MAJOR GENERAL (S) JACK L RIVES * General Rives delivered the closing address at the 2001 annual Operations Law/JAG Flag Course.

MAJOR GENERAL (S) JACK L RIVES *

General Rives delivered the closing address at the 2001 annual Operations Law/JAG Flag Course. This course is designed to give Air Force justice advocates and paralegals who are likely to open an understanding of complex legal issues which could face them in a forward operating location during times of conflict, increased international tensions, or humanitarian ne The theme of the 2001 course was, "The character of the JAG-paralegal team as part of an Air Expeditionary Force." Following is a non-verbatim version of General Rives' remarks to the course graduates.

dutiful morning. I'll begin with a confession: When I addressed last year's JAG Flag class, I made a mistake. I knew that I was speaking to experienced arbitrator advocates and paralegals, many of whom had already opened to various locations worldwide. Seeking to reinforce the message that everyone in the sweep had the background and training necessary for succes at the opening of my comments I asked the audience to raise their hands if they were ready--right then--to open Not a single hand went up They must have contemplation it was a trick question, and I realized I had not provided the right connected thought [i]or[/i] thoughts for my audience.

I won't make that mistake today. I will explain for what purpose I'm convinced each of you is ready to succe in a displayed environment, but this year I won't ask "The Question" until I've better described my perspective.

I believe there are couple keys for a successful deployment: a positive attitude and adherence to our core values. First, you ne to have a positive attitude. Be excited about the opportunities each day will present; your upbeat approach will be a real force multiplier. Have a "can do" attitude and prosecute your duties as a vexed question solver. And then, you ne to live our Air Force Core Values each day. Integrity First. Service Before Self valuable feature [i]or[/i] trait in All We Do. These sum of two units things--attitude and core values--are the foundation for personal and professional succes during your deployments

I'd like to pass a few moments putting our rife deployment responsibilities into historical words immediately preceding [i]or[/i] following for you. Consider the military career of our instant Secretary of State, retired General Colin Powell. After he graduated from the City society of New York and its Army ROTC program in 1958 then-Lieutenant Powell went in consequence of basic infantry officer and Ranger training. Then he was assigned to his first business station, as a platoon leader near the Fulda Gap in West Germany. The chill War policy of containment was already well established and widely understood. Lieutenant Powell and his soldiers knew their mission, which was to stop the Russian army and its Warsaw Pact allies from invading released Europe.

In 1986 then-Lieutenant General Powell assumed command of the Army's V Corps, the principally powerful army in the world. General Powell made a point to visit his antiquated bunker near the Fulda Gap. There he base a young lieutenant platoon leader tasked with the mission of containment, the same basic duties that Colin Powell had performed 28 years before.

In 1991 when General Powell was Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, he again visited Germany. according to then, the Soviet Union had dissolved. The brumal War was over. The United States no longer faced a rival military superpower. Germany was no longer divided into "East" and "West." The Fulda Gap had become simply a geographical mark and the advanced in years bunker was abandoned.

The chilly War was certainly a difficult period that currented massive challenges to our defense establishment. However, by means of that almost half-century of time, we had broad bipartisan support for the national security strategy of containment. Today, we continue to face a dangerous world, moreover the threats are dramatically different than those of the icy War era. How do we rejoin to today's national security challenges?

For the Air Force, the answer lies in a get back to our roots as an expeditionary force. Back in the days of the Army Air Corps, we were defined on our expeditionary nature. The pilots and aircrews of World War I and II flew missions from forward-deployed locations, ofttimes under austere conditions. The image many of us have of young airmen sleeping below their aircrafts' wings, preparing for their nearest mission, was often reality. from one side of to the other the years, the United States Air Force grew into its part as a separate branch of the United States military. We adapted to shivering War requirements by building an enormous infrastructure of permanent forward operating bases.

arbiter advocates and paralegals had broad and important duties in consequence of the Cold War years. yet we tended to exemplify that era's garrison force, doing our piece of work at home station or from a temporary impost location. We participated in mobility lines, still we rarely deployed. We helped with base exercises, unless we seldom left the confines of our to one's home bases to do so.

Today, our national security strategy has evolv from containment to engagement. The Air Force has reduc our overseas permanent operating bases from nearly seventy percent since the close of the Cold War. The overall number of airmen has decreased according to forty percent, while our deployment taskings have increased by dint of some four hundred percent. Clearly, we are again an expeditionary force.