Leaders meet for high-level "Warfighter Talks"

by USArmy | February 12, 2009 at 08:10 am

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WASHINGTON - Chief of Staff of the Army Gen. George W. Casey Jr. and Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz, along with 35 other general officers from both services, met Feb. 10 in the Pentagon for day-long exchange to discuss areas of mutual interest regarding interdependency and interoperability.

The "Warfighter Talks" were first held in 1965. Although the subjects have changed over the years, the purpose of the event - to allow Army and Air Force senior leaders to personally interface and tackle issues concerning both Services - remains the same.

This year's talks spanned current and future operations. Discussions included command and control of unmanned aerial vehicles and improving liaison personnel exchanges between the services. The two services also addressed providing better intelligence to the Joint force, as well as integrating and deconflicting air and ground munitions and assets.

"At the end of the day, these talks are about partnering more closely with our Army brothers and sisters to produce the most effective and efficient Joint team possible to win our Nation's wars," said Gen. Schwartz . "We will continue to adapt our Air Force team to build trust and interoperability with the Army to deliver the most capability possible to the Combatant Commanders."

Gen. Casey reinforced how closely the services have worked together in the recent past and how important this partnership was going forward given the ongoing conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"Our nation is at war and we must succeed. We have made great progress in developing and implementing innovative joint warfighting concepts that will continue to make the Army and Air Force an even more effective team across the spectrum of conflict," said General Casey.

The Army-hosted event was a day well spent, according to General Schwartz.

"I was particularly pleased with the outcomes of the discussion on how the Air Force can better provide liaison personnel to interface with the Army's Brigade Combat Teams and other formations. We look forward to implementing the recommendations from these talks."

The Air Force will host similar talks with Navy leaders in March and Marine Corps leaders in April.

Foreword from US Army's MEDIA RELATIONS NEWSLETTER No. 09-11

This newsletter makes the case for changing public relations and media relations to support contemporary operations, especially in a counterinsurgency environment. It explains why commanders, not just the public affairs office, must be involved in public affairs (PA) operations.

The newsletter presents examples of battle-tested and proven PA training guidance and tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTP). These TTP help units and Soldiers gain a better perspective and situational understanding of the battlefield environment. Media operations provide units and Soldiers with an enhanced capability to view the adversary and themselves through someone else’s viewpoint—via television, the Internet, or print media.

Key points of this newsletter:

PA and media relations are a leader’s business.
The roles of the public affairs officers (PAOs) and staff are changing.
PAOs and PA teams must adopt a proactive and assertive mindset.
PA teams must get the Army’s story out first, before enemy disinformation begins.
PA teams must understand their audiences and how best to communicate by leveraging new means and new technologies to reach those audiences.
PAOs are key to the commander’s information operations and must be involved in the campaign from planning to execution and through post operations.

"Warfighter" is one who fights war, not the ill-placed canine Shakespearian reference to be cheeky. Your point might be taken slightly more serious without the bombastic pejoratives and ad hominen jabs. These are professional men and women who stand ready for their nation's defense so that yes, even a misguided, wretched soul like yourself can rant while basking in the very freedom they provide and you so disdainfully enjoy. They fight what you fear. They have seen more "reality" than you can possible imagine. They do not wish war, as they stand to lose the most, but at least they undertake the unenviable task of minimizing the loss of life in order to ironically save more lives. That is the cold calculus of professional warfare and separates such from the barbarous nature of the evil that the world faces from madmen perverting religion and ideology to massacre innocents.

By the way, 2009 not 1969 just in case you would like to update your rhetoric.

It also sounds like you have some inadequacy issues you may want to seek professional help aboutr...or did you girlfriend ran away with a"warfighter."

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Leaders meet for high-level "Warfighter Talks"

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