[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 115 (Monday, September 25, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9181-S9184]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       GENERAL CHARLES E. WILHELM

  Mr. ROBERTS. Mr. President, late in the afternoon of this coming 
Thursday, the U.S. Marine Corps will conduct a retirement ceremony at 
the Marine Corps War Memorial in Arlington, VA.
  It would not be too surprising for all who know the honoree, if those 
legendary marines raising the flag atop Mt. Suribachi at the Iwo Jima 
Memorial and ensconced in statuary history might actually plant the 
flag, come to attention and give a proud salute to Gen. Charles E. 
Wilhelm. Now retired after 35 years of service and the former commander 
of the U.S. Southern Command, Charles Wilhelm has been the epitome of 
dedication, professionalism, and pride. Simply put, he has been a 
marine's marine. In paying tribute to General Wilhelm, my remarks are 
in keeping with the appreciation, admiration, and thanks of my 
colleagues in the Senate, more especially the chairman and members of 
the Armed Services Committee, all those privileged to serve on 
committees of jurisdiction dealing with our national defense and 
foreign policy and former marines who serve in the Congress. I think 
Charles Wilhelm was destined to serve in our Nation's sea service and 
become an outstanding marine in that he was born of the shores of 
Albemarle Sound in historic Edenton, NC. He graduated from Florida 
State University and later earned a master of science degree from Salve 
Regina College in Newport, RI. He was commissioned a second lieutenant 
in 1964 and saw two tours of service in Vietnam where in the full 
component of command positions, he served with distinction: as a rifle 
platoon commander; company commander; and senior advisor to a 
Vietnamese Army battalion.
  For his heroism under fire, he was awarded the Silver Star Medal, 
Bronze Star Medal with Combat V, Navy Commendation Medal with Combat V, 
and the Army Commendation Medal with Combat V. General Wilhelm's other 
personal decorations include the Defense Service Medal with Oak Leaf 
Cluster, the Distinguished Service Medal, Defense Meritorious Service 
Medal, the Navy Commendation Medal, and Combat Action Ribbon. The last 
thing that Charley Wilhelm would want or stand for would be for some 
Senator like myself to stand on the Senate floor and list the rest of 
all of

[[Page S9182]]

the assignments and tours and accomplishments that make up his 
outstanding career. But, since I am on the Senate floor and relatively 
safe, I hope, from the well known and respected iron will of the 
general, a marine, who with respect and admiration and a great deal of 
circumspect care--certainly not in his presence--was called ``Kaiser 
Wilhelm,'' I'm going to give it a try. I do so because of the immense 
respect this man has within the ranks of all the services, U.S. and 
international, whohave served under his command.
  General Wilhelm's service was universal in scope and outstanding in 
performance: inspector-instructor to the 4th Reconnaissance Battalion, 
a Reserve unit in Gulfport, Mississippi; Deputy Provost Marshal, U.S. 
Naval Forces Philippines; operations officer and executive officer, 1st 
Battalion, 1st Marines, Camp Pendleton, California; staff officer for 
Logistics, Plans and Policy Branch, Installations and Logistics 
Department, Headquarters Marine Corps; J-3, Headquarters, U.S. European 
Command. Then in August of 1998, while assigned as the Assistant Chief 
of Staff for Operations of the Second Marine Expeditionary Force, 
Charles Wilhelm was promoted to brigadier general and assigned as the 
Director of Operations, Headquarters Marine Corps. Two years later, he 
was chosen to serve as Deputy Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for 
Policy and Missions within the Office of the Assistant Secretary of 
Defense for Special Operations and Low Intensity Conflict.
  This experience served him well, when, as commanding general of the 
1st Marine Division, General Wilhelm served as Commander, Marine Forces 
Somalia as part of Operation Restore Hope. I might add a personal 
observation at this point in stating with Charles Wilhelm, the United 
States has a respected resource with regard to the difficult but 
necessary challenge our military has in meeting vital national security 
interests and balancing those interests with the many, if not 
overwhelming, peacekeeping and humanitarian missions we find ourselves 
involved in today.
  It goes without saying that in the past members of our military have 
been sent into peacekeeping missions where there was no peace to be 
kept. When that happens, why peacekeepers become targets and tragedy 
results. Gen. Charles Wilhelm knows the difference and we should take 
heed. He went on to serve in a series of command positions to include: 
Commanding General, Marine Corps Combat Development Command; Commander, 
U.S. Marine Corps Forces, Atlantic; Commander, U.S. Marine Corps 
Forces, South; Commanding General, Second Marine Expeditionary Force; 
Commanding General, Marine Strike Force Atlantic.
  General Wilhelm assumed duties at U.S. Southern Command in September, 
in 1997 where he served until his retirement just a few weeks ago. As 
commander of the U.S. Southern Command, General Wilhelm devoted his 
enormous personal energy--and boy does he have that--his visionary 
leadership and his remarkable diplomatic skills to achieving vital 
national security objectives and strengthening democratic institutions 
and governance--and thereby individual freedom and economic 
opportunity--throughout the Southern Hemisphere.
  General Wilhelm's personal decorations are testimony to his valor and 
bravery. He is indeed recognized within the U.S. Marine Corps as a 
warrior among warriors. But, he is also part military and political 
theorist, diplomat, and humanitarian. He enhanced civilian control of 
military institutions throughout Latin America; he improved 
multilateral relations among the 32 nations--that is 32 nations and 
12.5 million square miles stretching from Antarctica to the Florida 
Keys.
  Concurrently, General Wilhelm oversaw the integration of the 
Caribbean into the command's theater, supervised the implementation of 
the 1977 Panama Canal treaties--no small feat--he energized United 
States Interagency efforts to counter the flow of illegal narcotics 
into the United States and finally, sought and obtained congressional 
support for the U.S. assistance plan for Colombia's counter drug 
program. While doing all of this in his 3 year stint, he restructured 
his command's architecture and theater engagement strategy to position 
the command to meet the challenges of the 21st century. I am tempted to 
say that in the midst of all this he rested on the 7th day but in fact 
he did not.
  As chairman of the Emerging Threats Subcommittee of the Senate Armed 
Services Committee--that is the subcommittee of jurisdiction over 
virtually all of the missions within the Southern Command--I want the 
record to show that the general accomplished his goals at precisely the 
same time the Southern Command suffered tremendous budget and 
infrastructure challenges. That is the nicest way I can put it. He 
always said he did not have problems; he had challenges. That was due 
to U.S. involvement in the Balkans and the drawdown of the tremendous 
budget and essential infrastructure support to the general's mission 
and the mission of the Southern Command.
  I do not know how, quite frankly, he accomplished his tasks. I might 
add, from my personal standpoint, in terms of our immediate and 
pressing challenges with regard to refugees, more than in the Balkans, 
the problems and challenges of immigration, drugs, terrorism, trade, 
the commonality of interests within our own hemisphere, and our 
domestic energy supply--we now get roughly 17 to 18 percent of our 
energy supply from Venezuela; there are real problems in Venezuela--our 
vital national interests, General Wilhelm has tried his very best to 
alert the Pentagon, the administration, and the Congress to these 
concerns and suggest rational and reasonable policy options. His advice 
is sound, based upon years of experience and hard, hard work. The value 
and worth of his policy recommendations, I will predict, and his 
cornerstone efforts to build on that success will be proven correct.
  Carol Rosenberg of the Miami Herald newspaper recently captured what 
I am trying to say in an article that accurately describes the 
successes General Wilhelm has achieved and the character of the man as 
well.
  Ms. Rosenberg simply put it this way:

       A Black Hawk helicopter landed in the center of a crude 
     baseball diamond on a recent morning, delivering a four-star 
     U.S. Marine general bearing baseballs and money.
       Chopper blades were still kicking dust when hundreds of 
     residents crowded around, some sporting American League style 
     uniforms donated by a California bike shop owner--

  At the request of the general.

       Then a nine-man Nicaraguan band pulled out sheet music and 
     played The Star Spangled Banner for the general.

  According to the article, he said:

       This is why I love this job. I've never heard it played any 
     better.

  His career stretches back to Vietnam, as noted by Ms. Rosenberg. She 
went on to point out in her article the general has been part military 
strategist and diplomat. She outlined his leadership, as I said before, 
in the tremendous U.S. humanitarian efforts after Hurricane Mitch and 
other medical and disaster recovery missions demonstrating the United 
States bid to be a good neighbor and an ally in the Americas and the 
example of a civilian-controlled military to the emerging democracies.
  In the article, Ms. Rosenberg also pointed out that last month 
General Wilhelm paid a last visit to Managua, Nicaragua, and stood 
proudly as the Nicaragua Army chief, General Javier Carrion, draped him 
with a blue and white sash, the army's highest honor in Nicaragua, for 
``building respectful relations'' between the two countries.
  For a decade, our Nation was allied with the Nicaraguan Army's 
adversary, i.e. the Contras, in a 10-year-old civil war. According to 
veteran observers, only 2 years ago, the tension and suspicion was 
still so thick between the two countries that you could cut it. Last 
month, through the efforts of one man, General Wilhelm received a medal 
for building respect between the two nations.
  I ask unanimous consent that the article by Carol Rosenberg in the 
Miami Herald be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the article was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                 [From the Miami Herald, Sept. 3, 2000]

                Southcom General Bows Out After 37 Years


          politics, strategy--and a dash of baseball diplomacy

                          (By Carol Rosenberg)

       Boaco, Nicaragua--A Black Hawk helicopter landed in the 
     center of a crude baseball diamond on a recent morning, 
     delivering

[[Page S9183]]

     a four-star U.S. Marine general bearing baseballs and money.
       Chopper blades were still kicking up dust when hundreds of 
     curious residents crowded around, some sporting American 
     League-style uniforms donated by a California bike shop 
     owner. Then, a nine-man Nicaraguan band pulled out sheet 
     music and played The Star Spangled Banner for the general and 
     his entourage--colonels and bodyguards, fixers and escort 
     officers.
       ``This is why I love this job. I've never heard it played 
     better,'' confided Gen. Charles Wilhelm, whose 37-year Marine 
     career stretches back to Vietnam.
       Part military strategist, part diplomat, Wilhelm, 59 
     retires this week from a three-year tour of duty as chief of 
     the Southern Command, the Pentagon's Miami-based nerve center 
     for Latin America and the Caribbean, staffed by about 1,000 
     service members and civilians.
       Southcom, as it is called, is in charge of U.S. military 
     activities across 12.5 million square miles stretching from 
     Antarctica to the Florida Keys. Based in Panama for decades, 
     it evolved out of U.S. construction of the Panama Canal and 
     moved to Miami in 1997, as Wilhelm took charge. The move was 
     part of a phased withdrawal to prepare for this past New 
     Year's retreat from the Canal Zone.
       Among its most high-profile missions: the 1989 seizure of 
     Panamanian strongman Manuel Noriega. Southcom also directed 
     U.S. support for the Nicaraguan contras in the 1980s and has 
     for years sent doctors and other military experts for joint-
     training missions in Latin America.
       Now is a pivotal time: Congress has just approved $1.3 
     billion in U.S. aid for Plan Colombia--an ambitious campaign 
     to fight the drug trade in the nation that supplies the bulk 
     of the cocaine distributed in the United States. The effort--
     the United States' most ambitious military activity in the 
     Americas in years--provides for 60 helicopters, 500 U.S. 
     troops, and 300 civilian contractors.
       And Wilhelm, an architect by virtue of his position at 
     Southcom, is one of its greatest champions.
       Yet, as the recent dabble in baseball diplomacy shows, the 
     job of Southcom's commander in chief is a curious blend of 
     politics and strategy. A California congressman had asked 
     Southcom to rebuild the baseball diamond, damaged by 
     flooding, at the request of a constituent who had once played 
     baseball in the area.
       But after crunching numbers back in Doral, Wilhelm 
     concluded the cost of Operation Field of Dreams would be too 
     high: $250,000 to move in heavy equipment, as unreasonable 
     1.25 percent of his discretionary budget. So, instead, he 
     brought three-dozen baseballs, a $300 donation, and gave 
     townspeople a first-hand look at U.S. helicopter technology, 
     carefully monitored by U.S. Army flight crews watching to 
     make sure nobody made off with a removable part.
       And he added the baseball diamond to a Southcom ``to-do'' 
     list, just in case future relief efforts bring the necessary 
     equipment and U.S. forces back to Boaco.
       The last August visit illustrated how much Southcom has 
     changed since Wilhelm inherited the command. Now entrenched 
     in Miami, Southcom today is leaner than its huge outpost in 
     Panama of the 1990s, and with a curious mosaic of military 
     relations.
       Thanks to U.S. humanitarian efforts after Hurricane Mitch, 
     it has the best relationship in years with Nicaragua and a 
     patchwork of mini bases for drug hunting and humanitarian 
     relief missions in the Caribbean and Central America. U.S. 
     troops that before Wilhelm's arrival swelled to 11,000-plus 
     in Southcom's 12.5 million square miles of territory--most at 
     sprawling bases in Panama--have been largely reassigned to 
     the continental United States.
       Now Southcom has a permanent presence of 2,479 soldiers, 
     sailors and air force personnel, most in Puerto Rico, and 
     relies on periodic training exercises of reservists and 
     National Guard members to carry out a key part of the 
     command's activities--medical and disaster recovery missions 
     offered to host countries by embassies. They demonstrate 
     Washington's bid to be a good neighbor in the Americas and 
     illustrate the grandeur of a civilian-controlled military, a 
     good example for emerging democracies.
       On the down side, Washington has been unable so far to 
     persuade Venezuela to permit flights over the country for 
     U.S. drug-hunting operations--a significant blind spot in the 
     hemispheric war on narcotrafficking. U.S. aircraft patrolling 
     the skies over Latin America now have to fly around 
     Venezuela, adding as much as 90 minutes to their missions in 
     their pursuit of drug runners, mostly from Colombia.
       Nor has U.S. diplomacy convinced Panama to accept a 
     permanent military presence, for drug operations or any other 
     U.S. activities. The last U.S. forces departed on New Year's 
     Eve and sentiments are not yet ripe for a return of U.S. 
     military personnel.
       In Haiti, successive exercises and training programs by 
     Southcom have not been able to meaningfully enhance the rule 
     of law, and U.S. drug interdiction monitors, who see it as a 
     trans-shipment spot, have not been able to enlist local 
     authorities there as allies in their anti-drug campaign. 
     Cooperation by foreign police and militaries is key to the 
     U.S. war on drug trafficking. But drug monitors say they have 
     not found partners in Port-au-Prince, whose security forces 
     are still in chaos, to make seizures and arrests when they 
     detect drug smugglers.


                             No funding yet

       And Wilhelm has yet to win congressional funding to 
     permanently base Southcom in Miami, now in an industrial park 
     not far from the airport, a $40 million measure. Wilhelm's 
     tenure ends Friday with a change-of-command ceremony presided 
     over by Defense Secretary William Cohen. If Congress confirms 
     President Clinton's choice of Marine Lt. Gen. Peter Pace in 
     time, it will be only the second time in history that a 
     Marine will head Southcom, a job traditionally held by the 
     Army. Wilhelm will wind up his Marine career by moving back 
     to suburban Washington, D.C. under mandatory retirement, 
     which only could have been averted by promotion to the Joint 
     Chiefs of Staff--or a transfer to another four-star post--for 
     example, overseeing military operations in Europe or the 
     Persian Gulf.
       But, Wilhelm said, he aspires to re-emerge in civilian life 
     as a player in Latin America--perhaps as a troubleshooter, 
     capitalizing on his civilian and military contacts throughout 
     the Americas. He espouses a fascination with the region.
       ``It interests me for a lot of very good reasons--and 
     they're not all altruistic,'' he said in a recent interview.
       ``I see our future prosperity in the Americas, not in the 
     Far East . . .  Forty-six percent of our exports flow within 
     the Americas, 28 percent to the FAR East and 26 percent to 
     Europe and I see that balance shifting even more to the 
     Americas at least over the first 25 years of this century. So 
     I think the future prosperity of the United States is 
     inextricably linked to the Americas.''
       Last month's two-day trip to Nicaragua and Honduras--
     Wilhelm's last on the road aside from Wednesday's trip to 
     Colombia with President Clinton--gave a glimpse into the 
     hemisphere-hopping style of work he seems to relish.
       In Tegucigalpa, he met President Carlos Flores and then 
     choppered to Honduras' Soto Cano Air Base, where the U.S. has 
     its only permanent military outpost in the region. With a 
     single landing strip stocked with Chinook and Black Hawk 
     helicopters, it is home to about 600 Air Force and Army 
     personnel who mostly support disaster relief and drug 
     operations. There he took part in a promotion ceremony, and 
     gave U.S. soldiers and airmen a pep talk.
       ``When I call, you haul--no whimpering or whining. That's 
     what service is all about,'' said Wilhelm.


                             ``respectful''

       In Managua, he stood surrounded by dozens of local 
     reporters and camera crews as Nicaraguan Army Chief Gen. 
     Javier Carrion draped him in a blue and white sash--the 
     army's highest honor--``for building respectful relations'' 
     between the armies.
       Army Col. Charles Jacoby, Wilhelm's executive officer, was 
     in awe.
       In early 1998, Jacoby came to Managua as head of a mission 
     to negotiate the return of an old B-26 aircraft that crashed 
     in the jungle after flying missions from a clandestine CIA 
     airfield for the ill-fated Bay of Pigs invasion. The tension 
     and suspicion was so thick, you could cut it.
       Months later, Hurricane Mitch cut a swath of destruction 
     through Central America. Wilhelm sent thousands of U.S. 
     forces to rebuild bridges and schools, clinics and roads--a 
     goodwill gesture that broke the ice in chilly relations with 
     the Nicaraguan Army. For a decade, Washington had allied with 
     the army's adversary, the contras, in a decade-long civil war 
     that ended in 1990.
       ``To see him standing here today getting an award is just 
     unbelievable,'' Jacoby said moments before a Nicaraguan 
     officer served champagne.

  Mr. ROBERTS. Mr. President, I am not really surprised at this man's 
many accomplishments. Several years ago, our distinguished majority 
leader, Senator Lott, took an overdue codel to Latin and Central 
America. I was privileged to go. On one of our first stops, we were 
briefed on the overall situation, again within the 32-nation sprawling 
Southern Command. Pressed for time, General Charles Wilhelm gave one of 
the most complete, pertinent, and helpful briefings I have ever heard. 
I have been a Wilhelm fan ever since, and I certainly value his advice 
and his suggestions.
  General Wilhelm stated our vital national security interests very 
well when he said the following:

       I see our future prosperity in the Americas, not in the Far 
     East. . . . Forty-six percent of our exports flow within the 
     Americas, 28 percent to the Far East and 26 percent to 
     Europe. I see the balance shifting even more to the Americas 
     over the first 25 years of this century. The future 
     prosperity of the United States is linked to the Americas.

  Throughout his career as a United States Marine, General Charles 
Wilhelm demonstrated uncompromising character, discerning wisdom, and a 
sincere, selfless sense of duty to his Marines and members of other 
services assigned to his numerous joint commands.
  His powerful leadership inspired his Marines to success, no matter 
what the task. All Marines everywhere join me in saying to the general: 
Thank you

[[Page S9184]]

and well done. The results have guaranteed United States security in 
this hemisphere and throughout the world.
  In behalf of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, our 
congratulations to him and to his wife Valerie and his son Elliot on 
the completion of a long and distinguished career, and I trust more to 
come. God bless this great American and Marine. Semper Fi, General, 
Semper Fi.

                          ____________________