into words.”

He looked out into the jungle, thinking about how his lost comrades had been just kids before getting sucked into the Koh Tang morass.

“The only thing they had to worry about was how to get gas money and hamburger money to go to the drivein picture show. Three months later, you’re laid out in this. …”

Rogers nailed a small plaque to a tree for a sick veteran of the battle who could not make the trip.

“We made it from like here to that tree through the jungle and we just couldn’t make it any farther so we pulled back,” he recalled.

“I don’t know if they fragged us or mortared us or what, but we got hit SEE REMEMBER ON PAGE 4

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COVER STORY

Cousin pursues promise to ‘bring Joseph home’

BY M ATTHEW M. BURKE Stars and Stripes

KOH TANG, Cambodia — Cary Turner sank ankle deep into the fine white sand where he believes his cousin’s body was buried, accompanied by the man who says he was behind the Marine’s execution.

Lance Cpl. Joseph Hargrove was a member of a three-man machinegun team that was left behind and believed to have been executed by Khmer Rouge forces after the last battle of the Vietnam War on May 15, 1975, an operation referred to as the “Mayaguez Incident.”

When Turner arrived in Cambodia to commemorate the battle’s 40th anniversary, he met with Em Son, the former Khmer Rouge commander of Koh Tang during the battle. Son accompanied Turner and the other veterans to the island.

Son claims he executed Hargrove after catching him after the battle.

“It’s really good that for the first time, I’m here with Em Son,” Turner said upon arriving at Koh Tang. “I have received some answers to some of my questions that I failed to get from the government, and it’s a shame I have to go to the enemy’s side to get answers, where I can’t get any from my own government. That’s disappointing and frustrating.”

In a 2010 trip to the island, Son indicated that POW/MIA accounting officials had dug the site where he had ordered Hargrove buried, and a body had been removed. Defense officials said that while remains have been recovered at the sites Son reported,

none has produced remains of those missing.

Turner collected sand from the burial pit in clear plastic water bottles; he believed it was the closest he would get to his cousin’s remains.

Stakes at the bottom of the depression indicate the spot where a body had been unearthed by the Defense POW/ MIA Accounting Agency’s predecessor organization, the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command.

Cambodian military officials said the body unearthed at the site in 2008 was about 6 feet tall, and the bones were long, which is inconsistent with Southeast Asian remains. They also said they had a reddish-orange hue to them, which was consistent with the other American remains found on the island.

“These were big bones and long, long bones,” the Cambodian official said through a translator.

Cambodian officials said the remains were found with two other sets, but was separate from them. The hands were bound behind the back.

Turner said U.S. government officials told him that no American remains were unearthed on the dig, yet he saw a picture of a flag-draped coffin during a repatriation ceremony at Phnom Penh’s airport that appeared in a local newspaper. Similar photos taken by The Associated Press and Reuters can be found on the Internet.

Former Ambassador to Cambodia and former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for POW/Missing Personnel Affairs Charles Ray told Stars and Stripes that a set of remains

was unearthed and identified on-site as Caucasian. In addition, declassified documents given to Stars and Stripes indicate that “multiple” sets of remains — not just one — were recovered during the dig.

But defense officials said Hargrove has not been accounted for and they continue to dig for signs of him and the others. They have declined to discuss their investigations, saying the process is complicated and that they don’t want to get relatives’ hopes up unnecessarily.

Turner said he promised Hargrove’s dying mother, Charlotte, in 2009 that he would “bring Joseph home.” He has enlisted the help of members of Congress to lobby for answers.

Students from Hargrove’s hometown of North Duplin, N.C., recently started a letter-writing campaign to Secretary of Defense Ash Carter to demand results.

DPAA officials were back digging on the island in January-March, according to documents obtained by Stars and Stripes. One vast area was on west beach, where battle veteran Fred Morris said Marine Lance Cpl. Ashton Loney’s body was left.

Cambodian military officials said they unearthed two sets of remains there, determined on-site to be Southeast Asian. They were buried on the beach under mounds of rocks. The officials said DPAA investigators also unearthed a Marine flak jacket but they could not recall whose name was written on the inside. A Marine radio was also found.

“The sites we excavated in Koh Tang

are closed, but additional information was obtained during these missions, keeping the case open,” spokeswoman Lt. Col. Melinda Morgan said.

The search for Air Force Staff Sgt. Elwood Rumbaugh, who was lost at sea, is more complicated. He was lost near a downed helicopter. Although the helicopter has been located and a dive on the wreck was planned, according to JPAC documents, it was not explored due to weather. No other recovery operations have been announced.

Clark Hale, who was a 27-year-old Marine platoon sergeant in May 1975, said he spoke to DPAA officials during a ceremony at the U.S. Embassy in Phnom Penh. He said they told him they had identified one of the five missing men but couldn’t announce it until the family had been notified.

“I’m encouraged that somebody’s coming home soon,” he said. “Wherever I am, I’ll be there for them when they’re laid to rest, to make up for not being there when we left.”

After returning to Cambodia, Turner and the battle veterans went to a site in modern-day Sihanoukville, where Son claims to have seen the body of Pvt. Danny Marshall. He claims his body was thrown into the sea but kept washing up on shore, so they tied it off between some rocks by the beach.

Hale said seeing Marshall’s final resting place was cathartic.

“If he could see where his remains were, he’d be happy,” Hale said. “It is a beautiful, peaceful place. burke.matt@stripes.com

Remember: Battle of Koh Tang survivor still feels forgotten FROM PAGE 3

right around that corner. I don’t remember a whole lot after that. Next thing I know, it was getting dark and they were crawling up on us.”

The stoic Standfast — awarded a Bronze Star with a “V” device for valor for his efforts on Koh Tang — let his guard down as he observed his squad’s sector. He smiled and looked around excitedly, pointing out landmarks.

“I told my wife, ‘This is pretty important for me — and for her,’ ” Standfast said, describing a lifelong battle with post-traumatic stress and seeing clearly

how his ordeal has continued to affect both of them.

“I hope this does help with some of the healing and dealing with it better.

It’s not going to go away.”

He embraced his wife, Phyllis.

“It’s moving,” she said moments later, wiping away tears. “He’s dealt with this ever since I’ve known him. … It’s destroyed him. It’s that survivor’s guilt.”

Forgotten?

On the morning of May 15, the veterans, their families and others arrived at the U.S. Embassy in Phnom Penh for

another ceremony.

Hale said he had been disappointed and angry all week, believing that the embassy and the U.S. government had given the visitors the cold shoulder.

The Marine Corps did not send a representative to the commemoration.

Ambassador to Cambodia William Todd did not attend. A Defense POW/ MIA Accounting Agency team was to join the veterans on Koh Tang but canceled.

Hale said an embassy official worked with him on his ceremony speech and persuaded him to redact critical remarks.

But when it came time, Hale tossed the approved speech and spoke as he originally intended.

“President Ford said the operation went perfectly after he found out the crew was safe,” Hale said. “Marines were still fighting for the sand on the beach. Were we forgotten? Seems like it. …

“We have lived with this for 40 years. We wanted to go back to Koh Tang and get our men. We have remains out there that need to be home.” burke.matt@stripes.com

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MILITARY

JOELY SANTIAGO/Courtesy of the U.S. Air Force

The DOD’s first F-35 Lightning II joint strike fighter soars past the 33rd Fighter Wing flightline with two F-16 Fighting Falcon chase aircraft before landing at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., in 2011. According to the military blog War Is Boring, the high-tech F-35 was outperformed by the F-16 in a recent air combat test.

Blog: F-16 beats high-priced F-35 in dogfight

BY TRAVIS J. TRITTEN Stars and Stripes

WASHINGTON — The expensive, high-tech F-35 Lightning II joint strike fighter was recently outperformed by an F-16 during an air combat test, according to the military blog War Is Boring.

The F-35 was bested in nearly all aerial maneuvering by one of the military’s stalwart fighter jets during a January test near Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. The site obtained a fivepage report by the joint strike fighter test pilot.

The poor performance compared to an older and less advanced aircraft could raise new questions about the over-budget and behind-schedule F-35 program, which is often called the most expensive in U.S. history and is expected to produce its first deployed aircraft this summer.

“The evaluation focused on the overall effectiveness of the aircraft in

performing various specified maneuvers in a dynamic environment,” the F-35 tester wrote, as quoted by the blog at medium.com/war-is-boring. “This consisted of traditional basic fighter maneuvers in offensive, defensive and neutral setups at altitudes ranging from 10,000 to 30,000 feet.”

Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Harrigian, director of the F-35 Integration Office of the Air Force, said the report was misleading. He said the F-35 involved in the test was a variation designed for flight sciences testing and was not equipped with newer features, including sensors that allow the aircraft to see its enemy “long before it knows the F-35 is in the area” and special stealth clothing “that make them virtually invisible to radar.”

The test plane was also not equipped with weapons or software that allow the F-35 pilot to turn, aim a weapon with the helmet and fire “without having to point the aircraft at its target,” Harrigian said in a statement.

“It is too soon to draw any final con-

clusions on the maneuverability of the aircraft,” he said. “The F-35 is designed to be comparable to current tactical fighters in terms of maneuverability, but the design is optimized for stealth.

This will allow it to operate in threat environments where the F-16 could not survive.”

The Pentagon recently told Congress that the first F-35s in the field will not be capable of carrying a full array of weapons for close-air-support or give pilots night vision.

“It’s concerning that test pilots are finding the F-35 isn’t as capable as systems that have been in our inventory for decades, but I’m even more alarmed that the Pentagon didn’t present information about these deficiencies to Congress as we considered a dramatic ramp-up of the program,” said Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif.

“The Pentagon is asking the American taxpayer to cough up hundreds of billions of dollars based on incomplete information. We already know the F-35

isn’t ready for full-rate production, and we shouldn’t be buying so many until we know it works,” she said in a statement Wednesday.

Lawmakers have lamented years of delays in a program that has racked up nearly $400 billion in costs.

The Senate has proposed an additional $1 billion for the program to buy six more F-35s as part of next year’s defense budget. The proposal was crafted and supported by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who chairs the Armed Services Committee.

“Obviously, reports like these are not encouraging, but we recognize it represents a single data point with an early model F-35 in what will be an extensive operational testing program,” McCain spokesman Dustin Walker wrote in an email to Stars and Stripes. “We hope the Air Force will use the results of ongoing testing to ensure the F-35 will dominate in real-world combat scenarios.” tritten.travis@stripes.com

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MILITARY

Politics of deployment pose challenge for NATO’s new spearhead force

BY JOHN VANDIVER Stars and Stripes

W

hen NATO granted new powers to its top military commander last week, enabling Gen. Philip Breedlove to mobilize quick-reaction troops for deployment against a gathering threat, it marked a step forward in the alliance’s attempt to transform itself into a more fleet-footed fighting force.

Breedlove’s new powers essentially mean that when he sees an unfolding crisis, he is authorized to mobilize NATO’s new Very High Readiness Joint Task Force and to send troops to the nearest flight line to await final orders for takeoff. But he still must get the OK from the alliance’s highest decision-making body — the North Atlantic Coun-

cil — before actually deploying the troops, and it’s unclear if the alliance can take the next step to simplify that political process.

Reaching a quick political consensus is no small task in a 28-nation alliance, said Jonathan Eyal, an expert on NATO with the London-based Royal United Services Institute, especially when dealing with an adversary as cunning as Russia.

“The way Russia hopes to paralyze NATO’s decision making is to create a threat to an alliance country that is big enough to be seen as serious, but not serious enough to trigger a unified response from the NATO member states,” Eyal said.

Czech soldiers from the 43rd Airborne Battalion load onto a CASA C-295 aircraft during Exercise Noble Jump at Pardubice Airfield, Czech Republic, on April 9. Gen. Philip Breedlove has been authorized to mobilize NATO’s Very High Readiness Joint Task Force when he sees the need, but he still must get approval from the North Atlantic Council before deploying the troops.

SEE HURRY ON PAGE 12

A NDREW DAVIS Courtesy of the U.S. Air Force

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Hurry: NATO working on speeding up the decision-making process FROM PAGE 11

At the conclusion of NATO’s defense ministers meeting in Brussels last week, Breedlove lauded the decision to help him more quickly mobilize forces while acknowledging there was more work to do at the political level.

“In order to have a very high readiness force, you need to have a very high readiness decision-making system,” he told reporters. “And 28 nations have empowered the military commanders to do the things they do and now they will work on their decision speed to match.”

While NATO continues to work on its internal process for making rapid bureaucratic decisions, there are a range of complicated matters that could challenge NATO should Breedlove ever decide he needs to call on the 5,000member spearhead force.

The quick deployment of a relatively small response unit would amount to more of a show of force in a crisis than a commitment to any formal intervention, but any such move would still be politically charged.

Divergent threat perceptions among member states is one area that will likely be a source of tension if NATO wants to send troops to a possible hot spot.

Germany, a main contributor to NATO’s crisis-response forces, has been leery of escalating tensions with Russia, standing in opposition to arming Ukrainian forces against separatist fighters.

German media have also reported that Chancellor Angela Merkel is uneasy about the U.S. decision to pre-position some 250 armored vehicles in six countries along NATO’s eastern flank.

In the eastern part of NATO, however, allies such as those in the Baltics and Poland view Russia as major threat and have hungered for a larger alliance presence in the region.

When Russia intervened in Ukraine last year, deploying a range of unconventional tactics such as troops without national uniforms and support of pro-Russian separatists in

JOSH K EIM /NATO

NATO’s Very High Readiness Joint Task Force soldiers prepare to airlift and transport a “prisoner” during an air assault at the Zagan Military Training Area, Poland, during NATO Exercise Noble Jump on June 16. The alliance has voted to give its military commander the power to call on the spearhead force at a moment’s notice, but deployment still requires approval.

Ukraine’s east, some of those NATO countries questioned whether the alliance was ready to deal with such a threat.

While security analysts see little chance of a direct Russian intervention in NATO territory, Baltic states have warned that Moscow could meddle in unconventional ways, with disguised aggression such as stirring up unrest among disenfranchised ethnic Russian populations in those countries.

It isn’t yet clear whether such an effort would be enough to trigger a unified response from NATO to deploy its forces into an alliance country as part of an effort to establish control.

Eyal says in such instances NATO’s supreme allied commander should have the authority to decide whether a rapid deployment of alliance forces within NATO territory is required. Short of that, NATO will likely need to create a more flexible approval process for rapid deployments, perhaps something requiring

less than support from all 28 nations, Eyal said.

“If the Russians are persuaded a deployment could be fast, and will not be stopped by a lack of consensus among politicians in Europe, then I think we can avoid a deeper crisis,” Eyal said. “But if the Russians can create a wedge, I think they could be tempted to try. The real purpose of Russia is not to have a direct military confrontation with NATO, which they cannot win, but to show NATO is a paper tiger that can’t get its act together in a moment of crisis.”

NATO’s spearhead force is typically ready to respond to a crisis within about five days, but its state of readiness can be heightened to 48 hours when there are signs of trouble. But if a crisis emerged unexpectedly, Breedlove’s new powers could potentially shorten response times by a couple days. Instead of standing by, troops and aircraft can now be mobilized while the Security Council holds simultaneous meetings on whether to approve the deployment.

Without that quicker political decision making, Breedlove’s new authorities would be rendered meaningless, Eyal said.

Within NATO nations, there are already indications that the alliance’s bedrock Article 5 — the principle that an attack on one member requires a response from all — enjoys shaky support.

In June, the Pew Research Center released a survey that found majorities in several major alliance countries, including Germany, Italy and France, were unwilling to come to another NATO state’s defense in a conflict. Such sentiments could give political leaders pause about deploying forces.

But if some populations have reservations about a more muscular NATO posture, the past year has still been marked by steady progress as the alliance attempts to become more nimble. Already, allies have established the new brigade-sized spearhead force and could plan to triple its larger NATO Response

Force, which is set to grow from 13,000 to as many as 40,000 troops.

In addition, the U.S. has agreed to provide a host of enabling forces, such as strategic aircraft and combat helicopters, to help NATO crisis response troops move out when called upon. Also, the U.S. Army decision to pre-position tanks and other armor in the Baltics, Romania, Poland and Bulgaria is expected to boost with NATO readiness.

Breedlove, speaking in Brussels last week, said his new authorities to alert, mobilize and stage troops for deployment is another tangible sign that NATO is adapting.

“I think what we have done is make a logical step in the way to allow the military forces to get in a position to be able to rapidly execute a political decision,” Breedlove said.

“I think we are in a very good place. I think what we have done sets us for success.” vandiver.john@stripes.com

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Friday, July 10, 2015

MILITARY

Pentagon asks Senate for more patience

BY TRAVIS J. TRITTEN Stars and Stripes

WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Ash Carter on Tuesday asked the Senate for more patience and support for a train-and-equip program against the Islamic State group, despite much lower than expected turnout.

Only 60 moderate Syrian fighters have been trained this year, but recent gains in the country by U.S.-backed militias show the strategy can work, Carter told skeptical senators on the Armed Services Committee. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., committee chairman, called claims about success delusional.

Carter and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey came to Capitol Hill to make the administration case for the current war strategy one day after President Barack Obama, on a rare trip to the Pentagon, underscored the importance of training ground forces and allied militias. The administration had a strategy meeting on the often uneven, year-old Islamic State offensive.

“It is going to take some time to get the numbers up to the point where they can have an effect,” Carter told senators.

The U.S. has waged thousands of airstrikes since it began bombing in Iraq and Syria in August, but its other key strategy of training allied ground forces has gone much slower than anticipated.

The Pentagon estimated it could train about 5,000 moder-

JOE G ROMELSKI /Stars and Stripes

Secretary of Defense Ash Carter, left, talks with Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., before a hearing on counter-Islamic State strategy Tuesday. ate Syrian fighters this year.

Carter called 60 Syrians trained “not impressive” and he blamed the low turnout on the rigorous vetting process.

Among other requirements, the Pentagon cannot train any fighters who have been involved in atrocities or would create a risk of insider attacks

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on other allied forces.

Carter said he has been given assurances that the number of trainees will grow but provided no future estimates.

In Iraq, 450 more personnel were deployed in recent weeks to Taqaddum air base to train Sunni tribal recruits for

This publication is a compilation of stories from Stars and Stripes, the editorially independent newspaper authorized by the Department of Defense for members of the military community. The contents of Stars and Stripes are unofficial, and are not to be considered as the official views of, or endorsed by, the U.S. government, including the Defense Department or the military services. The U.S. Edition of Stars and Stripes is published jointly by Stars and Stripes and this newspaper.

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the war effort and advise the country’s security forces. The U.S. has trained about 10,500 Iraqi army and counter-terrorism troops, though it had hoped to train 24,000 by this fall.

In recent weeks, U.S. airstrikes have helped the Kurds, along with Arab militias, reclaim the border town of Tal Abyad from the hardline fighters, cut supply lines and put pressure on the group in its power center of Raqqa province in Syria, according to the Pentagon.

Carter said that the Kurdish successes in Syria show the U.S. approach can work with a dependable ground force, and that the train-and-equip programs to fight the Islamic State must be strengthened.

“Those examples demonstrate, again, that where we have had a credible ground force working in a coordinated

way with the coalition air campaign, ISIL has suffered,” Carter said, using an alternate name for the Islamic State.

McCain said the president’s claims that the United States has taken out fighters and pushed the group from its territory recently is correct but irrelevant, because the group has expanded overall in Iraq and Syria and become more influential in the Middle East, Africa and central Asia over the past year.

“When it comes to ISIL, President Obama’s comments yesterday at the Pentagon reveal the disturbing degree of self-delusion that characterizes the administration’s thinking,” McCain said.

Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., said the slow pace of training is not the central problem of the U.S. strategy; it is a lack of confidence among the Iraqi forces that makes them unwilling to fight.

“We have been training them for nearly a decade,” he said, referring to the billions of dollars the U.S. spent between 2003 and 2011 to build the security forces.

Sessions criticized the Obama administration for not deploying special operators and troops to the battlefield to advise the Iraqis and guide airstrikes — and pressed Dempsey on whether such a move could swing the war effort.

Dempsey has said since last year he would considered sending ground forces if needed, but he has deemed them unnecessary. He said Tuesday that the environment is not right for ground forces and the only “silver bullet” is getting Iraqis to fight on their own.

“I agree there are points on the battlefield where embedded forces … would make them more capable,” Dempsey said. “I can tell you I have not recommended it.” tritten.travis@stripes.com Twitter: @Travis_Tritten

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