Army 3-star picked to head anti-IED effort

Army 3-star picked to head anti-IED effort
By William H. McMichael - Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Oct 30, 2007 20:38:18 EDT

An active-duty general has been nominated to lead the effort to counter insurgent roadside bomb attacks in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Defense Department announced Tuesday evening that President Bush has nominated Army Lt. Gen. Thomas F. Metz for reappointment to that rank and assignment as director of the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization, based in Arlington, Va.

Metz, the current deputy commanding general and chief of staff for the Army’s Training and Doctrine Command at Fort Monroe, Va., would replace retired Gen. Montgomery Meigs, who announced last summer that he would step down. Meigs has led the organization since December 2005.

JIEDDO is responsible for all efforts aimed at defeating IEDs, which are responsible for nearly two-thirds of the U.S. combat deaths in the two Middle East wars. The organization began operating in October 2003 as the Army IED Task Force, which became JIEDDO in July 2005.

DoD has asked Congress for $4 billion to fund JIEDDO’s work in the new fiscal year. Since its inception, Congress has provided JIEDDO with a total of $6.3 billion.

Metz graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1971. His career has taken him to operational assignments in Germany, Italy, South Carolina, Kentucky, Georgia, Kansas and Korea. Metz also served on the Joint Staff as deputy director for Joint Warfighting Capabilities Assessment and as vice director for Force Structure, Resources and Assessment.


Article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2007/10/military_metz_071030/

Bottom Line is that a large number of the locals see us as an
army of occupation and I.E.D.s as fighting for their homeland.