<strong>YONGSAN GARRISON, Republic of Korea</strong> - Servicemembers and civilians packed U.S. Army Garrison-Yongsan's Collier Field House to capacity with this afternoon for a town hall-style meeting with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen.
Mullen's visit comes a day after Secretary of Defense Robert Gates talked to Yongsan troops on Wednesday.
Mullen spoke to more than 300 members of the audience on 'freedom's frontier' about subjects ranging from the U.S.-Republic of Korea alliance to the length of deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan.
He emphasized several times the theme of 'change.'
"There is a tremendous amount of change taking place here in Korea," he said. "The transition to South Korean command and control in 2012 is a huge deal, but the alliance will never change. It's based on mutually shared blood in a war back in the 50's and a commitment. You are part of that. Sometimes we don't think about how critical that alliance is to preserving freedom here and in the United States."
Mullen briefly spoke about the change in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, saying "we are literally in the process of shifting our efforts from Iraq to Afghanistan literally as we speak. We've got a good glide scope in Iraq. When they have their elections in January, we're going to start a pretty rapid drawdown. By the end of 2011, we'll have all of our forces out of Iraq."
Within the military, Mullen said change will require new skills.
"I also believe we are living in a time of change. In the future we are going to figure out different ways to promote people," he explained. "There is great emphasis on cultural skills and language skills. There is going to be more of that as we move forward."
On quality of life issues, he said changes in the nature of tours in Korea will help keep families stabilized.
"We are approving many more command sponsored families. We've doubled it. We are going to increase to 4,500 by next year," he said. "Half of 28,000 members who are here will have their families here. We'll normalize the tours and make them three year tours. We have to upgrade the infrastructure, but we are going to do it over the years ahead."
On leadership, Mullen said Servicemembers should "make sure you are taking care of your buddy. Mentor people and get your people promoted so that they also can have a future."
Suicide prevention was also a topic, among other challenges discussed.
"Make sure negatives do not have an impact. Make sure to address alcohol abuse, drugs, and off-base activities that turn lives that were very special into tragic circumstances."
He also reminded each person in the audience that leadership comes in many forms.
"It has been my experience, that the toughest problems are solved by great leaders of every pay grade. I ask you to figure out how to make a difference in someone else's lives."
After the chairman's speech, he opened the floor to answer the audience's unscripted questions, which ranged from the rise of China to the role of women in combat.
"With the president and Congress talking of stopping annual pay raises for GS [General Schedule] employees concerning pay benefits, how will that affect the military at all," asked Sgt. 1st Class Shaffer.
"I'm not aware of any changes," he answered. "But if you look at your overall benefits, we are working hard to get them in line with what people on the outside make. I believe your healthcare is the gold standard for medical care. So it's not always what you get paid, but the total benefits."
Mullen concluded the town hall meeting after taking one hour of questions, then presented medallions to each Servicemember and posed for photographs.
The visit highlighted the Department of Defense's commitment to military families, said U.S. Army Garrison-Yongsan Commander Col. Dave Hall.
"Feedback is one of the ways we measure the success of and calibrate the Army Family Covenant," he said. "We here in the garrison gather feedback constantly, but the fact that our top leaders in Washington are taking the time to sit down with the community right here in Yongsan says a lot about how our Army has become more people-focused."
Mullen's visit came just as Yongsan is preparing to host an Army Communities of Excellence evaluation team next week.
Yongsan is a 2010 Army Communities of Excellence finalist and is hoping to clinch 1st place as the Army's premier assignment of choice among six other contenders.
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