Q&A with U.S. Marine Corps General James N. Mattis NATO Supreme Allied Commander Transformation commander, U.S. Joint Forces Command

CHIPS, July-Sept, 2009

NATO Supreme Allied Commander Transformation and commander of U.S. Joint Forces Command Gen. James Mattis gave military, government and industry leaders his view of the future joint warfighting force and the challenges they will face at a major defense conference in Virginia Beach, Va., in May.

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Mattis discussed current and future threats to national security and stressed the importance of a joint force able to conduct conventional warfare, as well as hybrid warfare, which could be a mix of peer-to-peer conflict, terrorism, criminal activity and cyber warfare.

The general said the U.S. armed forces needed to avoid the historic experience of one of our allies, using as an example Great Britain, which kept a watch on the cliffs of Dover for Napoleon 120 years after he was dead.

"We need to stop looking for Napoleon and start looking for current threats," Mattis said. USJFCOM produced a document called the Joint Operating Environment (JOE) which examines trends and disruptions in the geopolitical and military landscape, such as: shifting demographics; globalization; economics; energy; food; water; climate change and natural disasters; pandemics; cyber; and space. These trends form the framework for exploring the following types of scenarios: competition and cooperation among conventional powers; potential challenges and threats; weak and failing states; the threats of unconventional power; proliferation of weapons of mass destruction; technology; the battle of narratives; and urbanization.

The JOE is meant to be read in conjunction with the Capstone Concept for Joint Operations (CCJO), which was signed by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (CJCS) Navy Adm. Mike Mullen Jan. 22, and developed with assistance by USJFCOM. Representatives from the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and Coast Guard, as well as U.S. Special Operations Command and U.S. Strategic Command, also assisted in the JOE and CCJO development.

The JOE, currently under revision for 2009, "has influenced our Quadrennial Defense Review inputs, it has helped frame scenarios we are putting forward for what we may have to face in the future, it has helped reduce ambiguity so we have the fewest regrets ... we can not get it perfect, but we can certainly reduce the scope of regrets we have," Mattis said.

After his opening address at the Joint Warfighting Conference, cosponsored by USJFCOM, the U.S. Naval Institute and AFCEA International, Gen. Mattis spoke with the media.

Q: From a military standpoint, what should the elements of [national] strategy be?

Mattis: We had a grand strategy during the Cold War against communism, called containment. We need a grand strategy today. Since the Berlin Wall came down we have gone into a very complex world, but the new administration is putting together their grand strategy, as I believe they must. We will nest the U.S. military strategy appropriately within that, and then I will know what kind of forces to deliver.

In the interim, we will keep modifying the military force to make sure it meets the grand strategy, the political strategy.

Q: You talked about military history and mentioned lessons learned from past conflicts, and you said there are things that we never should have forgotten. Were you referring to counter-insurgency doctrine that we used in Vietnam?

Mattis: Yes, but that doesn't mean it would have been adequate on its own. We have to adapt because each war has its own character. Certainly, there are timeless things that we should have carried forward. Part of the cost of Vietnam and the country's dismay was that we just wanted to leave all of it behind, not just by years, but also intellectually.

Unfortunately, an enemy will spot our weakness and work against us in that manner.

Q: You think lessons were discarded by military leadership after the Vietnam War because it didn't end as well as we would have liked?

Mattis: The reality is that Soldiers get condemned sometimes for fighting their last war. We were more focused on the future rather than bringing forward the lessons of counter-insurgency.

Q: If you don't want to fight o past war then do you have to plan for any possible contingency?

Mattis: We have to look at what is most likely. In recent conflicts, like Georgia, Russia, the 2006 Lebanon War, Chechnya, Iraq and Afghanistan, we can see how the enemy is adapting. Plus, the enemy often writes what they are going to do. I like to look at jihadist Web sites. They tell what they are going to do. They are going to make sure that no girls go to school. They are going to kill Americans. They are going to have sleeper cells. They tell all of their plans.

Q: You said something in your remarks about how the technology the troops are carrying right now makes them more vulnerable on the battlefield. What do you mean by that?

Mattis: I was talking about the radios. We have gotten so used to robust command and control networks that we think at higher headquarters that we can know all, see all. And, in fact, we have every reason to expect that in the future those networks will be broken down.