FORT DRUM, N.Y. -- The nation's highest-ranking military officer spent Friday afternoon at Fort Drum where he met with senior leaders and conducted a private town hall meeting with members of the 10th Mountain Division (LI).
U.S. Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, in his first visit to Fort Drum as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, greeted some 300 Soldiers and Family Members at the Commons by first thanking them for their service and sacrifices.
Accompanied by his wife, Deanie, the chairman told the crowd no question was off limits before spending about an hour in the relaxed atmosphere answering queries, which ranged from budgetary issues to Army leader development to how the U.S. military plans to deal with threats posed by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and the Ebola outbreak in West Africa.
"If we were having this conversation just a few months ago -- literally just a few months ago -- we wouldn't be talking about Ebola, we wouldn't be talking about this thing called ISIL, we wouldn't be talking about the fact that Russia had annexed Crimea and is active in eastern Ukraine," Dempsey said before opening the floor for questions.
The topic of ISIL came right up. Dempsey even teased the Soldier who asked him about America's plan for ISIL by joking, "Thank you for your question, senator."
The chairman said the answer to the ISIL problem is connected to the complex troubles confronting several portions of the Middle East, which is the disenfranchisement of enormous parts of the population.
"When governments are not taking care of their entire population, they are being exclusive and not inclusive," Dempsey said. "In that environment, the military instrument of power has utility, but it should never be out there by itself, and it should actually not be the main effort, it should be the supporting effort.
"What will eventually lead to the defeat of this group called ISIL?" he asked. "The answer to that question is it has to be rejected, the ideology has to be rejected by the part of the population that it is trying to coerce."
Dempsey went on to explain that the U.S. role includes letting the population know there is a better future by bringing some stability to the situation.
"But we can't own it," he said. "They have to own this issue, because it is actually tearing at the fabric of their nation.
"If we own this, or if they cause us to own it without them owning it, we're not going to be able to solve their problem," he emphasized. "They have to contribute."
Dempsey said he does not believe large numbers of U.S. troops will be sent over to confront ISIL.
"But we will be involved," he said, "and I am sure some of you in this room will be involved."
Ebola was another topic on Soldiers' minds. Dempsey thanked one Soldier for knowing about "Operation United Assistance," the new U.S.-led military mission in West Africa that will provide logistics expertise, training, engineering support, and command and control in the broad international effort aimed at containing the Ebola outbreak.
Dempsey said some 1,300 troops, most of them Soldiers, are currently deployed to West Africa. He said at this point, the mission, which may last about 18 months, is absolutely the right thing to do.
"This isn't about me being a humanitarian," he stated. "I mean, we all have instincts to reject human suffering and so forth. But this is about making sure that that disease is contained in West Africa. We got to keep it over there -- or try."
After taking questions ranging from the Army's shrinking technological edge in the world to how the Black Knights can beat Navy on the gridiron, Dempsey gave some thoughts regarding the Army's potential reduction to 420,000 Soldiers.
"Too small," the chairman said flatly. "The lowest that I think the Army can possibly go and still meet the needs of the nation as we know them today is about 450,000 active Army.
"If we go to sequestration, we will be able to start a fight, but not finish it," he added.
Outside of the question-and-answer period, Dempsey told the crowd that the nation will continue to rely on its Army, even if some think the Army is a "tool of last resort."
"You can count on the fact that the Army will keep rolling along," he said. "There are 10 active Army divisions in the inventory and, right now, as I am speaking with you, eight of the division headquarters are deployed."
Despite the demand, however, Dempsey noted that a heavy workload for the U.S. military means the Army must remain adaptable, since static responses to the threats the nation faces won't always work.
"There's no template," he said. "There's no one-size-fits-all. If you stay for as long as I have, you will probably serve in three or four different 'Armies,' because they change. They change dramatically."
Dempsey, who said he was well aware of the 10th Mountain Division's illustrious history, asked Soldiers to be ready when history comes "looking for you." He also encouraged Soldiers to be resilient and optimistic about their future careers in the profession of arms despite current fiscal constraints.
"We'll bludgeon our way through the budget mess that we face," he said. "We're not the first group of cowboys to face a budget mess in our country."
The town hall concluded with a small ceremony in which Dempsey bestowed the Soldier's Medal on three Soldiers and presented the Meritorious Civilian Service Award to a retiring Civilian at Fort Drum.
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