CENTCOM’s command chief postures Airmen for long haul

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Jasmine Reif
  • 386th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
SOUTHWEST ASIA (AFPN) --  The command chief master sergeant of U.S. Central Command expressed the importance of deployed Airmen postured for a long war.

Chief Master Sgt. Curt Brownhill said becoming a joint force, understanding the uniqueness of the enemy we’re fighting and working toward stability in CENTCOM’s area of responsibility are all important.

“My job is to clarify the boss’s guidance, intent and mission objectives down to the most operational and tactical levels of war. Even down to the level of execution, which is the youngest Marine, Soldier, Sailor and Airman that we’ve got out there," Chief Brownhill said. “I’m also a joint force integrator. I want to make sure we’re interoperable in the battlefield and make sure we’re able to sustain forces in the long war we’re fighting.”

The military will become interoperable through jointness, but each service will not lose their individuality in the process, the chief said.

“We have to keep our joint operations in perspective. Our strength as a military in the U.S. is what we bring to the fight as individual services, including our cultures. That will never go away,” he said.

“When we talk about jointness, we’re talking about interdependent, interoperability and how we fight in the battle space," he said. "In this region of the world, a large force posture and having many bases is counterproductive. We want to be smaller and more expeditionary and we want to have a less occupational look, which means we’re going to operate together off of fewer sites.”

The services are going to do a lot of things together because that is what it will take to take to defeat this unique enemy. Chief Brownhill said in today’s world the enemy is not a country but an al-Qaida-based extremist ideology network.

The extremist ideology is a transnational threat. It is in places such as Indonesia, South America and even Europe, he said. It’s an exportable ideology that is everywhere, including the U.S.

“If you think about the enemy as I’ve described it, it’s very important that we defeat that enemy where the source is as opposed to staying in the U.S. and having to go through another 9/11,” said the chief, who is from Portland, Ore.

However, the U.S. military can’t defeat the enemy on its own, he said. It will take an entire network of governments, interagencies and new economic and judicial systems.

“The deployed military members in Iraq and Afghanistan, supported by the deployed members in Kuwait and the region, act as shields that allow the political processes and reforms to take place,” he said. “It’s hard, tough work and it will take time. It will take the world’s confidence in our nation and in the coalition and the confidence of the people of Iraq and Afghanistan.

“They need representative governments and institutions that appreciate the needs of all people of their society and country, not just a select few,” he said. “If you’re oppressed by a government you become disenfranchised and you have no where else to turn except to al-Qaida or associated movements.”

The chief said establishing representative governments is a large step toward establishing security and stability in the 27 countries that fall under the command's area of responsibility.

“This region is important because a calm, secure state in this part of the world plays right into a world that is also calm and secure. The world has economies that are intricately linked through technology, and there are also many resources in this region that need to be understood and must continue to have free access to world markets," Chief Brownhill said. “If you have a country that is 100-percent dependent on oil, most of which comes from this region, and that economy starts to fall, many countries will feel the effect.”

Many people ask when the U.S. will be done stabilizing the region and why the process isn't being accelerated. The 32-year Air Force veteran believes it will take time for changes to take place.

“We need to make sure that we’re postured for the long haul. This is not a sprint, it’s more of a long challenging run and how we put forces out here has got to be conducive to the long war,” he said.

Chief Brownhill said the strategy is to have security forces in each country able to take on their own requirements and build those institutions and representative governments that their people will have faith and confidence in and see as legitimate. He believes that’s how to set the conditions for change.

The chief said the war on terrorism is going to be fought at different levels of intensity over different periods of time and we all need to keep leaning into it.

He has confidence that U.S. servicemembers will get the job done.

“I’m proud of the Airmen in this AOR. They are doing hard work and fighting side by side with the other services. I think they understand the importance of what they do, Chief Brownhill said. “They’re more worldly, flexible, resilient and more tolerant of setbacks. They and their families are America’s finest.”