[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 7]
[House]
[Page 8635]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1945
                    AMERICA'S IMPORTANT WAR COLLEGES

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mrs. Miller of Michigan). Under a previous 
order of the House, the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Skelton) is 
recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. SKELTON. Madam Speaker, I rise today to commend our troops on the 
battlefields in Iraq. Their continuing advance to victory is a product 
of that courage and ingenuity under changing conditions. It is also the 
result of extraordinarily detailed and adaptive planning. That itself 
was built on the knowledge and wisdom instilled by our war colleges.
  These institutions in every service make great officers into 
outstanding war-time leaders. Military historians have noted that the 
allied victory in World War II is due in no small part to the fact that 
some of our top military leaders both attended and taught at the 
services war colleges. I believe the same will be said for Operation 
Iraqi Freedom. In all of the services, including the Army's exceptional 
war college at Carlisle, Pennsylvania, our officers are skilled in the 
art of strategy, operations, and tactics that are the foundation of an 
innovative and effective military campaign.
  The instruction provided by our service intermediate- and senior-
level war colleges came to fruition in the war plan developed by 
General Tommy Franks and his team. The plan outlined a truly joint 
effort that has kept American forces a constant 48 to 72 hours ahead of 
Iraqi responses. The strategy has hit hard at Iraqi leadership and 
Republican Guard targets, degrading command and control and isolating 
the bands of fighters unwise enough to take on our troops. Quite 
simply, the Iraqi military is already incapable of fighting in a 
coordinated way at division, brigade, and battalion levels. This is a 
stunning military achievement that would not have been possible without 
leaders educated in the art of war. And we as a Nation owe a debt to 
the professional military education system that provided that education 
to today's senior military leaders.
  The current American infiltration of Baghdad demonstrates our 
disciplined ability to encircle the city and deal with the remnants of 
resistance, sector by sector. The strategy also shows a sophisticated 
approach to enhancing the psychological impact of each military action 
taken. By removing the will of the Iraqis to fight, our victory and the 
Iraqi people's liberation will come that much more quickly. I believe 
that military historians and strategists will long study the plans of 
this operation, the planning that was a product of the American war 
college system will become the lesson plan for future officers.
  As British Air Marshal Brian Burridge said this morning, the U.S. 
advance into Bagdad has been unique. Historians and academics will pore 
over it for years, and this will be a required case study for students 
of war.
  We should be proud of our troops and of the officers who lead them. 
But we should also feel deep pride for the system of institutions that 
has made this leadership as exceptional as it is.

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