Joseph L. Galloway
is the senior military correspondent for Knight Ridder Newspapers and a nationally syndicated columnist.
One of America's preeminent war correspondents,
with more than four decades as a reporter
and writer, he recently concluded an assignment
as a special consultant to Gen. Colin Powell
at the State Department.
Galloway, a native of Refugio, Texas, spent
22 years as a foreign and war correspondent
and bureau chief for United Press International,
and nearly 20 years as a senior editor and
senior writer for U.S. News & World Report
magazine. His overseas postings include tours
in Japan, Vietnam, Indonesia, India, Singapore
and three years as UPI bureau chief in Moscow
in the former Soviet Union. During the course
of 15 years of foreign postings Galloway served
four tours as a war correspondent in Vietnam
and also covered the 1971 India-Pakistan War
and half a dozen other combat operations.
In 1990-1991 Galloway covered Desert Shield/Desert
Storm, riding with the 24th Infantry Division
(Mech) in the assault into Iraq. General H.
Norman Schwarzkopf has called Galloway "The
finest combat correspondent of our generation
-- a soldier's reporter and a soldier's friend."
WASHINGTON - What we have today is not your father's Army and that's a good thing, because we are living in what Army Chief of Staff Gen. Peter J. Schoomaker calls "the most dangerous time in my memory," and his memory as Army brat and as Army officer goes back half a century and more.
"Our past wars were like having pneumonia - you may end up with some scarring in your lungs but you survived," Schoomaker told a Defense Writers Group breakfast. "This one (the Global War on Terror) is like cancer. It is never, ever going to go away. It is huge. We face a very challenging future."
Schoomaker, a veteran of many years' service in Special Forces and the super-secret Delta Force who was brought out of retirement to run the Army, said: "This war cannot be won militarily. The gun will not win this one. This is a clash of ideas, an information war."
The general is a first-class rodeo cowboy roper and the first chief in history to install a metal roping bull behind the chief's official residence, Quarters One at Fort Myer, Va. He carries a lariat in his pickup and hums along with his favorite country singers, Chris LeDoux and George Strait.
He said Army culture is "very strong" and the service is filled with thoughtful people. "The Cold War - we got that right," he said. "But 9-11 changed a lot of things." He said that unlike the fairly predictable Soviet-era forces, today's enemies swiftly adapt their tactics and techniques to focus on American vulnerabilities.
Asked if the Army and the U.S. military were really suited for war in Iraq, Schoomaker said: "We are getting more suited by the day. We are learning as we go and this experience is going to be very valuable to the Army in the future. We are advancing the checkers, just not as pretty as we would like."
Schoomaker resists those in Congress who say the Army has too few soldiers to fight the war in Iraq and want to increase Army strength permanently by 30,000 to 60,000 soldiers. He said it costs the Army $3.6 billion per year for 10,000 soldiers just in personnel costs and training.
He said the Army was authorized a temporary increase of 30,000 soldiers through 2007 and he believes this, along with strong efforts to free up soldiers tied down guarding and supporting bases and doing other jobs that could be given over to civilians, should be enough.
"Congress can only fund us one year at a time, but they can encumber us forever," Schoomaker said. His fear is that Congress will force a large increase in Army strength and then, down the road, fail to budget the money for them. That would force the Army to raid its research and development and operations and maintenance budgets for the money to pay for soldiers - and begin hollowing out the Army.
He said between the active Army and the Army National Guard and Reserves the United States has more than a million soldiers in uniform. Schoomaker wants to see more of them pulling triggers or driving tanks and Bradleys and doing warrior work, not the kind of jobs any civilian could do.
The Army chief said his decision to cancel the $14.6 billion Comanche helicopter program took away the money that would have eventually fielded 121 helicopters based on a 27-year-old design. That money will now buy total rebuilds and upgrades of 1,000 existing Army Blackhawk, Apache and Chinook helicopters. Plus it will buy 800 new helicopters for the Army National Guard.
Schoomaker's idea of transforming the Army focuses on building the active Army from 33 brigades at present to between 43 and 48 lighter, more capable and more lethal brigades or "units of action." The Army National Guard, which the chief says contains the structure of 36 brigades but not enough people to fill them, will end up with 34 fully resourced, equally capable brigades.
"With that Army, which we think we can build in the footprint of our present strength, we would be able to continue the current level of engagement and employment indefinitely," Schoomaker said. "We have over 1 million in uniform. We just need to use them more effectively."
Pete Schoomaker hopes to get the job done and look back on Washington in his rear-view mirror, humming along while George Strait croons "Amarillo by Morning."
