[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.
____________________