DoD Press Briefing 12/03/92
CMSgt Mike Bergman
<<>> Assistant Secretary Of Defense <<>>
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DoD News Briefing
Thursday, December 3, 1992 - Noon
Mr. Pete Williams, ASD (Public Affairs)
Mr. Williams: Good afternoon.
Let me begin with Somalia, and then I will come back to the other routine
announcements. There's not a lot that I can say at this point, because we're
still waiting for the UN Security Council to decide on a resolution that would
permit the use of combat forces to aid in the provision of food and other
humanitarian relief into Somalia. Until the UN makes a decision, until the UN
Security Council votes, and until the Department of Defense gets the mission
from the President, we're just not going to have very many details to announce
here.
A couple of points that I would pass along to you, General Joe Hoar, who
is the commander-in-chief of the U.S. Central Command, is in Washington today.
He met this morning with General Powell, the other Joint Chiefs of Staff and
briefed them on his concept of operations. He had been given the mission to
come up with a plan earlier in the week. After that briefing, General Hoar and
General Powell then discussed the plan with Secretary Cheney and Deputy
Secretary Atwood, and Paul Wolfowitz, who is the Under Secretary of Defense for
Policy. Then General Hoar, the Secretary, and General Powell will go over to
the White House at some point today and discuss the plan with the President. I
would refer you to the White House for any further details on that aspect of
his discussions.
In terms of the amphibious ships, the three amphibious ships that have
been working their way across the Indian Ocean toward Africa -- that's the
Rushmore, the Tripoli, and the Juneau -- have arrived in the vicinity of
Mogadishu, and are now operating in international waters off the coast of
Somalia. The marine pre-positioning ship, which has the Marine supplies on it,
which has also been working its way across the Indian Ocean, is also en route
to the area, and those are the ships that have the Marines on them, and all
their equipment. They will stay in that area until they get any further
missions. But right now their assignment is just to stay in that general area.
That's about all that I have to say about Somalia in terms of
announcements, but I'm happy to take your questions.
Q: How about other troops that might be standing by? Realizing, of
course, that no concrete plans have been made yet, or no final decision's been
made. How about the reports that possibly Marines from Camp Pendleton, and
possibly light infantry division troops from Fort Drum might also be going once
some kind of air head is established?
A: In specific answer to that question, Charlie, yes. The 1st Marine
Expeditionary Force at Camp Pendleton has been told to stand by, that it may
get the mission to take part in Somalia, as has the 10th Mountain Division
Light at Fort Drum, New York. Now I should emphasize that in the case of both
of those units, they haven't been given the mission yet because, as I said
before, we're going to wait to see what the UN Security Council says, whether
this is a mission they want the United States to undertake or not. After that
happens, then the President has to, as the commander-in-chief, give the mission
to the Defense Department, and then the specific plans will have to go out.
But as a precautionary step, to be prepared to carry this out in the event that
the UN asks us to do it, yes, both the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp
Pendleton and the 10th Mountain Division Light in New York have been told to
stand by and be prepared.
The 1st Marine Expeditionary Force out of Camp Pendleton is, as many of
you know, the Marine force that has a contingency assignment to the Central
Command. We divide up the world in terms of commanders-in-chief. That part of
the world includes the Persian Gulf and also Africa and some other parts of the
world. It comes under the jurisdiction of the Central Command. The Marines
then, in turn, give assignments to their forces to be prepared to respond to
contingency needs from these other parts of the world, from these other
commanders-in-chief, and this 1st Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Pendleton
has a contingency assignment to be prepared to respond to assignments from the
Central Command. So it was the logical thing why you would want to be prepared
for the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force.
In terms of the 10th Mountain Division up at Fort Drum, New York, that
division is also designed to be employed with very little need for
augmentation. It's always prepared. It's one of the rapid response units that
the Army has, and these are the people who are specifically trained for
combined arms operations and also to be prepared to carry out missions in
peacetime conditions, so they have that kind of training. This is a unit, many
of you may recall, that took part in some of the humanitarian efforts down in
Florida after Hurricane Andrew. The whole unit didn't go, obviously, but it
had some experience in dealing with Hurricane Andrew. All the leadership from
the division went down to Florida, including commanders down to the brigade,
battalion, and company commander level, and they provided direct assistance to
hurricane victims. They also worked with community leaders to establish
health, welfare, and social services. So this is the division that routinely
maintains a rapidly deployable brigade-sized unit.
I should say in the case of both of these units, I don't know today how
many of them are going to go. They're both very large units. At some point
they will get the assignment, but I wouldn't think in either case that it's
going to be the whole unit. The 1st Marine Expeditionary Force consists of
roughly 50,000 Marines. It's not likely that they would send all 50,000
Marines.
Q: How about the 10th?
A: On the 10th Mountain Division, I don't have the numbers, how many it
consists of. I can try to get that for you.
Q: Just a brief followup, Marlin said this morning at the White House
that the President hoped to have these troops home by January 20th when
President-Elect Clinton takes over. Is that feasible, given the ability to
airlift...
A: A couple of questions, and Jamie asked a similar question about the
time line. I don't have any answers for you today on the time line on either
end. I can't tell you today when are they going to go, or when are they going
to come out. I can't get into the operational details of the plan at this
point. It still has to be reviewed by the President, and there isn't a plan
until he says there's a plan. So I just can't speculate, and I won't
speculate, on how soon it might go.
But as for the last part of your question, I said here on Tuesday that
generally our intention has been, and I think Boutros-Ghali said so in his
letter earlier this week, that if the UN votes to undertake this operation, the
U.S. and other nations would go in and try to secure the provision of
humanitarian assistance, make safe areas and safe corridors and safe roads and
bridges that the private humanitarian relief organizations can use to deliver
food and medical supplies. Get that going, get the situation turned around so
that people can be fed, and then begin to turn it over to other nations to run
a kind of peacekeeping operation, once you get the peacemaking side of it
going. And I think the President has expressed, or his spokesman has expressed
the desire to get it turned over as soon as possible, and we all understand
that, but I just don't have any specific dates for you.
Q: Does this plan address the questions of rules of engagement, and does
it address how the U.S. would withdraw those troops?
A: It will ultimately. Whenever you deploy forces there's always a thing
in the deployment order that specifies rules of engagement. However, since the
first dusty ceiling tiles were installed in this joint, we never discuss rules
of engagement. So I won't be able to publicly speculate on those for you, but
the deployment order ultimately will. And in terms of under what circumstances
you'd begin to turn over, that was discussed in general, but it doesn't say
specifically on such and such a day or at such and such a time.
I should say that the marine prepositioning ships, maritime prepositioning
ships that are coming across the Indian Ocean had troops and equipment.
Obviously, that has basically the equipment only. No Marines.
The 10th Mountain Division, Susanne, has about 10,200 personnel. (FYI:
8,500 authorized strength.)
Q: What standards will you use, or how will you judge that the operation
has been successful?
A: That's a good point, and I think it's a good time to point out, taking
advantage of your question, I realize there are a lot of questions that you
have, that a lot of people have at this point, some of which aren't answered,
some of which we can't answer, and some of which we won't answer until the UN
votes and the President says something about this. I would guess that at some
point after the UN vote, I'd refer you to the White House on what kind of
statements may come out of that place, but I would anticipate that General
Powell and Secretary Cheney would come down and walk through a lot of these
things, make a very clear statement on exactly what the mission is, and answer
questions like the good one that you just raised which is how do you know when
you've accomplished it and that it's time to turn it over to the other folks.
Q: Can that happen today?
A: No, I don't think so, because we're going to wait until the UN votes.
I suppose, in principle, they could vote as early as today, but I wouldn't
expect it until late this afternoon, so I wouldn't think it's going to be
today.
Q: Did the plan that was devised and presented by General Hoar include
any kind of cost estimate? And if it did, can you share anything about that
with us? And also whether, like Operation Desert Shield/Storm, there's any
thought in this building of soliciting contributions from others who are no
less concerned than ourselves with the plight of the Somalians?
A: The question of cost was not discussed this morning. Obviously, it is
something that we're interested in, and it is something that the Central
Command people have been looking at. As to the question of whether we will be
seeking the support of other allies, I think the UN is going to discuss that.
The mission of hitting up other allies for their contributions will be one that
the State Department will have to address, because that will be their job.
Q: What is the building's assessment of the threat there?
A: Well, I think you've seen a lot of stuff about it. I don't want to
get into too much detail about it right now. I think the best way to say it is
this: We're all aware, you've all seen reports, you've seen pictures, many of
you have reported on it yourselves, that there are many people in Somalia who
have guns. There are others who have access to jeeps that have guns mounted on
them. These are what the private relief organizations have come to call
technicals. I'm told that the derivation of that term has to do with the fact
that as the private relief organizations go around, sometimes they have to
enlist the support of these people to help guard them as they go in and out of
areas, and that they write that down in their report and their expense items as
technical assistance. That's where this term technicals comes from.
But you've got some people with guns. You've got some people that can
drive around with these guns mounted on the back of a jeep or a truck. And
then there's some material left over from the days when there was a regular
military in the area that's Somalia. That has come under the control of
different clans and different warlords.
But I think it has to be clear, and this will be articulated, I'm sure, in
the coming days, that we don't seek a confrontation. We're not looking to go
in with guns blazing. We are seeking to provide humanitarian relief. We're
coming to the aid of the people of Somalia at the request of the United
Nations, if indeed the United Nations Security Council approves the mission.
That's how it would be done. So I wouldn't expect a big confrontation. But
that's a question you ought to ask General Powell, Mark, when he comes down
here.
Q: Do the plans now contemplate deploying only active duty troops, or is
there some thought being given to using Reserves or National Guard troops?
A: I can't rule out. You know Charlie specifically asked about the 1st
Marine Expeditionary Force and the 10th Mountain Division Light. There may be
bits and pieces of other units throughout the military that have specific
capabilities -- combat service support, combat support capabilities. So
that's, by no means, a comprehensive list. I'm sure at some point we'll be
able to share with you the full list.
The fact of the matter is that under the total force concept, some of the
troop support jobs have been given to the Reserves, so I certainly can't rule
out that there would be some Reserve and some National Guard elements that will
have to be called up.
Q: That's true for the Central Command as well, right? There are some
units that are...
A: That's true throughout the whole military.
Q: You said you can't talk about the timing, but the Marines off-shore of
Somalia, are clearly in a position to react quite quickly if the order is
given. The other question, the Army has a special forces group recently stood
up, specifically oriented to Africa. Is it likely that they would be involved
in this operation, since they're language and culture oriented?
A: Again, I don't know about that specific unit that's been ordered to
Africa. I would say as a general matter...
Q: Not order to, but they're designated for Africa.
A: Okay, I would say as a general matter, we're obviously going to be
looking for people who have Somali language expertise, and folks who have
training in dealing with civilian populations, and in the U.S. military that's
frequently in the special forces area. So I think it's prudent to expect that
at some point there would be some special forces contribution to this effort.
There always is when you're dealing with the civilian population. I think you
all understand it, but there's sometimes a misunderstanding from people who
don't follow the military closely. They assume that special forces are people
who are sneaky and invisible, and there are undoubtedly people like that, but
they also, in the military, have the language skills and the training in
dealing with the civilian population. So I can't rule that out.
The first part of your question, which was really sort of a statement,
Otto, that the Marines off Somalia are prepared. That is true. But obviously,
they're not going to go until they get orders to go, and I just can't speculate
on when that might be.
Q: You can't get into the specifics, but you probably could at least draw
some general guidelines. I know a number of Republicans, for instance, were
worried that they wanted to make certain that the U.S. contingent would include
other nations. I presume that with Bush having made a few calls, perhaps some
commitments have been given from other nations. In addition to that, I think
some Republicans were concerned that you might have heavy infantry, mechanized
infantry. At least you can point out that you would have the Marines and you
would have the light infantry going in at this point. Can you sort of
generally give us an idea of what's going to be taking part in this contingent?
A: Insofar as the first part of your question goes about other nations
participating, we'll handle that the way we usually do. We'll let those other
nations announce that on their own. That's certainly something that's of
interest to the United Nations. It's of interest to us. I would contemplate
that yes, there will be other nations taking part in this. I just can't tell
you which ones, and that's not for me to say.
As to the second part of your question of what will the exact composition
of the force be like, how much will be heavy and how much will be light, I
don't know at this point. I'll wait for the specific announcement to get into
that level of detail.
Q: Could you give us any better idea of what the number of troops might
be? You're talking about 50,000...
A: I can't at this point.
Q: No feeling at all?
A: No, I can't say there would be a feeling. And I'd be surprised if
ever again in the history of the Pentagon anybody comes down here to give you a
ceiling on the number of troops, because you have to be flexible, and it may
well be that the military will... We certainly didn't put a ceiling on Desert
Shield and Desert Storm. We were very careful not to. We were careful to say
that we will send over whatever the CINC thinks he needs. I'm sure the same
operating philosophy will apply here.
Somalia is a country that has been devastated. There will be a lot of
things that you'll need to do all the way from securing the force, to making
sure that the roads are passable for trucks. So they've got to get over there
and figure out what they need. That's why it's not prudent for me at this
point to discuss numbers or entertain any thoughts of a ceiling. I don't think
anybody has a ceiling in mind.
Q: How comfortable are you all with peacekeeping as a mission, and what
steps are being taken to avoid another Beirut occurrence?
A: Totally, just a completely different situation. No parallel
whatsoever, I wouldn't think. And clearly, the security of the U.S. force will
be a primary mission, and the commanders have that well in mind. It will be
something of a balancing act between getting humanitarian relief, and I should
appeal to you all, and I should remember as I answer these questions, that this
all assumes that there's going to be a UN vote, and I don't want to get out
ahead of the UN here, and I think it's important that everybody note that in
their stories, and we'll take a very careful role and see that you all do, but
I hope you will make that point for me, that we'll have to wait and see what
the UN does. But should the UN give us permission, and should the President
call upon us to do so, then I think it will be something of a balancing act
between, on the one hand, getting humanitarian assistance going as quickly as
possible, and creating safe conditions for these private relief organizations,
and at the same time, minimizing any potential conflicts between people with
guns and securing the safety of both the U.S. troops and the people of Somalia.
Q: Have any lines of communication been opened up so far between us and
the two major warloards of Mogadishu, Aideed and Ali Mahdi?
A: Let me leave that one to the State Department. Obviously, we're
interested in talking to them, but I'll let them address that one.
Q: Has someone been recommended to lead the U.S. forces? General Robert
Johnston has been mentioned.
A: His name, indeed, has been mentioned. He's quite a likely candidate
to be the Joint Task Force commander, but I'll let General Powell and Secretary
Cheney make the final announcement about that.
Q: The remnants of the once-organized Somali military that are now in the
hands of warlords, is there any indication that they actually know how to use
them? And I'm thinking of things like aircraft, more sophisticated weapons
than artillery and guns mounted on...
A: I haven't heard anything about aircraft. I think that the kind of
things I've heard about are grenade launchers and tanks and armored personnel
carriers and things of that level of technology.
Q: Anti-aircraft weapons?
A: I'll have to take that question. I just don't know.
Q: Most of these troops going in, would you expect them to be flown in as
opposed to sent by ship?
A: Yes, I would expect they'll mostly be flown in, except for, obviously,
the Marines who are already on station in the amphibious ships.
Q: For the record, could you provide a statement as to what your overall
press coverage, and the operation of pools, and what your thinking is for how
the media will be able to operate?
A: Sure. And I've, indeed, talked to many of your organizations already
about this question. But I would say at this point I can't imagine that we
would activate the DoD national media pool. That's the pool that we use for
contingency purposes where operational security is a consideration, and here we
are talking about it, so clearly operational security isn't a consideration
when you have the United Nations debating something for days on end. It's not
that kind of a mission, so it doesn't call for the DoD national media pool.
Secondly, there are many journalists already in the region. There are
many journalists from the United States and other nations who routinely, as a
matter of course, cover Africa and have been in and out of Somalia. Many of
you have had these stories on your radio stations, television stations,
newspapers, and magazines. Then there's a third group of people who are on
their way . So in terms of covering the amphibious element of the operation, I
think we'd be able to draw from reporters who are already in the region. Then
we'll set up press centers or joint information bureaus, as they call them
these, in Somalia as the need arises, and we'll try to accommodate people.
But I think the one thing that I would emphasize and ask everyone to bear
in mind, the conditions in Somalia and in Mogadishu are very grim. There
certainly aren't any hotels, and I think everyone should expect, that intends
to go over and cover it, that number one, the United States military's ability
to support reporters is going to be quite bare-bones, if existent at all,
towards the beginning. Number two, as it builds up, obviously we understand we
have an obligation to help as much as we can and we will do that, but people
should be prepared, and should arrive with their own sleeping bags and
shouldn't expect any tents or anything like that at the beginning. It will be
extremely difficult conditions towards the beginning.
Q: You mentioned the 1st Marine Expeditionary, the 10th Mountaineer. How
many other units have been told that they might be a part of this operation?
A: I don't know the number of other units. Those are the main ones. As I
said before, there are small groups that you may want to call on who have
specific capabilities -- water purification and that kind of thing -- but I
don't have a rundown on that for you today.
Q: Can you give us a few of...
A: No, I can't.
Q: You haven't mentioned any air assets. What kind of air assets could
we expect? Is there any Air Force involvement or...
A: Well, the Marines have air assets. The Marine Expeditionary Force has
helicopter capability, it's got heavy lift helicopters, it's got medium lift
helicopters, it's got Cobra attack helicopters, it's got Hueys. That's part of
the Marine Expeditionary Force. Obviously, the Air Force is going to have a
big role in this when we start to move things over there. But in terms of a
combat air capability, at this point I think that you could rely on that from
the units I've already mentioned.
Q: No fixed-wing air?
A: Well, I can't rule it out, but I don't see a big contribution at this
part of the plan.
Q: To clarify, you said that the security of the U.S. forces is going to
be a primary mission, so we can entail from that that the forces would be
allowed to defend themselves, to shoot if necessary, and that there's not going
to be any kind of UN strictures on that.
A: I can't answer that question at this point. I'm really in a bind,
because number one, the UN hasn't voted; number two, the President hasn't given
his permission or blessed the plan; and finally, even if they had, we never
discuss the rules of engagement. So hold that question for when General Powell
and Secretary Cheney get here.
Q: It's traditional that when the U.S. commits troops anywhere that those
troops have the ability to defend themselves.
A: Sure. That's always true.
Q: Then wouldn't it follow naturally that if those people are shot at,
they'll be able to shoot back?
A: I just don't want to get into any further details. I think you both
are making a pretty good point, and you're on the right track, but I can't be
more specific about it at this point.
Q: Could you draw some parallels between, assuming the UN takes the vote,
and assuming that the President gives the go-ahead for this mission.
A: Thank you very much.
Q: Could you draw some parallels between this mission and the Persian
Gulf, along the lines of that, presumably, it would once again be an
international effort, and, presumably, since the Air Force would be involved in
transport, and the Navy would be involved in transport, and the Marines and
Army is also involved, I presume it would also, once again, be a joint
operation. Are there some parallels to draw here?
A: There are very few parallels to draw. You can draw these parallels.
One, it will both be under the control of the Central Command. Two, it will
involve people wearing uniforms. I don't mean to be silly, but there are very
few parallels. Desert Storm was a combat operation designed to eject a hostile
force from Kuwait and destroy, and engage an enemy and destroy its offensive
military capability. It was a night operation, it was a combat operation, it
had one of the largest and heaviest armor battles in history. This, by
complete contrast, is a humanitarian mission. The mission here is to assist...
It's almost a polar opposite of what was involved in Desert Storm. I think it
points up the versatility of the U.S. military, if indeed we get the mission
and the UN Security Council votes and the President authorizes it. But there
are many more differences than there are similarities.
Yes, it will be a joint operation. It involves different members of the
U.S. military. It may well involve, and we certainly expect it will involve,
if indeed it happens, militaries from other countries. But beyond that,
there's just almost no parallels.
Q: Would U.S. troops be involved only in guarding food shipments? Or
would they also be performing other missions over there like medical assistance
to Somalis in the camps, or any other direct missions with Somalis?
A: I think the question you raise is a good one. I think those other
things are quite likely, but I don't have any kind of definitive answer for you
at this point.
Q: Any medical units on alert?
A: I don't have an answer for you on that yet. I think it's certainly
within the realm of possibility, but I just can't get into the depth of the
plan yet, because the President hasn't even been briefed on it at this point.
Q: Would this plan also envision operations in Northern Somalia which has
been relatively...
A: That's, again, a part of the specific that I just can't get into.
Q: This being the polar opposite of Desert Storm, how does the Pentagon
feel about taking on this sort of thing? For example, you used to use the
Weinberger test, the six different criteria. How does this fit in with what
the Pentagon sees itself as doing, and what it might see itself as doing in the
future?
A: I think, first of all, the Weinberger test was last used when
Secretary Weinberger was here. Not to be critical of it in any way. Secondly,
I think the Weinberger test applied to the use of the military in a combat
role, so it wouldn't apply in this case anyway. Thirdly, the U.S. military has
provided this kind of humanitarian support and this kind of humanitarian relief
and assistance in the past. We did it in Bangladesh after the typhoon there in
Operation Sea Angel; we did it in northern Iraq, and still are doing it today
in Operation Provide Comfort. Indeed, this doesn't create something brand new
and astonishing for the military, because even today the U.S. military is
flying relief into Somalia, and we have been now for many months in Operation
Provide Relief. So it's not a new mission for the military. The reason we're
doing it in this specific case, if we get the mission from the UN, is because
the circumstances have changed in recent days, and the UN has come back to us
and said the plan we have there isn't working, can you help?
Q: Can you detail how many Americans are there on the ground in Provide
Relief right now? What types of units?
A: Yes, we can certainly do that. I don't think I have that stuff here,
let me get it for you.
Q: You've taken some pains to portray this as a humanitarian mission,
something where hopefully, they'll go in and deliver food and get out in short
order. Are they ready for combat?
A: Clearly, they're aware that there may be some encounters, and they
have to be prepared. And that stands to reason, because the reason the
humanitarian situation has broken down is because of a general situation of
lawlessness in Somalia. You have people firing on UN relief ships that are
trying to come into Mogadishu and can't because people are shooting at them.
You have people shooting at relief planes that are trying to come in -- not a
lot of it, but it happens. Then you have lawless gangs of thugs that steal
food from people.
So it would be prudent to expect that one may run into resistance. You
have to be prepared for it. The military is always prepared for it. That is,
presumably, why Boutros-Ghali last week said that the UN should consider
whether it wants combat forces -- that's the term he used -- to come in and
assist in the provision of humanitarian assistance. But I think the point to
be made here is that I don't think we see this as a big invasion force. This
is a force to go in and secure the roads, get the port, get things moving
again. That's what the UN is contemplating, and that's what they're
discussing.
Q: Do you have a working name for this operation, or is it an extension
of...
A: We don't have a plan yet, it hasn't been approved by the President.
Until he says so, there isn't a plan, and there isn't a name for the operation
yet.
In terms of Somalia right now, Susanne, there are 485 military personnel
in the region. That would include Mombasa, Kenya which, as you know, is being
used as a staging area as part of Joint Task Force Provide Relief. That
includes the air crews that fly in and out of Somalia, the airlift controllers,
the maintenance and security and other personnel on the ground. They are
moving 11 C-130's in and out of various air bases in Somalia. We can get the
total for you. We'll update it for you. I've got one here as of November
30th, but we need to update for you the grand total of food delivered by the
United States.
Since the operation started, the grand total of food delivered by the
United States is 16,606 metric tons on 1405 flights. I said 11 C-130's before,
it's actually 10 C-130's. The number of personnel is up just a bit. It
fluctuates from day to day. It's now 560. So that updates some of the numbers
I said to you just a few seconds ago.
Q: When did the operation begin?
A: I think August 21st is the first flight that I see. So I would say
August 21st.
Q: You say you don't see this as an invasion force. The fact is,
whatever the details of the plan, the U.S. military is going to occupy portions
of Somalia, correct?
A: Yes, but I don't think that there's going to be a big resistance to
that.
Q: But it is an occupation force?
A: Well, that connotes all sorts of traditional terms about going in and
taking over an existing civil government and that kind of thing, so I don't
know that I'd use that term. I think that term has a lot of historical baggage
to it. It's not a term I would use.
Q: Are forces going to take over the port where they have the problems,
and the airfields?
A: They'll have to secure the port. But when you say take over, you're
implying that we're taking it over from some existing government structure, and
that's not necessarily the case. As a matter of fact, it's clearly not the
case. I don't want to get into the specifics of the plan, but there will be
airfields and ports that you have to use, and the military will have some role
in being able to secure those. But it's not like you have to go wrest it away
from someone else. As you know, the Pakistanis are part of the UN security
force, are already at the Mogadishu airport. So the UN has some role in trying
to secure what facilities it can.
Q: Pete, if they don't have to wrest any of this away from someone else,
why are 20,000, upwards of 20,000...
A: No, no. Remember what I said. I didn't say from anybody else, I said
from any organized entity. There are all sorts of thugs and people running
around with guns. That's why it's not safe for the private relief
organizations to operate there. The goal here is to keep people from being
shot at -- U.S. military, private relief organizations, and Somalis.
Q: Who's in control of the docks?
A: I don't have all the specific information on the situation in
Mogadishu. We're not really in Mogadishu right now. That's a question the UN
could answer for you.
Q: Would the headquarters element be ashore or afloat?
A: I don't know the answer to that. I could speculate, but let's wait
until the plan gets briefed. Probably it would be ashore, I would think.
August 21st was the first flights into Wajir and Kenya. August 28th was
the first flights into Somalia. Operation Provide Relief, in its first stages,
had to attend to both refugees in northern Kenya and in Somalia. Some of the
refugees in northern Kenya were Somalis, and some were Kenyans.
Okay, brief announcements on other topics.
Secretary Cheney will receive the USO's Distinguished Service Award at the
USO Christmas celebration, today, December 3rd, at 9:20 p.m. It will be at the
Omni Shoreham Hotel in the Regency Ballroom, and it's open to coverage. The
point of contact is Sheri Singer at USO Communications, (202) 879-4714.
A combined U.S.-Kuwaiti naval training exercise ,called Eager Archer 93-1
will be conducted in the north Persian Gulf, and at locations ashore, starting
on December 5th. The exercise will take about three days, and should be done
by December 8th. It's being conducted within the framework of the defense
cooperation agreement between the United States and Kuwait that was signed in
September of 1991.
Eager Archer 93-1 is a naval air exercise designed to improve readiness
and inter-operability of U.S. and Kuwaiti naval forces. The exercise is
intended to provide mutual training, develop professional and social ties
between the two navies, and continue development of formal operational and
exercise procedures between the forces. The exercise will also demonstrate
U.S. carrier air wing and land-based capabilities, and the continuing U.S.
commitment to the security and stability of the Persian Gulf region.
It will basically involve the aircraft carrier the Ranger. The units
participating will include Carrier Air Wing 2, and the Ranger. The aircraft
will include the Tomcat F-14, the A-6 Intruder, the EA-6B Prowler, and the SH-3
seeking helicopter. About 5,000 U.S. personnel will be involved. There is a
Memorandum for Correspondents to that effect.
There's another memorandum for you noting that on December 4, 1992, that's
a Laos date, technical representatives of the Lao People's Democratic Republic
and the United States will begin joint investigation and remains recovery
operations pertaining to missing and unaccounted for Americans in Laos. This
will be the 8th joint field activity conducted by U.S. and Lao representatives
this year under an expanded program of joint activities, and the 29th since
February of 1985. This one will be conducted in the Lao province of
Savannakhet. This joint team plans to investigate 11 priority cases, and as
many as 11 other cases in the geographic area.
The 29 U.S. team members will be under the operational control of Joint
Task Force Full Accounting, and include forensic specialists from the U.S.
Army's Central Identification Laboratory in Hawaii. The team will be joined by
personnel from the Lao government, and the team will consist of POW/MIA
specialists with experience in investigations and recovery operations, and will
be led by Army Lieutenant Colonel Edward Spohn, commander of the Joint Task
Force Full Accounting's Detachment 3, headquartered in the Lao capital of
Vientiane. There's a Memorandum for Correspondents on that.
Q: What can you tell us about the transition? Any meetings that have
gone on in the past couple of days?
A: They're going to be doing all kinds of meetings that I'm not going to
know about. They'll be working around the building and meeting people. Mr.
Smith had a meeting with General Powell earlier this week. They will be
getting their briefing books that have been prepared for them at Deputy
Secretary Atwood's direction. I don't have much more detail than that.
Q: Do you know how many building passes have been issued...
A: I don't.
Press: Thank you.
Mr. Williams: Thank you.
(END)
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE CONTRACTS
(NOT FOR USE BEFORE 5:00 P.M. EST DECEMBER 3, 1992)
ARMY
Short Brothers PLC, Belfast, North Ireland, is being awarded a $10,600,000
increment as part of a $29,740,957 firm fixed price contract for two aircraft
and propulsion mechanics to clean, repair and maintain two C-23B aircraft at
each of 10 sites. Work will be performed in Groton, Connecticut; Springfield,
Missouri; Fresno, California; Gulfport, Mississippi; San Juan, Puerto Rico;
Montgomery, Alabama; Aberdeen, Maryland; West Jordan, Utah; St. Croix, Virgin
Islands; and Salem, Oregon (10% at each location); and is expected to be
completed by September 30, 1994. Contract funds will not expire at the end of
the current fiscal year. This is a sole source contract initiated on May 22,
1990. The contracting activity is the U.S. Aviation and Troop Command, St.
Louis, Missouri (DAAJ09-90-C-A013).
NAVY
Sysorex Information Systems, Inc., Fairfax, Virginia, is being awarded a
$71,986,866 firm-fixed-price, indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract
for hardware, system software, documentation, training, support services, and
integrated logistics services to complete deployment of the Naval Aviation
Logistics Command Management Information System (NALCOMIS) Phase III program.
Work will be performed in Winchester, Virginia, and is expected to be completed
by December 2000. All of the contract funds would have expired at the end of
the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured with 225
bids solicited and 4 bids received. The Information Technology Acquisition
Center, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity (N66032-93-D-0001).
United Technologies Corporation, Sikorsky Aircraft Division, Stratford,
Connecticut, is being awarded a $36,000,000 modification to provide an incre-
ment of funds to an advance acquisition contract for production of 12 FY-93
SH-60B helicopters and associated materials and support services. Work will be
performed in Stratford, Connecticut, and is expected to be completed in June
1995. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year.
This contract was not competitively procured. The Naval Air Systems Command is
the contracting activity (N00018-91-C-0104).
Lykes Brothers Steamship Company, Inc., New Orleans, Louisiana has been
awarded a $15,000,000 indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity service contract
for the intermodal transportation of Army and Air Force Exchange Service cargo
from the East Coast of the United States to various locations in Northern
Europe. The contract performance period extends through December 1993.
Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This
contract was competitively procured with 7 bids solicited and 2 bids received.
The Military Sealift Command Central Technical Activity is the contracting
activity (N00033-93-C-9300).
Lincoln Builders, Inc., Ruston, Louisiana, is being awarded a $5,792,000
firm-fixed-price contract for construction of a vehicle maintenance facility at
the Barksdale Air Force Base, Shreveport, Louisiana. Work will be performed in
Shreveport, Louisiana, and is expected to be completed by December 1994.
Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This
contract was competitively procured with 8 bids received. The Naval Facilities
Engineering Command, Southern Division, Charleston, South Carolina, is the
contracting activity (N62467-90-C-0738).
AIR FORCE
General Electric Aircraft Engine Business Group, Cincinnati, Ohio, is
being awarded a $5,787,809 face value increase to a firm-fixed-price contract
for 6,202 exhaust nozzle outer flap hinge wear improvement retro-fit kits
applicable to the F110-GE-100 engine used on the F-16 aircraft. Contract is
expected to be completed April 1993. Contract funds will not expire at the end
of the current fiscal year. This contract is in support of Foreign Military
Sales (FMS) to Israel, Turkey, Greece, Egypt, and Bahrain, along with USAF
requirements. The Aeronautical Systems Center, Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity (F33657-84-C-2011, P00483).
END
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