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Chairman Visits Joint Special Operations Task Force

By Karen Parrish
American Forces Press Service

CAMP NAVARRO, Philippines, June 4, 2012 - Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey visited this small U.S. military installation within Zamboanga City on the island of Mindanao yesterday after attending an annual Asia security conference in Singapore and before traveling on to Manila, the capital of the Philippines.

Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is visiting the Philippines, a long-time U.S. ally, as part of a weeklong tour of the region.

The camp is home to the headquarters for Joint Special Operations Task Force Philippines, or JSOTF-P. The task force's mission is helping the Philippine military defeat extremists in the south, particularly two al-Qaida affiliated groups: Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiyah. The task force also delivers humanitarian assistance at the request of and in coordination with Philippine government agencies and military units.

Dempsey toured the camp with JSOTF-P commander Army Col. Francis Beaudette, a Green Beret whose command incorporates special operations forces as well as regular forces from the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines. Beaudette's headquarters element at the camp supports three subordinate JSOTF-P task forces operating alongside Philippine military units throughout the southern Philippines: Task Force Archipelago, Task Force Mindanao and Task Force Sulu.

The smaller task forces advise and assist Philippine military units working to defeat terrorists, eliminate safe havens and create conditions for peace, stability and prosperity in the southern Philippines.

The task force also includes a small number of service members who work in Manila, coordinating task force activities with the U.S. Embassy staff and the Philippine armed forces general headquarters staff.

According to Air Force Capt. Joost Verduyn, JSOTF-P public affairs officer, between 400 and 600 service members are assigned to the task force at any given time, serving tours of between three months and a year depending on their service and occupational specialty.

Beaudette introduced the chairman to dozens of soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines at Camp Navarro whose jobs included camp security, intelligence collection and analysis, civil affairs and information support, and construction and engineering.

Dempsey spoke to all of the service members the colonel presented, asking about their backgrounds, hometowns, families, education and military service.

To those with families, the chairman said, "Tell them I said thanks for letting you come over here and do what you guys do."

While at the camp, the chairman also attended a briefing on JSOTF-P operations, alongside Philippine Lt. Gen. Noel Coballes, commander of Western Mindanao Command.

Verduyn said the task force, which has a strictly noncombat role, provides subject-matter-expert exchanges with their Philippine counterparts. Exchange areas, he said, include:

-- Humanitarian assistance for communities;

-- Medical and dental civic action programs to deliver care where otherwise unavailable;

-- Engineering civic action programs to provide improvements such as schools, water wells, roads, piers and medical centers; and

-- Explosive ordnance disposal to safely destroy aging stocks of unstable munitions.

Over its 10-year history, Verduyn said, JSTOF-P has been successful in assisting Philippine forces to reduce the threat posed by Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiyah.

In February, Philippine forces conducted an airstrike in Sulu province that killed a Jemaah Islamiyah leader and an Abu Sayyaf group commander, along with 13 other suspected extremists.

Past, Present, Future Come Together in Hanoi Meeting

By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service

HANOI, Vietnam, June 4, 2012 - The past, present and future came together here today during a meeting between Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta and Vietnamese Defense Minister Gen. Phuong Quang Thanh.

The two men used the shared history of the United States and Vietnam to assess the status of military-to-military relations between the nations and chart the future of the partnership.

The past was represented by the two men exchanging artifacts of the Vietnam War -- the diary of a Vietnamese soldier and letters written by American service members.

The present was represented by Panetta's historic visit yesterday to an American ship being repaired by Vietnamese workers in Cam Ranh Bay.

The future was represented by plans the men made to broaden and deepen defense cooperation between the two nations.

The meeting, held at the Vietnamese Ministry of Defense, was a chance for both sides to assess the progress made in the 17 years since the United States and Vietnam normalized diplomatic relations. Panetta said the relationship between the two nations is based on mutual trust and understanding.

The two men discussed the memorandum of understanding on defense cooperation signed last year. The memo looks at areas where the two countries can work together, and has been successful over the past year, the Vietnamese defense minister said.

The two men agreed to expand cooperation in five key areas. These are high-level dialogues between the two countries, maritime security, search and rescue operations, peacekeeping operations and humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.

"I also noted in our discussion the importance of our establishing an Office of Defense Cooperation to enhance our cooperation in these areas and as a signal of the United States' enduring commitment to this important defense relationship of the future," Panetta said.

The men shared views on how the United States could work with the defense ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to try to improve the maritime rights of all nations, the defense secretary said. "We also discussed our shared commitment to a peaceful and prosperous and secure Asia-Pacific region," Panetta said.

The secretary expressed his deep thanks for Vietnam's long-standing efforts to help the United States resolve the fate of those missing in action from the Vietnam War. "In particular I want to thank him for his offer to open up three new areas for remains recovery," he said.

"Our continued progress in this area -- as well as other legacies of war -- reflects ... the growing maturity of the relationship between the United States and Vietnam," Panetta said. "I want the general to know and the people of Vietnam to know that we will ... do everything possible to continue to work together to achieve our shared objectives and our common goals. I believe that the United States and Vietnam can build a better future not only for our people, but for the entire Asia-Pacific region."