Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker: Diplomat and Partner Extraordinaire By GEN David H. Petraeus can think of no one more deserv- It also recognizes the pivotal role he in one area, such as reconstruction or I ing of AUSA’s George Catlett Mar- played in helping to establish the un- political reconciliation, complemented shall Medal than Ambassador Ryan C. paralleled interagency cooperation that efforts in other areas, such as security Crocker. One of America’s greatest Ara- was achieved in Baghdad. Because the or support for the development of Iraqi bists and arguably the finest diplomat USM-I/MNF-I relationship forged in institutions. Reflecting our keen aware- of his generation, Ryan provided peer- Iraq was so important, the story of its ness of the importance of political less leadership in an unparalleled num- development is worth recalling. progress at that point in Iraq, we made ber of assignments to the most difficult the political “line of operation,” rather places in the world. And he typically than the security line of operation, the did so at times when the situations in main effort. If, for example, a military those places were of critical importance operation was assessed as likely to pro- to the United States. Indeed, Ryan duce short-term gains in security but Crocker’s career is distinguished by in- to undermine our political efforts, we numerable examples of the “selfless didn’t do it. In fact, I routinely con- service under extraordinary circum- sulted with both Ambassador Crocker stances” that the Marshall Medal hon- and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Ma- ors, and it is wonderful to see AUSA liki before approving the most sensi- recognize him with such a prestigious tive of our operations—and generally award. deferred to them on such decisions. I had the privilege of working with Once the joint campaign plan was Ryan in Iraq in 2007 and 2008, during complete, we sought to oversee its exe- the last of his diplomatic assignments. cution in as unified a fashion as possi- In late March 2007, a month-and-a-half ble. From the beginning, Ryan and I after I took command of the Multi-Na- made it very clear that there was an un- tional Force-Iraq (MNF-I) and as vio- shakeable commitment to teamwork at lence in Iraq was seemingly spinning the top. We resolved to achieve unity of out of control, Ryan took over as the Ryan C. Crocker will be the 51st effort in everything we did. This was U.S. Ambassador to Iraq. He was, with- recipient of the Marshall Medal. facilitated by having our offices 20 feet out question, the finest diplomat along- apart and consulting each other many side whom any soldier could have From the beginning of our mission times each day. Moreover, we always wished to serve. Ryan’s steady hand together, Ryan and I sought to develop conducted the weekly video teleconfer- at the helm of the U.S. Mission-Iraq a model for civil-military cooperation ence with President Bush and the Na- (USM-I) and his leadership, experience, in which we linked arms and pursued tional Security Council together. We and expertise were truly invaluable as a unified approach at every stage. met with Prime Minister Maliki to- we sought to guide our organizations We began by conducting a joint gether, changing chairs during the to achieve—together with our Iraqi strategic assessment of the situation in meetings, in fact, as we shifted from partners—unity of effort and progress Iraq. Helped by a talented team pulled predominantly diplomatic to predomi- during the “surge.” together for that purpose, we devel- nantly security issues. We met with One of Ryan’s most important con- oped a common understanding of the congressional delegations and other se- tributions in Iraq was the superb rela- challenges and the tasks at hand. We nior U.S. and Coalition visitors to Iraq tionship that he helped forge between agreed on goals and objectives and de- together, and we testified before Con- the U.S. Mission-Iraq and the Multi- termined how to bring to bear in a uni- gress, met with regional Arab leaders, National Force-Iraq. The civil-military fied manner all the tools our organiza- and even visited 10 Downing Street to- relationship developed in Iraq proved tions possessed. gether. central to the progress achieved there We then turned the assessment into In addition to our unified approach in 2007 and 2008. a joint civil-military campaign plan at the top, we also developed organi- In awarding the Marshall Medal to with a common mission statement and zations and implemented processes Ryan, AUSA honors him not just for a detailed description of the concrete that would institutionalize civil-mili- his tremendous career as a diplomat steps each element in our respective tary cooperation throughout our orga- and his critical contributions in Iraq organizations had to take. Signifi- nizations. For instance, we created nu- and a number of other tough missions. cantly, the plan explained how actions merous fusion cells to bring together 16 ARMY I April 2011 expertise from the military and the By the summer of 2007, Ryan and I were packing theirs to evacuate. That embassy country team—and in some were no longer heading two separate was the case when, as a young For- cases to augment small embassy teams organizations. Rather, we were lead- eign Service officer, he reported for of experts with substantial military ca- ing organizations that worked nearly duty in Baghdad at the start of the pabilities and security—in order to as one, a joint civil-military counterin- Iran-Iraq war, when he later arrived in address a variety of functional areas surgency enterprise made up of diplo- Beirut at the height of the Lebanese and to coordinate and synchronize mats, soldiers, intelligence profession- Civil War and when he landed in our activities. We established, for ex- als, development experts, and a host Cairo at the advent of the First Pales- ample, an energy fusion cell, a health of others from across the U.S. govern- tinian Intifada. It was also the case, to fusion cell, a joint media operations ment and the governments of our ma- varying degrees, when he assumed cell, intelligence fusion cells, an elec- jor coalition partners. ambassadorships in Lebanon, Kuwait, tions fusion cell, and a host of other The unprecedented level of inter- Syria and Pakistan. And, needless to groups that brought together the full agency coordination achieved during say, we are all particularly fortunate range of skills and experience—civil- the surge in Iraq was possible only be- that he unpacked his bags one final ian and military—that was available cause of Ryan Crocker’s unique un- time in Iraq in late March 2007, bring- to us in Iraq. derstanding of what we needed to do ing extraordinary experience, exper- and how we needed to do it. He rec- tise and energy to our effort there. I e also jointly chaired a Campaign ognized the necessity for close part- will always consider working with WAssessment and Synchronization nership and had the ability—and de- Ryan in Iraq as one of the greatest Board (CASB), for which USM-I and termination—to implement such an privileges of my career. MNF-I staff officers jointly assessed and approach throughout what was at the Our nation owes Ryan a tremendous then briefed on developments in each time the largest U.S. Embassy in the debt of gratitude. In awarding him the line of operation from our joint cam- world. In so doing, he guided a huge, 2011 Marshall Medal, the Association paign plan. Ryan and I convened the complex organization composed of of the United States Army helps ex- CASB every six weeks, bringing to- various elements, some of which tra- press the deep appreciation we all have gether our staff principals and the lead- ditionally guarded their indepen- for Ryan Crocker’s decades of service ers of our subordinate elements, as well dence fiercely, to partner effectively to our country—and, in particular, for as the ambassadors from our major with a large, coalition military com- his service as Chief of Mission in Iraq coalition partners and the United Na- mand in the conduct of a comprehen- during the surge. I tions Assistance Mission in Iraq. The sive counterinsurgency campaign. process proved invaluable in coordinat- Over the course of his four decades GEN David H. Petraeus is the comman- ing our efforts and keeping all key staff of diplomatic service, Ryan Crocker der, International Security Assistance elements aligned with activities in other repeatedly unpacked his bags in the Force, and commander of U.S. Forces- staff and command areas. world’s most troubled spots as others Afghanistan and NATO, Afghanistan. 18 ARMY I April 2011.