It gives me a great deal of pleasure to join you on this day of celebration and transition. I should confess to you up front that during the briefing by Sergeant Major Young I indicated that it looked as if the ceremony were going to last at least two hours. He said that that depended on how long the speeches are. With that, let me try to be as brief as possible.

I’d like to begin by sharing the following passage: "Mankind has progressed in enlightenment and in humanity to a point where the old might peacefully be preserved and absorbed into the new. There is hope for perpetual peace and progress. Modern ideas are triumphing everywhere. There is no doubt that a new world is being made."

These sentiments might well describe the dawn of the 21st Century. In fact, it was how one scholar described the dawn of the twentieth, a century in which two world wars reminded us that the future we want will come to us only when we embrace the cause of peace, progress and freedom.

One month from now, America and her allies will pause to remember a defining moment in that enduring cause. The dedication of the National D-Day Museum in New Orleans will recall that day when young soldiers plunged into the crashing surf at Normandy and braved a hail of hot steel to free this continent. Leaders and men and women of European Command, you are the heirs of those who braved those beaches. And for a half century since, through a bitter Cold War, you stood strong. For the half century since, from the Berlin airlift to the Bosnian airlift, you risked all to preserve freedom and to bring its blessings to others.

To help preserve that freedom at the end of the century, America turned to the leader that we honor today. In General Wes Clark, America found a scholar, a soldier and a statesman: a scholar who understands the forces of history on our time; a soldier of unquestioned courage – a Bronze and Silver Star hero – who, despite grievous wounds, inspired his unit to survival in the jungles of Vietnam, and as soldier of insight who returned home to train those who prevailed in Desert Storm. He is a statesman, whose influence has been felt from the Americas, where he helped to guide the fight against drug barons, to Dayton, where his counsel helped end the bloodletting of Bosnia.

Now, it has been said that, "without passion, man is a mere latent force and possibility, like the flint which awaits the shock of the iron before it can give forth its spark." Future historians will recount how the passionate leadership of Wes Clark and the dedicated men and women of this command combined to spark new possibilities across this continent, forging new bonds in a great Partnership for Peace and serving alongside soldiers from some 38 nations to bring peace to Bosnia and Kosovo.

And I would add that the service of General Clark in Bosnia has actually come full circle. He was there on that muddy mountain road five summers ago when three of America’s best gave their lives trying to end that war. And he has been there so many times since, turning the plan he helped to craft at Dayton into what we hope will be a durable peace.

General Shelton has reminded us of the historic accomplishments further to the south. Indeed, while it may be tempting to view darkly the challenges of the moment in Kosovo, I would say to all who are here today that no one, no one, should ever doubt either your service or your success. Faced with an adversary who manufactured a vicious humanitarian nightmare, you responded with compassion and speed to relieve human suffering. Faced with an adversary who tried to maximize civilian death and misery, you responded by minimizing the suffering of the innocent.

Just a year ago today, Serbian forces were on a rampage and nearly a million Kosovar Albanians had fled, threatening to overwhelm their neighbors. But you responded, and today, Milosevic’s thugs are out of Kosovo, the vast majority of refugees have returned, and neighboring nations are joining in the effort to rebuild that ravaged land.

So, General Clark, men and women of EUCOM, we thank you again for your outstanding leadership and for reminding us that behind the greatest alliance in history stands the finest military in history. And it is for this and other reasons that I am recommending the creation of the Kosovo Campaign Medal, which I hope will be awarded to all who participated in that great effort.

Of course, as we just heard a moment ago, behind the military leader to whom we pay tribute today, stands a pillar of strength in her own right. Gert, through some 33 years of marriage, and, I think, almost as many moves, you too have served this country with great distinction, raising your voice on behalf of our forces and their families. Gert, thank you for your service to America and to this alliance. [Applause.]

The same warrior strength, the same diplomatic skill, that we see in General Wes Clark, we also see in General Joe Ralston. As Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, he helped guide America’s forces in the sunset of the 20th Century. As Commander in Chief, European Command and Supreme Allied Commander, he is going to guide America’s forces on this continent in the dawn of the 21st. So Joe and Dede, we congratulate and we welcome you both to this great command. [Applause.]

Several months after Operation Allied Force, I attended a celebration of that mission, and the men and women behind it, at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland. And I recalled the words of the Civil War hero Joshua Chamberlain when he returned to Gettysburg. Chamberlain said, "A great and free country is not merely defense and protection. For every earnest spirit, it is opportunity and inspiration. The inspiration of a noble cause involving human interests wide and far enables men to do things they did not dream possible they were capable of doing. This consciousness of belonging greatens the heart to the limits of the soul’s ideal and it builds out the supreme of character."

General Clark, thank you for your service in a most noble cause, and thank you for your courage, your character and your commitment, which has greatened the hearts of American people and the people of Europe. We are truly indebted to you, forever in your debt. [Applause.]

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http://www.defenselink.mil/news/May2000/n05032000_20005033.html

Ralston Assumes European Command; Clark Lauds His Troops

By Linda D. Kozaryn

American Forces Press Service

STUTTGART, Germany, May 3, 2000 -- Pledging to maintain readiness and improve the quality of life of his troops and their families, Air Force Gen. Joseph W. Ralston assumed command of U.S. European Command here May 2.

The military's newest combatant commander said he is honored to lead the warfighting command that has provided "swift and decisive power" whenever the nation has called.

"There is no other place I would rather be than right here, serving our nation at the tip of the spear," Ralston said. "I will do everything I can to ensure EUCOM continues to support the community of free, stable and prosperous nations."

AFRTS Radio Report: SecDef/CJCS attend EUCOM change of command ceremony

Until his appointment to European Command, one of the nation's nine unified commands, Ralston was vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the nation's second highest-ranking military officer. He put aside plans to retire when Defense Secretary William S. Cohen asked him to take the lead in Europe.

Ralston entered the Air Force in 1965 through the ROTC program. A veteran of 147 combat missions over Laos and North Vietnam, he is a command pilot with more than 2,500 flying hours. He has commanded at squadron, wing, numbered air force and major command levels, and he has held a variety of staff and management positions at every level of the Air Force.

The EUCOM change of command was the first of two ceremonies in which Ralston would succeed Army Gen. Wesley K. Clark. He is to don a second hat May 3 in Mons, Belgium, as NATO's supreme allied commander Europe. Clark had served in the dual-hatted position since July 1997 and will retire in June after 34 years of military service.

Army Gen. Henry H. Shelton, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, opened the Stuttgart ceremony and presented European Command with the Joint Meritorious Unit Award, the highest recognition awarded to a joint organization.

"Operation Allied Force is certainly the most well known of your accomplishments -- as well it should be," the chairman said. "Allied Force was the largest air campaign in Europe in over 50 years, the most precise bombing campaign in history. It set the conditions for a peace settlement."

Shelton also acknowledged a number of the command's other equally important operations in Bosnia, Turkey, Liberia. "Your ability to carry out the multitude of day-to-day activities, along with major operations, proves once again that you are equal to any task," the chairman said. "You are responsible for a very vital and dynamic area of the world. … You have never let us down, and I know that you never will."

Cohen saluted both generals in his address before EUCOM troops and guests. He said Ralston, who will guide the command in the dawn of the 21st century, possesses the same warrior strength and diplomatic skill of his predecessor.

"In Gen. Wes Clark," Cohen told the audience, "America found a scholar, a soldier and a statesman -- a scholar who understands the forces of history on our time, a soldier of unquestioned courage …, a statesman whose influence has been felt from the Americas where he helped to guide the fight against drug barons, to Dayton, where his counsel helped end the bloodletting in Bosnia."

Cohen praised Clark and the command for their part in NATO Operation Allied Force. He announced that he has proposed the creation of a Kosovo campaign medal. "No one should ever doubt either your service or your success," he said. "Faced with an adversary who manufactured a vicious, humanitarian nightmare, you responded with compassion and speed to relieve human suffering."

The secretary awarded Clark with his fifth award of the Defense Distinguished Service Medal. The award citation credited Clark with leading EUCOM through the entire spectrum of military operations from warfighting to peacekeeping to humanitarian relief.

Cohen also presented Clark's wife, Gertrude, with the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Award for Distinguished Public Service. The award cited her for more than 30 years of volunteer service to the men, women and family members of America's armed forces and those of the nation's allies.

In his farewell address, Clark called European Command the "glue which binds America's commitments across the Atlantic and provides the first means of military cooperation, support or, if necessary, action should the need arise." EUCOM contributed uniquely to winning the Cold War, he said, and of all the unified commands has been "the busiest and most stressed today in facing the challenges of the post-Cold War period."

Turning to the ongoing mission in Kosovo, Clark said that as he walked the streets of Pristina during his final visit May 1, he could see "the first budding signs" of the people's willingness to tolerate ethnic differences and cooperate. "This above all would not have been possible without the full, wholehearted and courageous commitment of the men and women of this command over the last year.

"We can take great pride together in what's been achieved thus far," he said. "And I think we should face the future in confidence that with determination and courage, in Kosovo and in the Balkans, we will find the means and the ways to help people there set right the historic wrongs of that beautiful but tragic region and to live together in peace."

He credited the command's success to "the incredible teamwork" at the command's top levels. He also honored the "incredible performance" of the command's soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines, Coast Guardsmen and civilians, "who have borne this unprecedented tempo with skill, determination and unfailingly high morale."

Two time-tested principles guided the command in all its engagements, Clark said. "Accomplish the mission and take care of the troops. And that's what we did."

Quoting the first supreme allied commander Europe, Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, Clark said, "'If we think clearly enough, plan carefully enough and work tirelessly enough, we can both secure freedom and preserve peace.'

"Together," Clark said, "we have done all of that and more."

Related Sites of Interest:
Secretary Cohen Visit to Germany, Belgium and Kosovo:
·AFPS News Article: Cohen: Kosovo Mission Successful, But Still Dangerous
·AFPS News Article: KFOR Works to End Ethnic Violence
·AFPS News Article: Command Change, Troop Visits Draw Cohen to Europe
·DoD News Briefing: Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen En Route Munich, Germany
·DoD News Briefing: Joint Press Conference with Cohen and Shelton in Camp Bondsteel, Kosovo