Cadets face new challenges
By William Cole
Advertiser Military Writer
Lt. Gen. Ed Smith, commander of U.S. Army forces in the Pacific, last week told a group of more than 100 ROTC cadets that the mission of the military "is probably more complicated than it has ever been" with the growing need to combat threats like terrorism.
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"I worry most about the linkage between world-class crime bosses, narco-traffickers and terrorists," Smith said. "The linkage of those three elements is probably the most dangerous threat all over the world today. It can bring down governments. It can destroy them."
Lt. Gen. Ed Smith, commanding general of U.S. Army forces in the Pacific, told University of Hawai'i ROTC cadets that Pacific forces are preparing now for a potential role in the war against terrorism.
The Pacific Army commander, put in charge of Hawai'i homeland security following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, told cadets at the University of Hawai'i on Thursday that the military in Thailand is "almost exclusively" dedicated to interrupting the flow of 600 million methamphetamine tab-lets from Myanmar to Thailand every year.
"That military never thought it would be doing that 10 years ago," Smith said.
Smith's talk with Army ROTC cadets was geared toward highlighting the importance of camaraderie, and he told the group "you are tomorrow's leaders, and no one is more important to our country than the next generation of leaders."
For some of the college students assembled in camouflage, that leadership could one day take them to Afghanistan as part of President Bush's promise of a "sustained, comprehensive and relentless" effort to root out terrorism.
Smith said Pacific forces may become involved in worldwide counterterrorism efforts.
"What we have formations practicing right now are different kinds of tasks that we expect we might have to undertake," he said. "In other words, we're not sitting around being told to go do something. We are figuring out right now what kind of collective tasks our units within U.S. Army Pacific are going to have to do potentially, so that's what they are training for right now."
Some ROTC cadets said they are not worried about the possibility of being called to action in a place as militarily forbidding as Afghani-stan.
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Eighty percent of the cadets who complete the UH program, which offers scholarships and monthly stipends, opt for active duty. The remainder enter the Reserves or National Guard.
University of Hawai'i ROTC cadets gathered outside Kuykendall auditorium last week to hear Lt. Gen. Ed Smith talk about camaraderie and new threats faced by today's soldiers.
About 150 cadets are enrolled at UH. The Army program is ranked No. 3 in officer production out of 270 programs nationwide. The university also has an Air Force ROTC program.
Upon completion of military coursework and gradu-ation, ROTC cadets are commissioned as second lieutenants.
"As far as I see it, it's my choice to join the military, and if it's my turn to go to Afghanistan, I'll go," said Michelle Puesta, a 22-year-old junior cadet from 'Ewa Beach who is in the National Guard and who wants to become a military police officer or military intelligence specialist.
"I am scared to go to war," she said, "but as I see it, it would be a good experience to actually fight for something I think is right."
Jayson Watts, 21, a senior from Maui, who wants to be assigned to an armored branch, said he's not worried about the possibility of fighting in Afghanistan.
"I don't really know how it's going to figure in my future as an officer," he said. "But I believe what America is doing there is an honorable thing and needs to be done."
Watts said he has full confidence in the president and Congress and the decisions made by both.
"If we have to go, we have to go," he said.
Chris Yoshida, a 19-year-old junior from Guam, has a pending military contract that he said will mean five to eight years of service in the armed forces.
"It (the fighting in Afghanistan) is happening now, but I don't worry about it until it comes my way." he said.
Smith, who is nearing the end of his tenure as Pacific Army commander, told the cadets that despite the new, more complicated world the military finds itself in, defending national interests will continue to be its mission.
"The missions, the kinds of things we do, will generally stay the same in terms of preparedness to fight," he said. "What has changed is we have added to the list of threats, and some of the conditions under which we are going to have to deal with those threats has definitely changed."
Reach William Cole at wcole@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-5459.
