Ambassador Yamate, Paul Revere, Albert Meyer and AFRICOM walk into a bar

Following is a speech that I wrote for the US Ambassador to give at the closing ceremony of the AFRICA ENDEAVOR Senior Leader Communications Symposium the year that Madagascar hosted it.  The week long event brought together senior communications generals from across Africa with the goal of building communications/signals interoperability. The US Army Signals officers from AFRICOM geeked out over the short speech which highlight a few instances of early signals innovation.  

I didn't realize it when I first arrived in Madagascar, but an important facet of security cooperation work overseas is speech writing.  A supportive Ambassador can be a powerful force multiplier for any security cooperation program.  In Madagascar, I was fortunate to serve under a superb ambassador who always made himself available to speak at training and cooperative events.  His presence meant that we'd always have a large media contingent covering the event.  In Madagascar, that meant the event and subsequent interviews would be carried on the widely watched local news program in the evening.  A large part of security cooperation is managing and shaping public perception of long-term strategic goals--media coverage is a vital part of this.  The Ambassador's presence meant that I'd often need to prepare remarks for him to deliver.  Ideally, writing speeches for someone gets easier the longer you know the person as you are able to better intuit their voice. This was the case with my Ambassador--by the end of my tour there, the edits required became very minimal.  

His Excellency the President of the Republic of Madagascar

The Honorable Minister of National Defense

Distinguished government and military members from more than 40 countries and international organizations,

Ladies and gentlemen,

It is a privilege to speak before such an accomplished group of officers from more than 40 countries and international organizations.  We gather here to honor and acknowledge the hard work that each of you, the Africa Endeavor communications experts, has put in these past five days. 

The importance of military communications is deeply ingrained in the history of the United States, dating back to the American Revolutionary War and our independence.  In 1775, it was the American patriot Paul Revere, who took his famous horseback ride from Boston to Lexington – warning his countrymen that “the British are coming.” 

A week earlier, Paul Revere played a pivotal Signals role in alerting the colonial militia of approaching British soldiers.  Revere had arranged for lanterns to be hung in the bell-tower of Christ Church in Boston, and these lanterns would indicate if the British troops were coming by land or by sea – two lanterns if by sea, one lantern if by land.  Ultimately, the British ended up crossing the Charles River, two lanterns were hung in the bell-tower, and the local militia was alerted to the enemies’ arrival by sea.  The subsequent battles of Lexington and Concord signaled the start of the American Revolutionary War on April 19, 1775. 

After this auspicious start, however, there were hardly any Signals or Communications innovations until the American Civil War, nearly 100 years later.  This innovation was driven by technological advances in weaponry during the Civil War that revealed a need to quickly command and control units over long distances. 

Out of necessity, an Army doctor named Albert Meyer created the first Signals system that used a series of flags for daytime signals and torches for nighttime signals to direct movements of troops on the battle field.  Before Dr. Meyer’s system, commanders relied on horseback couriers to pass messages to other units in the field.  Dr. Meyer’s new and innovative signaling system allowed for a commander to call for reinforcements and receive a near instantaneous response.

I share with you the story of these two innovators because that is the role that all of you play today.  The battlefield has fundamentally changed in the last twenty years – even more so in the past ten years.  What we face today are often transnational or asymmetric challenges that exist in cyber space, in famines and floods, in insurgencies, in terrorist attacks, and in post-conflict peacekeeping missions. 

The United States cannot meet these challenges alone; Madagascar cannot meet these challenges alone, no country can do it alone.  However, we can – and we must – meet these challenges together.  This 8^th Africa Endeavor symposium is important because you had the opportunity to share your own experiences and best practices.  You had the opportunity to work together and create standard operating signals procedures – so that when we face these challenges together, we are speaking the same “language.” 

While this morning in the closing ceremony, the work of the AFRICA ENDEAVOR symposium must not end.  In order to continue our standardization efforts, each of you will take your newfound knowledge home and share it with your defense leadership and the soldiers under you.  And I encourage each of you to continue to invest in the personal relationships formed here and leverage those to continue your military’s C4I development. 

I’d like to conclude by thanking the government of Madagascar for doing such a phenomenal job in hosting the symposium.  Madagascar, and each of you as representatives of your respective countries, understands the importance of investing in the capabilities of a right-sized military force. 

Madagascar, and each of you as representatives of your respective countries, understands the importance of your fundamental role as impartial guardians of democracy, and as protectors of the fundamental human rights of the all its people – to include women, children, and the most vulnerable.  

To all of you here, my congratulations on a job well done.  Thank you.