US military's Africa Command gets new leadership

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

US military's Africa Command gets new leadership
By ROBERT BURNS
The Associated Press
Wednesday, March 9, 2011; 5:35 AM

STUTTGART, Germany -- The U.S. military command responsible for humanitarian aid and any prospective military responses to the violence in Libya is swearing in a new commander.

He is Army Gen. Carter Ham, a former commander in Iraq and most recently the top U.S. Army officer in Europe.

Ham is taking charge of Africa Command, succeeding Army Gen. William Ward, who is retiring. Defense Secretary Robert Gates is presiding at the change-of-command ceremony.

Africa Command, created in 2008, is responsible for U.S. military operations in most of Africa, including Libya - which has no formal military-to-military relations with the United States.




Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/03/09/AR2011030900791.html

[Arctic Dave]

1. Interesting.

From Europe to Africa? My cynical side is starting to come out here.

[rabs]

2. Remember Wheelus ? Related to U.S./Libya military relations

F-86 Sabres roar off the runway at Wheelus AB, Libya.




--------- snips ---------


Nonetheless, Wheelus’ location and climate made it for about two decades indispensable to Air Force operations. Politics forced its closing on June 11, 1970. (BY A YOUNG MILITARY OFFICER NAMED GADAFFI.)

Situated seven miles east of Tripoli, Wheelus provided a convenient refueling point for transports and a forward operating location for Strategic Air Command bombers and tankers.

In the 1950s, Wheelus became a powerful economic engine within Libya, which was then dirt poor. The money, as was true in most Third World nations, tended to flow to a few rich families rather than more broadly to the people. The inequality of wealth was magnified in 1959 by the discovery of oil, which overnight transformed Libya from one of Africa’s poorest nations into one of its richest. Once again, customary practices diverted most of the oil revenue to a small upper class.

Over the years, Wheelus became invaluable to the United States. Its control was taken up by the Military Air Transport Service and it became a well-known and important stop for big transports, but the heat was a constant problem.

Wheelus’ location and clear weather made it a natural forward operating location for Strategic Air Command, especially in the early days of aerial refueling, when aerial tankers were few. SAC deployed to Wheelus B-50 and B-47 heavy bombers as well as KB-29, KB-50, KC-97, and KC-135 tankers.

In addition, (USAF general) James and Qaddafi had at least one personal confrontation, a face-off that has now become the stuff of legend in the Air Force. In a face-to-face encounter during the base’s final days, James noted that Qaddafi was wearing a sidearm in a holster strapped to his leg. As the two men talked, moreover, the Libyan leader moved his hand onto the grip of the weapon. James later recalled, “I had my .45 in my belt. I told him to move his hand away. If he had pulled that gun, he never would have cleared his holster.”

Good read on the history of Wheelus AFB

http://www.airforce-magazine.com/MagazineArchive/Pages/2008/January%202008/0108wheelus.aspx

[JanDutchy]

3. Çarl Bildt said on twitter:Wise words from four wise men on wisdom of further reducing nuclear weapo

And pointed to this interview":

Deterrence in the Age of Nuclear Proliferation

The doctrine of mutual assured destruction is obsolete in the post‐Cold War era.

By GEORGE P. SHULTZ, WILLIAM J. PERRY, HENRY A. KISSINGER AND SAM NUNN
Wall Street Journal, March 7, 2011

http://www.nti.org/c_press/Deterrence_in_the_Age_of_Nuclear_Proliferation.pdf