Cooperation in Innovation

By Adm. Dennis C. Blair, USN Commander in Chief, U.S. Pacific Command

Welcome to the Spring issue of the Asia-Pacific Defense FORUM. I need to say very little about enhancing our regional military cooperation because the articles within speak about it better than I ever could: a terrific explanation of this process by Cmdr. Kline from my staff; an unbiased analysis from The Asian Wall Street Journal; the view from Washington by Gen. Shelton; and the Republic of Korea, where the Korean-U.S. alliance remains strongÛa fleet review in India, with whom multinational ties improve and increase dailyÛand an effort to alleviate suffering after a tragic earthquake, also in India.

I am especially pleased to have an Asian point of view on the history of the peacekeeping efforts in East Timor-clearly the most significant multinational operation in Asia and the Pacific in the last several yearsÛdirect from the Commanding General of the UN Peacekeeping Force, Lt. Gen. Boonsrang Niumpradit of the Royal Thai Army. We are spotlighting his report, and adding supporting information and photos on the most recent efforts of the UN transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET).

Multmational operations are tapping into the enormous talents of your young leaders. As Lt. Gen. Boonsrang points out in his article, “The idealism which fires the UN peacekeepers in their quest to contribute to international peace and security will enable them to overcome any obstacles that come their way.” When I talk to those involved in innovative efforts, both in experimentation and in breakthroughs with multinational training and operations, I watch their eyes light up and see their enthusiasm is contagious. By demanding that those in our armed forces innovate and use their creativity in a systematic fashion, we are realizing improvements we had never imagined, and our young leaders then realize that they are contributing to the future of their services and their countriesÛcreating what they will command.

With a little innovation, even old “war-horses” can still be useful. I commanded the USS Kitty Hawk Carrier Battle Group several years ago and I well remember our crewÌs enthusiasm in developing and fielding a new information system there. This year Kitty Hawk celebrates her 40th birthday as the oldest active ship in the U.S. Navy. Her crew tells me sheÌs in the best shape of her life, but thatÌs only because those aboard continue a legacy of innovation, coupled with huge efforts at modernization, to keep the worldÌs lone permanently forward-deployed aircraft carrier up-to-date.

Regardless of differences in our own levels of experience, our most important challenge is to maintain our willingness to cooperate, and to link that with an eagerness to innovate. The greatest gains in military capability over the coming decades will come from emerging technologiesÛand combined adaptation and experimentation are the most effective ways to take advantage of them. Future operations such as the one in East Tinior will be so much the better if we have opportunities to exercise together in combined fleet operations and in combined field operationsÛusing our most modern experimentation tools in a multinational environment.

We soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines of the Pacific and Indian Oceans are all members of “a mysterious fraternity born out of smoke and the danger of death,” as Stephen Crane once called it in The Red Badge of Courage. We possess this comradeship not only because we happen all to have undergone our individual experiences of hardship in our own armed forces or just because we share a patriotic profession that is dangerous in both war and peace. We are also forging more and more mutual bonds because we can train together at the leading edge of innovation, than successfully face international crises together.