High-profile visitors to US Joint Forces Command keep rolling in to the Norfolk, Va.-based seat of military transformation, with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice following close on the heels of Rep. Ike Skelton. (DR, 10/10/05) Rice’s particular interest, though, was the alliance formed between the US military and the international community. Rice said that foreign officers who work with JFCOM and its partner NATO organization, Allied Command Transformation, help bring many new ideas and concepts to the US armed forces. “We can combine the power of the international community and put it to use in combating the war on terrorism and stabilizing fragile states,” Rice said. The command has 39 countries represented in its integration and interoperability projects.
The U.S. supports “a stronger and more capable” European defense, Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III said during an Oct. 22 press conference in Brussels—but that defense should not duplicate the functions and capabilities of the NATO alliance.