America Wake
Up!
Speech given by US Navy Captain Dan Ouimette,
to the Pensacola Civitan Club Feb 19, 2003. Captain Ouimette was the Executive
Officer of NAS, Pensacola, FL. at that time.
_____________________________________________
America WAKE UP!
That's what we think we heard on the 11th of September 2001 and maybe it was,
but I think it should have been "Get Out of Bed!" In fact, I think the
alarm clock has been buzzing since 1979 and we have continued to hit the snooze
button and roll over for a few more minutes of peaceful sleep since then.
It was a cool fall day in November 1979 in a country going through a religious
and political upheaval when a group of Iranian students attacked and seized the
American Embassy in Tehran. This seizure was an outright attack on American
soil; it was an attack that held the world's most powerful country hostage and
paralyzed a Presidency. The attack on this sovereign US embassy set the stage
for the events to follow for the next
23 years.
America was still reeling from the aftermath of the Viet Nam experience and had
a serious threat from the Soviet Union when then, President Carter, had to do
something. He chose to conduct a clandestine raid in the desert. The ill-fated
mission ended in ruin, but stood as a symbol of America's inability to deal with
terrorism. America's military had been decimated and downsized / right sized
since the end of the Viet Nam war. A poorly trained, poorly equipped and poorly
organized military was called on to execute a complex mission that was doomed
from the start.
Shortly after the Tehran experience, Americans began to be kidnapped and killed
throughout the Middle East. America could do little to protect her citizens
living and working abroad. The attacks against US soil continued.
In April of 1983 a large vehicle packed with high explosives was driven into the
US Embassy compound in Beirut. When it explodes, it kills 63 people. The alarm
went off again and America hit the Snooze Button once more. Then just six short
months later a large truck heavily laden down with over
2500 pounds of TNT smashed through the main gate of the US Marine Corps
headquarters in Beirut. 241 US servicemen are killed. America mourns her dead
and hit the Snooze Button once more. Two months later in December
1983, another truck loaded with explosives is driven into the US Embassy in
Kuwait, and America continues her slumber. The following year, in September
1984, another van was driven into the gates of the US Embassy in Beirut and
America slept.
Soon the terrorism spreads to Europe. In April 1985 a bomb explodes in a
restaurant frequented by US soldiers in Madrid. Then in August a Volkswagen
loaded with explosives is driven into the main gate of the US Air Force Base at
Rhein-Main, 22 are killed and the Snooze Alarm is buzzing louder and louder as
US soil is continually attacked. Fifty-nine days later a cruise ship, the
Achille Lauro is hijacked and we watched as an American in a wheelchair is
singled out of the passenger list and executed. The terrorists then shift their
tactics to bombing civilian airliners when they bomb TWA Flight 840 in April of
1986 that killed 4 and the most tragic bombing, Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie,
Scotland in 1988, killing 259. America wants to treat these terrorist acts as
crimes; in fact we are still trying to bring these people to trial. These are
acts of war...the Wake Up alarm is louder and louder.
The terrorists decide to bring the fight to America. In January 1993, two CIA
agents are shot and killed as they enter CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia.
The following month, February 1993, a group of terrorists are arrested after a
rented van packed with explosives is driven into the underground parking garage
of the World Trade Center in New York City. Six people are killed and over 1000
are injured. Still this is a crime and not an act of war? The Snooze alarm is
depressed again.
Then in November 1995 a car bomb explodes at a US military complex in Riyadh,
Saudi Arabia killing seven service men and women. A few months later in June of
1996, another truck bomb explodes only 35 yards from the US military compound in
Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. It destroys the Khobar Towers, a US Air Force barracks,
killing 19 and injuring over 500.
The terrorists are getting braver and smarter as they see that America does not
respond decisively. They move to coordinate their attacks in a simultaneous
attack on two US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. These attacks were planned
with precision, they kill 224. America responds with cruise missile attacks and
goes back to sleep.
The USS Cole was docked in the port of Aden, Yemen for refueling on 12 October
2000, when a small craft pulled along side the ship and exploded killing 17 US
Navy Sailors. Attacking a US War Ship is an act of war, but we sent the FBI to
investigate the crime and went back to sleep.
And of course you know the events of 11 September 2001. Most Americans think
this was the first attack against US soil or in America. How wrong they are.
America has been under a constant attack since 1979 and we chose to hit the
snooze alarm and roll over and go back to sleep.
In the news lately we have seen lots of finger pointing from every high official
in government over what they knew and what they didn't know. But if you've read
the papers and paid a little attention I think you can see exactly what they
knew. You don't have to be in the FBI or CIA or on the National Security Council
to see the pattern that has been developing since
1979. The President is right on when he says we are engaged in a war. I think we
have been in a war for the past 23 years and it will continue until we as a
people decide enough is enough.
America has to "Get out of Bed" and act decisively now. America has
changed forever. We have to be ready to pay the price and make the sacrifice to
ensure our way of life continues. We cannot afford to hit the Snooze Button
again and roll over and go back to sleep. We have to make the terrorists know
that in the words of Admiral Yamamoto after the attack on Pearl Harbor
"that all they have done is to awaken a sleeping giant."
Thank you very much.
Dan Ouimette
Biography:
CAPTIAN
DANIEL L. OUIMETTE
UNITED STATES
NAVY
Captain
Ouimette, a native of Minneapolis, Minnesota, graduated from St.
Following training at Air
Anti-Submarine Squadron FORTY ONE, the S-3 Viking Fleet Replacement Squadron,
Captain Ouimette reported to Air Anti-Submarine Squadron THREE TWO and deployed
aboard the USS AMERICA (CV-66) for two Mediterranean and Indian Ocean
deployments. In 1985, he returned
to Air Anti-Submarine Squadron FORTY ONE as a flight and tactics instructor.
Captain Ouimette was then assigned to
the USS CONSTELLATION (CV-64) as the Aircraft Launch and Recovery Officer.
In 1990, he was assigned to the Sea Based Weapons and Advanced Tactics
School as the Director of Training. Captain
Ouimette then reported to Sea Control Squadron THIRTY EIGHT where he served as
the Operations Officer and Tactics Officer.
Deploying aboard USS RANGER (CV-61), he participated in Operations Desert
Storm, Southern Watch, and Provide Hope.
Selected to attend the Naval War
College at Newport, Rhode Island, Captain Ouimette received a Masters of Arts
Degree in National Security and Strategic Studies in June 1994.
In August 1994, he reported to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, National
Airborne Operations Center in Omaha, Nebraska, and served as the Strategic
Operations Section Chief for Operations Team One.
During his tour at the Joint Staff, Captain Ouimette completed the Armed
Forces Staff College in Norfolk, Virginia.
Captain Ouimette detached from the Joint Staff in June 1996 and reported
to Training Squadron EIGHTY SIX in Pensacola, Florida, as the Executive Officer
and assumed command of the squadron in July 1997.
After a highly successful command
tour, Captain Ouimette reported in August 1998 to the USS JOHN F. KENNEDY
(CV-67) as the Assistant Air Officer (Mini Boss) and became the Air Officer (Air
Boss) in 1999. Deploying to the
Arabian Gulf and participating in Operation Southern Watch, the ship broke all
fleet records for flight deck operations, completing over 10,300 arrested
landings during the deployment. In
August of 2000, Captain Ouimette reported to the United States Air Force's Air
War College in Montgomery, Alabama, where he earned a second Master of Arts
Degree. Upon graduation from the
War College, he proceeded to Naval Air Station Pensacola where he served as the
Executive Officer. In June 2003, Captain Ouimette assumed command of Training
Air Wing ONE.
Captain Ouimette's personal awards
include the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, three Meritorious Service Medals,
Aerial Achievement Medal, four Navy Commendation Medals, Navy Achievement Medal
and various other personal and unit awards.
