i was very fortunate to have been selected to be the inaugural commander of the united states africom. i served in four of our nation's geographic commands at that point, in varying assignments. so how was this one to be different if it is to address challenges we faced, and to be sure in 2006 and 2007 as we were discussing it, terrorism was well known to evolve. we have talked about those incidents that had led to was having it smacked right in our faces. because of what the young sergeant said to be on one of my trips into somalia in 1990, early part of 1993 visiting him, i knew stability was more than just what we brought to this dynamic. what we brought was absolute critical come and to be sure, but it needed more. what was the more? what was the lesson? we talk about it today like it's been around forever. in 2007 we were not talking about the importance of development. we were not talking about the importance of understanding the society in which we were operating, knowing what was important to the people who lived there where they were, and doing things in a sustained way to ad