Photo courtesy of Staff Sergeant Lorie Jewell
Retired Col. Pete Mansoor (left) and Gen. David Petraeus
Photo courtesy of Hinson Ltd
2014 ILF Council of Insurance Agents and Brokers
2014 ILF Council of Insurance Agents and Brokers
It’s common for Jefferson Series speakers to expound on the topic of individual health.
Patrick Kennedy talked about mental health in February. David McCullough discussed historical literacy in spring 2016.
April speaker Gen. David Petraeus, on the other hand, will be speaking on a much larger scale as he discusses factors affecting the health of countries.
Petraeus will take the stage April 26 for the final speaking engagement of the 2016-17 Jefferson Series, organized by the New Albany Community Foundation. The program is sold out.
Petraeus, a four-star general who spent 37-plus years in the U.S. Army, first became a household name when, in January 2007, he was given command of all U.S. troops in Iraq. Prior to that point, since 2004, he had led the Multi-National Security Transition Command in Iraq, overseeing efforts to train and equip Iraqi security forces such as army and police.
He joined the Army in the mid-1970s after graduating from the United States Military Academy, known colloquially as West Point, and has had the opportunity to closely watch the U.S. armed forces evolve over the course of decades. Technological advances in particular have made a major difference, he says – not merely in terms of military technology such as unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) and precision strike munitions (smart bombs), but in terms of context, given the far-ranging effects the Internet and social media have had.
Petraeus presided over the “surge” of troops in Iraq shortly after taking command. One of the messages he wishes had gotten better traction during that time, he says, was that the surge was a success, even though the eventual end of the war did not go as many had hoped.
“The gains achieved during (the surge) were sustained for three and a half years, until the Iraqi prime minister undid our effort to bring the fabric of society back together,” says Petraeus.
Gen. Raymond Odierno succeeded Petraeus in command over Iraq in September 2008 and, a month later, Petraeus took command of the United States Central Command. In July 2010 – with President Bush having left office, and President Obama having entered it – he took command of U.S. forces in Afghanistan.
Petraeus gave up command in Afghanistan in July 2011 and retired from the Army in August 2011, but the next month, he was sworn in as director of the CIA, a post in which he remained until November 2012. Though the transition from Army to CIA was a gear change, Petraeus refers to the CIA gig as “the best job in government.”
“While it was tough to take off the uniform for the last time, it was wonderful to join an agency with such committed, talented, innovative and selfless individuals as those of the CIA,” he says.
Petraeus points to the development of a strategic plan for the CIA as one of the most important things he presided over, along with investments in human capital and the establishment of an economic security center.
Since he left the CIA, Petraeus has visited 40 countries through his role as a partner in global investment firm KKR and chairman of the KKR Global Institute. He also holds down roles at the University of Southern California, Harvard University, the Royal United Services Institute and the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars; serves on the boards of multiple think tanks and veterans’ services organizations; and is invested in 11 start-ups.
“I am very fortunate, in my post-government life, to be engaged in stimulating, rewarding and enjoyable endeavors,” he says.
Challenges in global security, economic trends and developments, and the exercise of strategic leadership are the topics Petraeus aims to discuss in New Albany. His goals: to inform, to intellectually challenge and to entertain, “and perhaps even to inspire those in the audience,” he says.
He welcomes the opportunity to speak at a more intimate facility in the Jeanne B. McCoy Community Center for the Arts, he says, as it allows for better engagement with the audience.
“Doing an interview before a live audience is always stimulating, enjoyable and interesting,” Petraeus says. “And I inevitably draw energy from the crowd.”
For the Jefferson Series engagement, Petraeus will be interviewed by retired Col. Pete Mansoor, who was Petraeus’ right-hand man when he led the Iraq War. Mansoor, a central Ohio resident, is the Raymond E. Mason, Jr. Chair of Military History at The Ohio State University, and wrote a 2013 book on his time working with Petraeus titled Surge: My Journey with General David Petraeus and the Remaking of the Iraq War.
The interest generated by his appearance in New Albany, and the evidence it shows of the community’s investment in the topics he will discuss, is heartening to Petraeus.
“(It’s) nice to hear of the sellout,” he says. “Not that I am competitive or anything.”
Garth Bishop is managing editor. Feedback welcome at gbishop@cityscenemediagroup.com.
