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THEY SAY – A Visit With the Troops

I am a proponent of peace. But the war we are fighting in Iraq is against insurgents and terrorists. The men and women who are fighting in Iraq today are keeping our enemy at bay and those who have lost their lives doing so are heroes who deserve and need our support.

And that is why I was very honored to be selected for the Joint Civilian Orientation Conference, a weeklong tour in mid-October of U.S. military bases and operations.

As a participant in Class 70 (the 70th such tour), I was extremely impressed with the professionalism and dedication of our military branches.

The JCOC, as it’s called, was established by the Defense Department in 1948 to acquaint civilian leaders in various occupations and industries to our Armed Forces.

Class 70 immersed 45 diverse individuals in an intensive tour of military bases and operations in Washington, D.C., Germany, the United Kingdom and Italy. We participants paid for our meals, lodging and personal expenses; only the airfare was provided by the Defense Department.

We convened in Washington and spent half a day at the Pentagon. We had briefings with top military personnel, including the new chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Marine Corps Gen. Peter Pace.

Pace is a soft-spoken, methodical and very professional individual. His charisma and presence reminded me of some of the Fortune 500 chief executives with whom I’ve had contact.

Our trip to visit military branches took us to the Marine Corps base in Quantico, Va.; to Stuttgart and Ramstein in Germany; and to England and Naples, Italy. Along the way we dined and had one-on-one discussions with officers and enlisted personnel in each of the military branches, including Special Forces,Army Rangers and Navy SEALs.

We experienced a tactical landing onboard a C-130 military plane when we flew into Grafenwohr Army Airfield.

We observed a demonstration by tanks, Bradley Fighting Vehicles and an AH-64 Apache helicopter of the 1st Armored Division. We rode in a Bradley and fired weapons.

The technology of the weapons and equipment is absolutely superb.

During our third day, we visited the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Ramstein, where the severely wounded from Iraq and Afghanistan are taken for initial treatment to stabilize them before being transported to the U.S.

The average stay of the wounded there is four days, and families that come to them are encouraged to stay at one of two Fisher Houses near the medical center at little or no cost. We were told that the military’s medical technology is so good that if a wounded soldier lives at least one hour, there is nearly a 100% chance of survival.

On our fourth day in Europe, we were with the Air Force. We saw a demonstration of simulated air attacks and an in-air refueling. We inspected jet fighter planes and talked with pilots.

We visited the Joint Analysis Center at Royal Air Force Molesworth, England, a very complex and sophisticated intelligence production center.

On the last day of our tour we embarked on board the USS Mt. Whitney from Naples and spent the day at sea. We had lunch with E-3 and E-4 enlisted Navy personnel and had an in-depth discussion about their experiences in the military.

At no time did I feel that our group was hampered in talking frankly with any personnel. The officers didn’t follow us around. We could ask any questions we liked.

On our return trip, we stopped in Ireland to refuel, and as we disembarked from our plane we met approximately 300 Army personnel on their way to Iraq.

We shook hands and had the opportunity to say, “Be careful and thank you for your contribution to freedom.” The expressions on their faces were priceless and the feedback we received was tremendous.

Some conclusions of mine from the trip:

The consensus of officers and enlisted military personnel I spoke with is that morale is good, they are proud to serve their country and they greatly appreciate any support they receive from the American people.

The war on terrorism is going to be long. We are at war in Iraq, but we are not at war with that country.

The cooperation and collaboration among our military branches is outstanding.

From the officers and enlisted personnel, including the Special Forces, I learned that there is a growing groundswell of support from the Iraqi people for America and our military troops.

The conference was truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

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