Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Tampa Tribune
September 12, 2008
By John W. Allman, The Tampa Tribune
TAMPA - Seven years later, they still remember where they were that day.
Marlene Rivera was sitting in her eighth-grade English class in Little Rock, Ark.
Ryan Kiggins was a freshman at Seminole High School in Pinellas County.
And Lt. Gen. Martin Dempsey was driving to a gym in Washington, D.C., a day after packing up his Pentagon office.
"I heard this thing on the radio," said Dempsey, acting commander of U.S. Central Command, "and said, 'I hope this isn't true.'"
On the seventh anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, the three came together Thursday as Dempsey spoke to ROTC cadets at the University of South Florida.
He didn't elaborate much on the anniversary, and none of the Army, Marines, Navy or Air Force students asked him about it.
But the memory of that day was nearly impossible to escape.
Downstairs, in the lobby of the C.W. Bill Young Hall, a glass display case drew attention for the five artifacts inside: A flag flown at New York's City Hall; limestone from the debris field outside the Pentagon; a flag flown at the Pentagon; a piece of steel from the World Trade Center debris; and soil from the Pennsylvania field where United Airlines flight 93 crashed.
Above the display, a digital television screen flashed a message: "In memory of those whose lives were taken ..." and photos from the ceremony Sept. 11, 2005, when the university received the items.
Dempsey, speaking to reporters after his speech, said the anniversary still resonates. "It was a moment in our history when we recognized there are forces around the world that can reach out and touch us," he said.
Rivera, a 20-year-old ROTC Air Force cadet first lieutenant, said the day's meaning hasn't diminished for her. "It kind of solidified my desire to join" the military, she said.
Kiggins, 21, now an ROTC Air Force cadet colonel, said he clearly remembers hearing the news while he was at school. He called it an "awakening."
Both cadets hail from military families and said they look forward to graduating from USF and entering active duty.
Dempsey spent much of his speech Thursday preparing the cadets for that duty, and giving them a primer on Centcom's international responsibilities.
Dempsey told how since Sept. 11 the military has focused more on communication channels used by terrorist networks. He said cyber warfare and the military's efforts to thwart information-system attacks likely will become a bigger threat during their service.
"We see the world differently than we did eight years ago," he said. We are "coming to grips with what it means to be the world's military superpower."
Dempsey said he will step down at Centcom in October. His successor, Army Gen. David Petraeus, will take command Oct. 31. Petraeus was picked in April, a month after the abrupt resignation of Navy Adm. William Fallon.
Dempsey took questions from the crowd after his speech.
Rivera raised her hand. She said later she was shaking, but she managed to ask Dempsey for his key points for a successful exit strategy from the Middle East.
"I'm not looking for an exit strategy," he said, candidly.
Dempsey, who would like to see a change in the deployment ratio to give troops more time at home, said he supports staying in Iraq "as a partner, not an occupier."
"We've got more reasons to be there," he said, "than to come home."
Rivera, standing downstairs after the event, beamed at his response.
"He gave an honest answer," she said. "That was huge."
September 12, 2008
By John W. Allman, The Tampa Tribune
TAMPA - Seven years later, they still remember where they were that day.
Marlene Rivera was sitting in her eighth-grade English class in Little Rock, Ark.
Ryan Kiggins was a freshman at Seminole High School in Pinellas County.
And Lt. Gen. Martin Dempsey was driving to a gym in Washington, D.C., a day after packing up his Pentagon office.
"I heard this thing on the radio," said Dempsey, acting commander of U.S. Central Command, "and said, 'I hope this isn't true.'"
On the seventh anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, the three came together Thursday as Dempsey spoke to ROTC cadets at the University of South Florida.
He didn't elaborate much on the anniversary, and none of the Army, Marines, Navy or Air Force students asked him about it.
But the memory of that day was nearly impossible to escape.
Downstairs, in the lobby of the C.W. Bill Young Hall, a glass display case drew attention for the five artifacts inside: A flag flown at New York's City Hall; limestone from the debris field outside the Pentagon; a flag flown at the Pentagon; a piece of steel from the World Trade Center debris; and soil from the Pennsylvania field where United Airlines flight 93 crashed.
Above the display, a digital television screen flashed a message: "In memory of those whose lives were taken ..." and photos from the ceremony Sept. 11, 2005, when the university received the items.
Dempsey, speaking to reporters after his speech, said the anniversary still resonates. "It was a moment in our history when we recognized there are forces around the world that can reach out and touch us," he said.
Rivera, a 20-year-old ROTC Air Force cadet first lieutenant, said the day's meaning hasn't diminished for her. "It kind of solidified my desire to join" the military, she said.
Kiggins, 21, now an ROTC Air Force cadet colonel, said he clearly remembers hearing the news while he was at school. He called it an "awakening."
Both cadets hail from military families and said they look forward to graduating from USF and entering active duty.
Dempsey spent much of his speech Thursday preparing the cadets for that duty, and giving them a primer on Centcom's international responsibilities.
Dempsey told how since Sept. 11 the military has focused more on communication channels used by terrorist networks. He said cyber warfare and the military's efforts to thwart information-system attacks likely will become a bigger threat during their service.
"We see the world differently than we did eight years ago," he said. We are "coming to grips with what it means to be the world's military superpower."
Dempsey said he will step down at Centcom in October. His successor, Army Gen. David Petraeus, will take command Oct. 31. Petraeus was picked in April, a month after the abrupt resignation of Navy Adm. William Fallon.
Dempsey took questions from the crowd after his speech.
Rivera raised her hand. She said later she was shaking, but she managed to ask Dempsey for his key points for a successful exit strategy from the Middle East.
"I'm not looking for an exit strategy," he said, candidly.
Dempsey, who would like to see a change in the deployment ratio to give troops more time at home, said he supports staying in Iraq "as a partner, not an occupier."
"We've got more reasons to be there," he said, "than to come home."
Rivera, standing downstairs after the event, beamed at his response.
"He gave an honest answer," she said. "That was huge."