I am an unapologetic supporter and fan of General Wesley Clark, I have known him since the early 1980s when he was a Colonel then the Commander of OPFOR Brigade at the National Training center at Fort Irwin, California. The nations premier training area for armored forces to prepare for the battles of the the new troubled areas, the middle east and Southwest Asia, the places where we are currently fighting our wars. The military does have vision and they placed a bet in the late 70s and put a lot of money into building NTC into the militarys main training area, where the Army and the Air Force trained together to fight the battles of the future.
Bottom line is I learned to respect Colonel Clark from the moment I met him, Fort Irwin back then was a little bit of nothing, the base since WW2 had been a California National Guard training area (party place) they had great BBQ areas set up and little else, the base housing had not been occupied in over 30 years and tumbleweeds and snakes were everywhere, the hosuing had dust inches think in every corner. The post gas station was open twice a week for two hours 1400-1600 on Tuesday & Thursday, you were issued 2 five gallon gas cans with your quarters, you filled them besides your car, when ever you went to the station. The base is 45 miles from the nearest town, Barstow, California. We joked it was 40 miles to town and three feet from hell. That was one hot base in the summer and colder than witches tit in winter.
Colonel Clark was involved in getting the base schools up and running and being the best schools in the state, not just open. He pushed for better exchange facilities for the spouses to shop for home items and a better commissary, bigger than the 7-11 style building we had, with no frozen foods, just canned items. To shop for meat, ice cream etc you had to drive to the Marine Corp Depot in Barstow and took ice chests to keep the fod cold on the 45 mile dive home. He pushed for better medical facilities for the families. He was a leader for all of the troops, the married ones as well as the single ones, he insisted on better barracks, better recreational areas, etc. He proved he cared for the soldiers and the families of those troops. He earned their respect by showing them respect.
Now in this New York Times OP ED from today he shows why he is a man of vision. He explains why it is necessary to keep the Big Three automakers in business, it is national security, it is not about profit, it's an industry we need to keep operating, they produce the items we need in national emergencies. They have stopped car production during WW1 and WW2 to turn out military vehicles, tanks, trucks, jeeps, to help turn their large production facilities into aircraft factories. The buildings they own are necessary for conversion to war time production.
We never know when they might be necessary, if we let the auto industry die in bankruptcy, then we all lose as a nation, can we depend on China or Japan or any other nation to provide the equipment we need wne we need it? I doubt it.
Now, though, as Detroit moves to plug-in hybrids and electric-drive technology, the scale problem can be remedied. Automakers are developing innovative electric motors, many with permanent magnet technology, that will have immediate military use. And only the auto industry, with its vast purchasing power, is able to establish a domestic advanced battery industry. Likewise, domestic fuel cell production — which will undoubtedly have many critical military applications — depends on a vibrant car industry.
To be sure, the public should demand transformation and new standards in the auto industry before paying to keep it alive. And we should insist that Detroit’s goals include putting America in first place in hybrid and electric automotive technology, reducing the emissions of the country’s transportation fleet, and strengthening our competitiveness abroad.
This should be no giveaway. Instead, it is a historic opportunity to get it right in Detroit for the good of the country. But Americans must bear in mind that any federal assistance plan would not be just an economic measure. This is, fundamentally, about national security.
Wesley K. Clark, a retired Army general and former supreme allied commander of NATO, is a senior fellow at the Burkle Center for International Relations at the University of California at Los Angeles. This is one of many hats General Clark now wears, we all know he campaigned for President Elect Obama and many other Democtratic candidates for Senate and Congress during the past few election cycles since abandoning his own Presidential campaign in 2004.
He shows why is was chosen as a Rhoades Scholar and graduated Number One in his graduating class at West Point. I do hope President Obama finds a place in his adminsitration for a man of Wes Clarks abilities and vision.
In disclosure I was a Staff Sergeant in the 6/31st Infantry under Colonel Wesley Clark and again served under him again at NTC during Gulf War One when I was assigned to the 48th Brigade, Georgia National Guard and Brigadier General Wesley Clark was the post commander of NTC and in charge of the largest corp size deployment at NTC for training prior to their deployment in Gulf War One, we had national Guard units from all over the nation there, Infantry, Engineers, Armor etc, the largest task force ever assembled at NTC for a training session. He also was in charge of building a mock up of the Iraqi defensive berms, and we attacked them every way possible and the data was sent to General Schwarzkopf and the Joint Chiefs of Staff G3 Plans and Operations so that when the invasion of Iraq began, they knew the best way to actually do it, General Clark has never been given the credit for the first Gulf War that he is due.