by Tom Clancy
Tom Clancy: When you relieved General Shalikashvili, you became the first officer from the SOF community to rise to Chairman of the Joint Chiefs. What do you think that this meant to the SOF professionals back at SOCOM, and how does your own special operations experience affect your day-to-day approach to the job?
General Shelton: SOF professionals have a long and proud history of serving their country in war and peace. I don’t want to speak for the community, but I think they were proud of my nomination. Their good wishes certainly indicated as much. There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t call on some experience along the way in my career, SOF or otherwise, to help me. There are many tough issues facing our nation that require that I make the right decisions, give the right advice—and I’m thankful that I had an opportunity to learn and to serve with the very best.
Tom Clancy: You are the fourth chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to operate under the Goldwater-Nichols/Nunn-Cohen legislation passed in the 1980s. Will you please talk a bit about how you benefit from the actions of your three predecessors (Admiral Crowe along with Generals Powell and Shalikashvili), and what benefits that legislation has provided the four of you in the decade since its passage?
General Shelton: In 1999, we celebrated the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the position of Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. I’m only the fourteenth person in all those years to hold the position. Admiral Crowe was the chairman when the Goldwater-Nichols legislation was signed in 1986 and did a superb job in guiding the transition. By the way, I served on the Joint Staff in J-3 (Joint Operations) during his chairmanship. The legislation brought obvious changes that enhanced the influence of the chairman—making the chairman the principal military adviser, as opposed to being part of the corporate body that provided advice; giving the chairman a deputy; and assisting the secretary in providing for the strategic direction of the armed forces. But, if I had to single out one thing that my predecessors bequeathed to me it would be a premier Joint Staff—and that’s with an emphasis on JOINT. They helped to create the fully qualified joint specialty officer, making it important for officers to have a joint assignment as well as a good service assignment. In doing that, they assured that the best and the brightest are assigned to the Joint Staff.
Another aspect would be the advice that is rendered to the president and the Secretary of Defense. Many will recall that one of the criticisms of the old system was that the advice to the president and the secretary was watered down because they had to reach a consensus. If there were any kinks in the rendering advice under Goldwater-Nichols, they were ironed out before I arrived in the job. I serve with a great vice chairman and a great group of chiefs—men who are at the top of their profession and services—and we have a good process of airing out issues. When all is said and done, I am responsible for the advice, but I can tell you all perspectives have been thoroughly examined.
Goldwater-Nichols was enacted some fourteen years ago and, as anyone will tell you, it’s been an evolutionary process. We’re looking now at follow-on to Goldwater-Nichols, so it’s still developing. But, the bottom line is—we have a superb and effective joint military force. We saw that evidenced in the Persian Gulf, in Haiti, in Bosnia, and Kosovo. Our goal is to ensure that our Joint Force has the personnel and the resources to meet the challenges of the twenty-first century.
Tom Clancy: For the last few years, you’ve been teamed up with Secretary of Defense William Cohen as your civilian counterpart. How has the relationship between you two worked out and what kind of a man is he to work for?
General Shelton: It’s worked extremely well. He’s very good to work for. His time in Congress has given him a great understanding of the military and the issues. In Bill Cohen, our men and women in uniform have a true friend and he has been a champion for increased pay and retirement reform, improved medical care, and in general improving the quality of life for our service members. He has set a goal to ensure that the American people have a better understanding of its military—he calls it reconnecting with America—which will ensure that support, so absolutely essential for us who wear the uniform, is continued.
Tom Clancy: During your tenure as chairman, you’ve had the responsibility for running the American military in its busiest nonwar period in history. Would you please talk a little about how busy things have been for you these last few years, and how the operations tempo [OpTempo] has affected the forces.
General Shelton: First let me say, America’s military strength is built on a foundation of quality people, trained and ready forces, and an effective modernization program. While each of these elements is essential, number one remains—people! Without trained, well-motivated, and committed people, we could not have the successes we have had. Our young men and women—and their families—are absolutely tremendous.
It is clear that the current tempo of operations [OpTempo] continues to have a significant impact on service members and their families, and therefore is a concern for the chiefs and me. It is no secret that frequent and persistent deployments have stressed the force and stretched assets that degraded readiness and increased the risk to our ability to execute the most demanding operations. Just as important, OpTempo impacts quality of life and we believe jeopardizes our ability to retain the high-quality people we need for tomorrow’s force. We continue to assess how Operation Allied Force and the long-term deployments in both Bosnia and Kosovo have affected the force. However, long-term deployments will be with us for some time to come. We all know operational tempo can be and often is a function of unpredictable world events and global commitments—that is why the services, the Joint Staff, the CINCs, and I are all taking steps to reduce its impact. First, we have increased our global sourcing of units to fill deployment commitments, and more equitably distribute the workload across the force.
Second, we have expanded our Global Military Force Policy (GMFP) to improve worldwide management of Low Density/High Demand (LD/HD) assets. The Joint Staff, in conjunction with the services, is assessing each of our LD/ HD capabilities to determine which force structure increases will best meet CINCs’ requirements. For some of our most overworked assets, we have already acted to increase our numbers. We have reduced our Joint Exercise program by fifteen percent ... and we are looking to make further reductions.
The chiefs and I know there is much work to be done and we will do all we can to balance the pace of operations against our ability to complete the missions given by the president.
While General Shelton serves as the top officer for all of America’s soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines, he still traces his roots back to SOF. His views on the value of SOF units, and Army Special Forces in particular, are insightful.
Tom Clancy: You are surely the first Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to have a fully matured Special Operations community to work with. How well have they performed and are they properly sized, manned, and equipped to fulfill the jobs that you have in mind for them?
General Shelton: First, let me say without reservation, our SOF forces are the best in the world, and they provide our armed forces and our nation with unique, one-of-a-kind capabilities. We’ve been able to develop them because of the foresight of Congress in creating USSOCOM and by providing the tools they need to get the job done. Continued support and key investments in quality people, readiness, and modernization are essential if SOF is to continue to be ready and responsive. SOF is experiencing some of the same recruiting concerns we have heard and read about—after all, they take their people from the services. I’ve spoken about these recruiting concerns before. The manpower pool from which SOF must recruit is shrinking. So it is more important than ever that our efforts are redoubled to recruit the right young people and retain highly qualified and experienced soldiers, sailors, and airmen. We anticipate that the individual SOF operator of the twenty-first century, just as the worker of the twenty-first century, will most likely require greater math, computer, and language skills. That means we
will need to determine what skills will be resident in our recruiting pool and what skills must be developed with SOF resources.
Tom Clancy: You’ve been using the Army Special Forces a lot over the last few years. Can you explain for our readers the value of JCS mandated and funded missions like those run under the Joint Combined Engagement Training (JCET) program?
General Shelton: Quite simply, the JCET program exists primarily to broaden and deepen the practical, cultural, and language skills of SOF personnel when deployed in foreign countries working closely with foreign militaries. I believe—and others will verify for you—the training is extremely valuable and producing big dividends. Just think what it has done—JCET has allowed our soldiers to refine area skills and, most important, has added a key ingredient to the success of our operations—because SOF will bring with them in times of crisis or conflict language skills, as well as firsthand knowledge of customs, terrain, environment, infrastructure and, in many cases, a network of personal relationships with key leaders of foreign militaries.
Tom Clancy: You’ve managed to have Special Forces teams forward-deployed on missions during a number of fast-breaking contingencies these last few years. Places like Sierra Leone, the embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania, and the World Trade Center bombing and firefight in Ceylon have all seen SF soldiers as some of the first responders to crisis and disaster. How valuable to you has it been having such “eyes and ears” on the ground, ready to respond and provide on-site intelligence and support?
General Shelton: Extremely valuable. All of our military leaders today know the value of SOF forces far better than their predecessors and what they bring to the joint warfighting effort. As we have seen our personnel numbers and resources decrease, our SOF forces will continue to grow in importance. But, without being too specific, let’s look at why they are “global scouts” and what unique capabilities are offered as they deploy continually worldwide. We’ve talked about the JCET program and the benefits it provides. Just think about how that training can reduce tensions, build trust among nations, and oftentimes resolve situations before they get out of hand. SOF personnel are often the first Americans—military or otherwise—that foreign nationals come in contact with, and can set the stage for the employment of conventional forces, if that is deemed necessary. They are often the only force that is acceptable early on because they can operate with a small number, a “reduced footprint,” if you will. The SOF deployments establish important contacts for all of our forces and establish the links that make coalitions effective, and that’s because they know military leaders in most of the countries of the world where we are likely to deploy U.S. forces.
Tom Clancy: With the need for services from Special Operations units growing, has there been consideration to the idea of expanding the base of Reserve and National Guard SOF units that augment the active duty force?
General Shelton: The role of our Reserve Components has grown markedly as the active force has drawn down. In virtually every domestic and overseas mission— from disaster relief in our own country to humanitarian assistance in Central America to ongoing operations in Iraq, Bosnia, and Kosovo—our Reservists and National Guardsmen, both SOF and regular units, have performed magnificently in some very important roles. Readiness issues have a high priority with me—they did when I was the CINC at Special Operations Command and now as Chairman. Effective integration and utilization of the men and women in our Reserve Component are key elements of Joint Personnel Readiness and absolutely critical to the success of the total force. Often the capabilities—such as civil affairs, psychological operations, and civil support—are found predominantly in the Reserve Components. We saw how important these were in Desert Shield and Storm, and again in Bosnia and Kosovo. Clearly, the wide range of contributions by the Reserve Components continues to be a bright spot as we strive to match available resources to a demanding mission load. Their service demonstrates the enduring value and relevance of the citizen soldier. We must continue to look for innovative ways to capitalize upon the strengths of our Reserve Components, our trump card for maintaining high readiness levels in these challenging times.
As the interview wound down, I wanted to know something of the person I was talking to. My final questions were directed toward General Shelton the man, and how he deals with the awesome stresses, strains, and challenges of the chairmanship.
Tom Clancy: General Colin Powell was known to relax by doing “shade tree” restorations of old Volvos. What hobbies or sports do you enjoy to unwind?
General Shelton: I have a number of hobbies. I enjoy playing the guitar and banjo. That’s relaxing for me—I’d probably like to be better, but I do find it relaxing. I’ve always liked water sports. Carolyn and I enjoy boating, although we had more of an opportunity to do that in Tampa. Boating was a family activity and when my sons were younger it was fun for us to get away and spend time together.
Tom Clancy: You’ve had an extremely busy year, with Operations Desert Fox and Allied Force, the African embassy bombings and retaliations, Kosovo, and East Timor to deal with—there may be others. How do you deal with the stress and strain, and how tough has the job been personally?
General Shelton: It’s been a challenging three years—no doubt about it. But, it’s been a rewarding time for me both personally and professionally. In spite of the hard work and the challenging days, one of the things you have to do is maintain a sense of humor and a balance. Carolyn is a great help in keeping me centered and focused. I enjoy running, and try to do that most days, whether it’s early in the morning before I come to work around 0500 or at midday on days when I can get away. I run about four or five miles, it clears the mind, and it’s a good time for thinking. It works well for me.
Tom Clancy: You have a reputation for still wanting to maintain your roots back to the Airborne and Special Forces, and you still make the occasional parachute jump. We’ve heard that you recently did a jump with former President George W. Bush. Would you please tell us about that jump? And in fact, why do you still love to “jump out of perfectly good airplanes?”
General Shelton: President Bush sent a letter inviting me to jump with him in part to celebrate his seventy-fifth birthday. I was delighted to accept. It gave the military a chance to participate in the birthday celebration of a former president. I just recently went back to Fort Benning for the sixtieth anniversary of the Airborne. It was a great occasion, and being at Benning brought back great memories of my time at Jump School—at least they are great now. At the end of the second week of Jump School, I was getting a bit nervous about my first jump—so I asked the Black Hat if the ‘chutes were safe. He barked back at me that if the parachute didn’t work, I could bring it back and get another one. This improved my comfort level a bit, but I was still concerned and asked another question, “Just in case my main ’chute doesn’t work, how long do I have to pull my reserve?” The Black Hat replied without hesitation, “Airborne, you have the rest of your life to pull the reserve.” I once heard one of our great Airborne leaders comment, “I don’t like jumping out of airplanes, but I sure like being around people who do!” For me, I like both—and have always liked jumping out of “perfectly good airplanes,” as you say. I like the dedication ... the courage ... the esprit de corps—all wonderful characteristics of the Airborne soldier ... that appealed to me as a young officer and still do today.
With this, the interview came to a close.
As I was leaving, General Shelton kindly offered me a hearty handshake and a coin with the JCS emblem. On the way out, I reflected upon this very quiet and private man, who has so much responsibility ... and started to appreciate just how much America needs men like him. It is unfortunate that fewer and fewer Americans have served within the military, making the pool of leaders who can lead the world’s most powerful fighting force ever smaller.
General Shelton is a man from another time, when honor and one’s word were more important than personal gain and the fiscal bottom lin
e. Had he taken another path, I have no doubt he would have become a wealthy and successful businessman in the textile industry. Luckily for America, he took the path of greatest resistance and challenge, and we are all the better and safer for his choice. I hope there are more like him out there. We need them now, more than ever.
Creating Special Forces Soldiers
Eagles don’t flock. You have to find them one at a time!
H. Ross Perot
What kind of man undertakes a career where he can expect to spend up to six months a year away from home, where he is paid roughly half what his similarly qualified friends are making, where—if he is married—he is almost guaranteed a divorce, and where he has a pretty good chance of getting injured, wounded, or killed?
