Message from the Military

BY JAMES G. FOGGO

Throughout my more than 40 years in uniform with the U.S. Navy serving at sea as a submarine officer, with the Joint Staff at the Pentagon, and in leadership positions in the European Command, I witnessed extraordinary civil-military cooperation between our uniformed Joint Forces at the tip of the spear and our expeditionary diplomats who live and work in the communities of our allies, partners, and, in some cases, our adversaries.

While in uniform, I served alongside civilians from the State Department and other organizations in some of the most dangerous, least-developed countries in the world, and I grew to respect the service and sacrifice of those who toiled alongside me. At a time when our rivals are exerting their global influence, we cannot risk a hollowing out of our civilian and military readiness, which could leave us exposed to danger and disaster in a world that grows more complex every day.

Going ashore at the Pentagon in 2003-2005, I was introduced to a world where military officers worked side by side with our civilian counterparts in the Department of Defense, the Department of State, and the rest of the Interagency. Serving in Western Europe and the Balkans, I found that the most effective combatant and component commanders of four-star rank were the ones who collaborated with their civilian counterparts.

Some of the wisest commanders in the U.S. military taught me that U.S. ambassadors and their expert country teams were an essential ingredient in advancing the interests and national security of the United States of America.

When diplomacy falters, America’s only remaining option is military force. Investing in diplomacy isn’t just smart policy, it’s how we keep American boots off foreign battlefields.

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One of the most educational and exciting assignments of my career was to serve as executive assistant to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen, who served alongside Secretary of Defense Robert Gates. Both Mullen and Gates understood that our diplomatic corps was an essential but underresourced part of government. Gates once quoted Mullen saying he would hand a part of his budget to the State Department “in a heartbeat” assuming it was spent in the right place. Adm. Mullen himself used to say that he would give up an aircraft carrier—valued at $14 billion—to buy more soft power through the institution of the Department of State.

In 2008-2009, I traveled with Adm. Mullen in support of U.S. Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, the first Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan (SRAP), throughout Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, and Iraq. There I worked with our diplomats serving in some of the world’s most dangerous places.

Mullen often used the phrase “Expeditionary Government” when referring to Foreign Service officers and other Interagency civilians on the front lines. Like Holbrooke, Mullen saw provincial reconstruction teams (PRTs) populated by both civilians and military personnel as a pathway to peace and stability in these war-torn regions.

My experience as part of Holbrooke’s team taught me that without a strong Foreign Service, America’s security would be at risk. Career diplomats and development professionals are our first line of defense—preventing crises, protecting citizens abroad, and defusing global threats before they hit home.

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I was already 20 years into my naval career when terrorists attacked New York City’s World Trade Center and the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001. In that moment, everything changed. Sending our military forces overseas after these attacks was necessary, but it was by no means sufficient. Along with those forces, on the front lines and in the trenches, we relied on civilian members of many other federal agencies to serve as the ultimate force multiplier. Like sailors, soldiers, airmen, and Marines, our civilians from the State Department and other agencies operated by our side at the tip of the spear, assuming similar risks as we fought our common enemy.

This understanding was not lost on me when I assumed the duties of commander of the U.S. Sixth Fleet from 2014 to 2016 and later as the four-star commander of Naval Forces Europe and Africa and commander of Allied Joint Forces Command in Naples, Italy, from 2017 to 2020. I valued the contribution of our U.S. ambassadors and their country teams in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East in the areas of my responsibility.

I traveled frequently and always made it a priority to stop first at the U.S. embassy and pay a call on the ambassador or chargé d’affaires and meet with the U.S. country team. These visits were always enlightening. Whenever possible, I adjusted my schedule and my talking points to align with the subject matter experts in the diplomatic service of our nation.

Likewise, when I could not travel to the region, I set up a series of regional ambassadors conferences at my headquarters in Naples, coordinated by my State Department political adviser. The Black Sea, Balkans, and Southern Europe/North Africa ambassadors conferences brought together our U.S. ambassadors, U.S. defense attachés, and chiefs of navies from Allied and partner countries, who convened to discuss regional issues and pooled resources to solve difficult challenges in support of collective national interests. As a naval officer, I have always supported the position of Theodore Roosevelt, who once opined: “A good Navy is not a provocation of war. It is the surest guarantee of peace.”

I will always value the U.S. Navy’s contribution as an extended arm of diplomacy, and this principle guided me during my 11 years as a flag officer. My hat is off to those expeditionary diplomats who helped me during my many tours of duty in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. Serving alongside them, I learned that diplomats do extraordinary things to save American lives. They, like our colleagues in uniform, are essential to our nation’s security and prosperity.

They have protected us for decades. Now it is our turn to protect them.

Admiral James G. Foggo, U.S. Navy (ret.), currently serves as dean of the Center for Maritime Strategy in Washington, D.C. This essay is adapted from his introduction to Boots and Suits: Historical Cases and Contemporary Lessons in Military Diplomacy, edited by Ambassador (ret.) Phillip S. Kosnett (Marine Corps University Press, 2023).