TAMPA — U.S. Central Command leadership will brief President Barack Obama and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel this morning at MacDill Air Force Base on a wide range of efforts to degrade and defeat the Sunni insurgent group Islamic State, including plans to train vetted Syrian fighters in Saudi Arabia, top military leaders told senators Tuesday.
Obama arrived in Tampa on Tuesday evening and will meet with Centcom commander Gen. Lloyd Austin III and other leaders at MacDill, including members of the Centcom international coalition.
But even before the briefing he requested from Austin, Obama had to contend with statements made to the Senate by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff that he would recommend using special operations forces for closer support if needed. Obama has frequently said U.S. troops will not play any ground combat role in Iraq or Syria.
Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, Joint Chiefs chairman, made those statements about special operations forces to the Senate Armed Services Committee, which held a hearing on the president’s Islamic State battle plans.
The statements drew an explanation from White House spokesman Josh Earnest, speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One enroute to Atlanta.
“As was clear from Gen. Dempsey’s remarks, he was referring to a hypothetical scenario in which there might be a future situation in which he might make a tactical recommendation to the president as it relates to the use of ground troops,” Earnest said, according to a pool report.
Earnest said it was the responsibility of the military to plan for a wide range of contingencies.
“It is also the responsibility of the commander in chief to set out a clear policy,” Earnest told reporters. “The president has been clear what that policy is.”
Earnest said that the president’s policy of putting no boots on the ground has not changed, according to the pool report.
Austin will brief Obama and Hagel “on operational plans to implement his ISIL strategy,” Hagel, using an alternate name for the extremists, told the Senate committee. “I will join the president … in Tampa for the briefing.”
Army Maj. Gen. Michael Nagata, commander of Special Operations Command Central, a lower level headquarters also based at MacDill coordinating special operations missions in the region for Centcom, will also attend the briefing.
The president has announced that Centcom will take a more aggressive approach to airstrikes against the Islamic State in Iraq and will plan airstrikes against the Islamic State in its Syrian strongholds as well.
Hagel and Dempsey explained to senators how plans are being drawn up to train as many as 5,000 vetted members of the Syrian Free Army in Saudi Arabia to fight against the Islamic State in Syria. “Centcom leaders are already focused on that,” Dempsey said. “One of the things the president will get tomorrow (Wednesday) as he spends the day with Gen. Austin and Centcom planners, will take him through the entire structure.”
John Allen, a retired Marine general who served as acting Centcom commander and later as commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, has been designated to serve as special presidential envoy for the Global Coalition to Counter ISIL, Hagel noted. Obama met with Allen on Tuesday morning, he said.
“Gen. Allen will work in a civilian diplomatic capacity to coordinate, build and sustain the coalition, drawing on his extensive experience in the region. He will be the administration’s point man to coordinate coalition contributions and to build support within the region. He will work closely with Gen. Austin to ensure that coalition efforts are aligned across all elements of our strategy.”
Hagel later pointed out that Austin, as commander of Centcom, will be in charge of operations.
“Allen will work directly with Gen. Austin, as Centcom commander,” Hagel told senators. “That’s why Obama will be with the Centcom commander … to go over the plan.”
So far, “more than 40 nations have already expressed their willingness to participate in this effort and more than 30 nations have indicated their readiness to offer military support,” Hagel said. “President Obama, Vice President (Joe) Biden, Secretary (of State John) Kerry and I, and others have been working and will continue to work to unite and expand this coalition.”
There are more than 50 nations in an international coalition at Centcom, many of whom Hagel referred to. Danish Brig. Gen. Frank Lissner, the coalition chairman, told The Tampa Tribune that while Centcom officials are keeping them appraised of developments, many coalition member nations are still debating what to do.
“So far, Centcom has been very inclusive in engaging the present coalition here at MacDill in order to keep us informed on the military aspect, thus providing a good military background for our respective nations’ decision,” he said. “For the time being, there is political process going on in Denmark as well as in many other countries aimed at a Danish parliament decision on Danish contribution to the fight against ISIL – it is not just a military fight so there are a lot of different options.”
The coalition is not yet part of the planning process for efforts against the Islamic State in Syria. Obama will meet with coalition leaders Earnest said aboard Air Force One.
“Many of these nations will be an important part of the international coalition that the president will be leading against ISIL,” Earnest told reporters.
There are also at least 10 nations who have representatives at U.S. Special Operations Command in an international special operations coordination center. Socom officials say they have no role planning operations for dealing with the Islamic State because that is a Centcom mission.
Since the inception of a Centcom-ordered airstrike campaign against against the extremists Aug. 8, Iraqi Security Forces have been able to combat Islamic State forces without frontline presence of U.S. special operations forces, who are largely advising Iraqis away from battle areas or in joint operation centers in Irbil and Baghdad helping coordinate combat, Hagel and Dempsey told senators.
“To be clear, if we reach the point where I believe our advisers should accompany Iraqi troops on attacks against specific ISIL targets, I will recommend that to the president,” Dempsey said.
Pressed during questioning, Dempsey said that under certain circumstances he “would go back to the president and make a recommendation that may include the use of ground forces.”
Obama, in a Sept. 10 address to the nation, said that any efforts would not involve U.S. troops in combat roles. In a briefing before the speech, White House officials said there would be no use of U.S. ground forces to coordinate airstrikes in Syria or Iraq.
Austin initially recommended to the White House the use of special operations forces on the ground, called Joint Tactical Attack Controllers, to help guide in airstrikes against Islamic State forces around the Mosul Dam, Dempsey said.
But he found a way to order the airstrikes without them, Dempsey said.
Citing the example of airstrikes around the Mosul Dam, Dempsey said U.S. special operations forces in the operation center in Irbil were using Predator drone feeds to help Iraqis manage the battle.
While a “good template for the future,” Dempsey said that he would be flexible in making recommendations.