By Staff Sgt. Jeffory S. Mulcahey, USAFR
Joint Task Force - Olympics Public Affairs

SALT LAKE CITY, Feb. 21, 2002 -- Visiting with troops
assigned to the Joint Task Force - Olympics here, Secretary
of Defense Donald Rumsfeld said that the service provided
by the JTF-O has been a 'gold medal' performance.

Rumsfeld, along with JTF-O Commander Army Brig. Gen. J.D.
Johnson and Utah Governor Mike Levitt, took time Feb. 20,
to meet troops at the Great Basin Life Support Area, one of
eight locations in which military people are being housed
and fed during their stay here. The troops are working in
support of the Utah Olympic Public Safety Command.

Nearly 5,000 service members representing all branches of
the services and from the active, reserve and Guard
components make up JTF-O.

The service members are providing aviation, communications,
explosive ordnance detection/disposal, physical security,
and temporary facilities support.

After touring the facility, Rumsfeld addressed the nearly
300 service men and women, and media representatives in
attendance.

At one point in the question-and-answer period that
followed, the secretary made reference to Special Forces.
At the mention of the Special Forces, loud Army "whoops"
echoed through the cafeteria.

"Oh, we got some partisans here!" Rumsfeld said. "Way to
go! Let's all do it for the Special Forces!" Again, the
"whoops" erupted.

The secretary was also asked about the $310 million spent
on defense for the Salt Lake Winter Olympic Games, and
whether, financially, "is this the beginning or the end?"

"I would not think that the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake
City would be characterized as the ending of having to
invest in security, homeland security, or in the war on
terrorism," Rumsfeld said. "This is an important world
event. And you're right; we have more people in Utah
participating in this Joint Task Force - Olympics and
various aspects of it than we do in Afghanistan. And we
have that, because it's such an important event, and
because we want to make sure it's a safe event for the
world.

The secretary said America is fortunate to have such
freedoms and opportunities. "And what we do in providing
for our security and contributing to peace and stability in
the world is what makes those freedoms and those
opportunities possible for us and for the other people in
the world," he said.

"And the money we spend (here) is an investment in
preserving those freedoms," Rumsfeld added.

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