THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, November 28, 1994 TAG: 9411280056
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JACK DORSEY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Long : 129 lines
Dwindling defense dollars may force the militaries of separate nations to fight as one, with the army - in one scenario - coming from Finland, the air force from Sweden and the navy from Norway.
That's the view of Gen. John J. ``Jack'' Sheehan, one of NATO's top commanders as the alliance's military leader in the Atlantic and North American regions. Sheehan, who took command earlier this month, is the first Marine to serve in what had been a Navy post for 50 years. He wears two hats as Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic for NATO and as commander of the the United States' Atlantic Command, or USACOM. Both are based in Norfolk.
The concept of ``combined joint task forces'' has taken hold within the United States military, with Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine personnel working as one in particular missions.
For northern Europe, where allied nations have made substantial cuts in defense since the end of the Cold War, the concept also holds promise.
``I think it is entirely possible in my lifetime that you will see a kind of regional approach in the north that will have a CJTF capability,'' said Sheehan.
``You will have a real kind of approach to defense that is coherent, combined and joint. But, frankly for each of the countries, it is cheaper.''
Such an arrangement is less likely among NATO allies at the other end of Europe, in the Mediterranean.
``As you get down there you clearly have culture and history that works against you. Each nation comes to the table with its own prejudice, one way or the other,'' he said.
Sheehan is looking at NATO's future role at a time when questions are being raised about whether the alliance has outlived its usefulness. Sharpening the debate is U.S. reluctance to play a bigger role in Bosnia, where troops from European countries are working as peacekeepers. Hundreds have been captured and held hostage in recent days.
Some analysts maintain that Europe can handle the smaller crises of today on its own now that NATO's common foe - the Soviet Union - has fallen.
Still, U.S. officials insist common goals will keep NATO together as it approaches its second half-century. And the United States remains the most powerful military force in NATO's European-North American sphere of influence.
Sheehan said that within its own ranks, the United States has some adjustments to make to face the post Cold War-world.
He raised the prospect of shrinking a top military post - the U.S. Southern Command, now based in Panama. The command must move anyway, as Panama takes over the Panama Canal in the next few years.
Why not move it all the way to the United States, Sheehan suggested. ``If you reduce your troop levels by 30 percent, why are you keeping Cold War headquarters? It doesn't make sense.
``We are not going to invade South America. They are all democracies.''
Just three weeks into his new command, Sheehan already is steering his NATO command away from its traditional role as a maritime operation.
For the first time, Sheehan said, NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic will have a U.S. Army colonel reporting to him - the commander-in-chief of the Iberian Atlantic, off the coast of Portugal.
Sheehan wants to introduce even more land forces into the mix as he carries out the jointness approach pioneered by his predecessor, Adm. Paul David Miller.
Miller was architect of the reorganized USACOM. He pushed joint service cooperation about as far as it has been pushed in the 10 years since the Goldwater-Nichols Act required closer cooperation among the service branches.
Shrinking militaries are forcing even more changes in NATO, Sheehan said.
``On the U.S. side we are clearly coming at this issue of joint training,'' he said. ``How do you put together a joint training capability that gives this nation the most for its investment? How do you then convince the system to deploy this force on an `as required' basis?''
That, too, is a concept Sheehan said he will try to sell to his superiors.
An example: Shortening the six-month Mediterranean deployment.
The U.S. has maintained a carrier battle group in the Mediterranean on a near continuous basis since the end of World War II, mostly at the insistence of the NATO alliance. More than 10,000 people from Hampton Roads come and go with each battle group rotation.
Sheehan questions whether the Mediterranean should be the automatic destination - even whether the ships should go at all unless they're called for.
``My intent, very frankly, is to pose the issue to the chairman (of the Joint Chiefs of Staff) and say, `Look. Here is an asset that has a special operations capability, a Marine capability, a Navy capability, an Air Force capability and an Army capability. It is available during this time frame. You pick the period you want it to deploy.'
``If it is three months, we send it for three months. Maybe not to the Med. Probably . . . off Somalia as the U.N. presence draws down.
``You ought not to deploy just because it is on the schedule. They are deployed because there is a requirement. It is your investment.''
There will come a day, he said, when America's military forces are truly trained as one force.
``How will I know it is successful? When the chairman calls and says, `You don't need to send it. I will call you when I need it.'
``Then I will declare victory and walk off center stage.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color staff photo by RICHARD L. DUNSTON/
Gen. John J. Sheehan is NATO's military leader in the Atlantic and
North American regions.
STAFF FILE
Marine Gen. John J. Sheehan, center, succeeded Adm. Paul David
Miller, right, as commander of the U.S. Atlantic Command. Sheehan is
also Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic for NATO.
Graphic
GEN. JOHN J. ``JACK'' SHEEHAN
Occupation: Commander in chief, U.S. Atlantic Command; NATO's
Supreme Allied Commander, Atlantic
Personal: Age, 54; Born Aug. 23, 1940, in Somerville, Mass.
Married to the former Margaret M. Sullivan of Boston. They have four
children: Kristen, Catherine, Karen and John.
Education: Bachelor's degree in English from Boston College,
1962; master's degree in government, Georgetown University.
Career: Commissioned a second lieutenant in 1962. Served in
various command positions ranging from company commander to brigade
commander in both the Atlantic and Pacific. Served combat tours in
Vietnam and Desert Storm. Staff positions included duties as
regimental, division and service headquarters staff officer, as well
as joint duty with the Army, secretary of defense and Atlantic
Command. Most recently, director of operations for the Joint Chiefs
of Staff.
KEYWORDS: DEPLOYMENT U.S. NAVY PROFILE BIOGRAPHY by CNB