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2008 Rediscovery Tour
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The day's team just before the riding starts in Henne Strand. Click text for more photos
03 June 2008
from Day 26; Henne Strand – Esberg - 47 km (1732)
Today, Ambassador Cain and co-riders rode from Henne Strand to Esbjerg. Special guest today was Minister for Development Assistance Ulla Tørnæs.
Ambassador Cain's remarks
The beautiful day began on Porsmosevej after a
night at the Hennemølleå Badehotel, a famous
beach hotel designed by architect and designer
Poul Henningsen. We were joined by a number of
officers from nearby Oxbøl Army Base along
with Minister of Development Ulle Tørnæs and
Hans Christian Thoning, head of the Defense
committee in the Parliament. The Minister was a
delightful riding companion for the scenic but
windy tour through the part of Jutland in which
she grew up. She is “in training” for a 1200
km, 12-day bike trip from Fyn to Paris so we kept
a brisk pace.
As we headed into the massive Oxbøl military
training ground Lt. Colonel Jensen gave the Minister
and me a briefing on the history of the area,
which is comprised of land taken by the national
government in the 1930s from farmers to create
this impressive facility. The wide sandy beaches
were apparently considered by the Germans during
the occupation to be a likely spot for an
amphibious Allied invasion of Europe, so they
were heavily fortified during the occupation.
Along our way through the base Forest Manager
Ulrik Lorenzen from the Forest and Nature Agency
introduced us to the 2000-strong herd of “Red
Deer” that makes this facility popular for
tourists year-round. He also surprised me by
telling me that this area, and in fact most of
Denmark, was covered with ice only a mere 10,000
years ago. In more recent times this area has
been the site for training for the Danish Army.
Today it hosts the Army Combat School. While
there is still much evidence of training in
conventional warfare, most of the training today
consists of skills to fight the modern enemy,
which is unlike the enemies of old. (I actually
visited Oxbøl about two years ago to visit a
battalion of Danish soldiers getting training in
winning the “hearts and minds” of villagers
in rural villages in Afghanistan.)
At the Base Command headquarters Minister
Tørnæs and I were briefed by Brigader General
Lund on the Danish army’s strategy of
“Concerted Planning and Action”, to maximize
the effectiveness of all Danish resources in
conflict areas as we move away from conventional
theatre war to more stabilization operations. The
General described the strategy as something he
learned a great deal about at the US Army War
College, focusing on the three-pronged approach
of countering destabilizing operations,
supporting stabilizing elements, and providing
framework operations. The Danes are employing
this strategy to great effect in Afghanistan, in
cooperation with Ulla Tørnæs’ Ministry and
others, and the General is optimistic about the
potential for future progress in Afghanistan; an
area where he says that the local population is
genuinely committed to working to improve their
institutions.
General Bundsgaard then met us and gave us a tour
of a live 5-day war game (Exercise Yellow Knight)
that just started on the Camp. It was an honor to
meet General Bundsgaard because he has been
selected to lead Nato Response Force 14 (NRF 14),
a critical Nato resource that the Danes, for the
first time, will command. He is currently
organizing the force, which will be comprised of
resources from 14 countries, including many
troops from the US. We were allowed to see the
“War Room”, with a bank of approximately 50
computer screens, as well as the impressive
mobile command posts, and communications
trailers. The General then hosted us for a
conversation regarding the CIMIC components of
the operation, and the civilian-military
coordination plans for NRF 14. I was pleased to
meet Rikke Ishøj from the International Red
Cross who was here to observe the exercise. The
IRC is a valuable ally in most NATO theatre
operations. I was also impressed to witness the
effectiveness of the camouflage techniques
employed by the Danish army, because I had not
even noticed two soldiers hiding in the grass
nearby where we were having coffee, until one of
them scratched himself!
My numerous conversations with members of the
Danish military , the Minister and the Parliament
member gave me a chance to get a better sense of
the Danish reaction to the terrorist bombing of
the Danish embassy in Islamabad yesterday. I was
pleased to see that the unanimous reaction was
that Danish resolve would be even strengthened in
the fight against extremism as a result of this
heinous act of evil.
We decided it would be smart to get off of base
property before the “full scale attack” began
at noon, so after taking photos in front of the
American and Danish flags, which were flying
proudly above the Christian V bell that was cast
in 1670, we headed away from the base for the 30
km ride to Esbjerg. Although the strong
ever-present winds made the ride challenging, it
gave me a good opportunity to learn from Minister
Tørnæs more about how the strategies of the
Ministry of Development have changed in recent
years from ‘charity” to “security”. The
Minister is doing a great job of representing
Denmark on the global development stage, and has
been particularly active in the cause of
empowerment of women and young girls in the
developing world and the Middle East; a cause
America embraces. Delightfully, we ended the day
at the Minister’s family home overlooking the
North Sea across to the Island of Fanø. I was
honored to meet Ulla’s father Laurits Tørnæs
who had served as Minister of Agriculture in an
earlier government and has been a prominent
political leader in Denmark.
We had to get off the bikes and head toward
Odense for two important events; a live interview
at TV2 regarding the bombing in Pakistan, and a
visit to the Vollsmose neighborhood for the
launch of our “GAM3 Street Basketball and Hip
Hop” program. This is the fifth or sixth time I
have been to Vollsmose, and I was pleased to be
here to join two American basketball stars,
Michael Pietrus from the Golden State Warriors,
and Jennifer Azzi from the San Antonio Silver
Stars. Michael and Jennifer are great Ambassadors
for America and for the power of team sports to
change the lives of young people. There were
around 100 young people, mostly of ethnic
background, who joined our American guests, hip
hop artists, and Odense Mayor Jan Boye and me for
the kick-off of the clinic. The enthusiasm of
these young people for living life in Denmark in
a full and involved way, being part of the
society around them, was a stark contrast to the
attitude of hatred and insecurity that motivated
the attacks in Islamabad yesterday. I continue to
be impressed with the spirit of outreach,
volunteerism and compassion shown by the leaders
and volunteers of the Danish NGO GAM3, and
sincerely believe it is one of the best programs
any American embassy anywhere has been involved
with. It was an important symbol for the mayor
and me to be out there on the court with them,
and it was great fun. (And I really hope the
local TV caught the two straight three-pointers
that I shot!)