The Daily Briefing is by no means a one man show. This page is a tribute
to those fortunate few who have helped Jamie on the road to Kosovo, especially
everbody's favourite, Walter Jertz.
The Opening Salvo: With Wilby
Air Commodore David Wilby was the first SHAPE
spokesman to accompany Dr Shea at the Daily Briefing. A fellow Englishman,
Wilby just couldn't quite make it in the high profile world of the Briefing,
and went his separate way in early April. He did look quite noble in this
portrait though:
Wilby: Man of Action
Second Phase: With Freytag
Colonel Konrad Freytag, Chief of Public Information
at SHAPE, joined Jamie for a few casual appearances in early April, filling
in for Giuseppe Marani, and later in May and June filled in for Walter
Jertz. Freytag is a master of self-deprecating humour, and was happy to
joke about his straight-laced briefing style:
Konrad's first words:
"Thank you, Jamie. Good afternoon, ladies and
gentlemen. I will do the bridging over the weekend for you. The good news
is that you get some up-date, the bad news is that you have to bear with
me."
And again the next day:
"Thank you, Jamie. Good afternoon, Ladies and
Gentlemen. Again it is me you have to endure this Sunday."
On May 1, with Jamie on holiday, Freytag didn't let
the humour stop:
"Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. It is again
a pleasure for me to brief you. I don't know whether it is as pleasant
for you, we will see."
All the same, the Colonel loved his job:
"Good Afternoon, Ladies and Gentlemen. Another
bridging service, as I do here, and I do it with pleasure."
For his services in allowing Marani and Jertz to
enjoy the occasional holiday, and for his commitment to self-deprecating
humour, Colonel Freytag, we salute you.
Freytag (left, with stare) and Shea
Nothing to Report: With Marani
General Giuseppe Marani, as this photo would suggest, injected little
of himself into the briefings. Without wishing to offend Marani fans, there
is little else that can be said about this man, except to demonstrate his
no-nonsense approach:
[Charles tries to force a NATO/SHAPE admission that a ground invasion
is imminent. Marani's response:]
General Marani: Of course different weapons systems and different
sensors can give better capability in terms of weather.
Charles: And people on the ground as well of course would help?
General Marani: I didn't say that.
Charles: But I am asking.
General Marani: This is your conclusion, not ours.
His ability to dispose of unwanted questions earned him some praise:
General Marani: As soon as the Apaches go into operation you
will know. I'm not going to tell everybody when they will go into operation
and you can easily understand why.
Jamie Shea: OK, the General is giving me a much-needed lesson
in brief answers
"No nonsense"
Equals at Last: With Jertz
With Marani consistently cramping Dr Shea's style,
the briefings were becoming dry and lacking in humour. NATO's search for
a new sidekick produced perhaps the funniest man in modern warfare: General
Walter Jertz. In the author's opinion, an entire website could be devoted
to General Jertz, but the following is an attempt to do justice to the
efforts of the great man.
Jamie's relief at finally having a partner who
could help in the humour department was evident when he introduced the
General:
"And I don't know where he found the time to
do this, but he is also the author of a book called "Tornadoes Over Bosnia"
and apparently this is the aircraft variety, not the extreme gusts of wind
variety. So a hearty welcome to you General up here at the podium today".
Walter was quick off the mark, quoting Clausewitz
in his first day:
"Every age has been marked with its own kind
of war".
It wasn't long before the comedy double act of Shea
and Jertz was in full swing:
Major General Jertz: Coming back to your
question, Mark.
Jamie Shea: We always interrupt this conference
for breaking news!
Major General Jertz: I promised to be
honest. I just got information that Istok was on the target list for today
but I was not covering Istok when I was covering the last 24-hour operation
so I do have to wait until I get more information that it was attacked
this morning. A security complex was attacked this morning but I have no
further information on that but once again my coverage of what I am doing
ends early in the morning but not that early. You are on the ground and
we are not and we have to wait until the aircraft come back and that is
the reason why it takes a little longer.
Jamie Shea: That completes this news flash,
we now return to our regular programming!
The General was no slouch in avoiding trick questions
either:
"Well to be honest, when I was trained to be
on stage here, I was told that the 'if' questions are the bad ones, so
don't answer those."
But humour was his best weapon:
Julie: Isn't the alliance concerned though
that the intensity along the Albanian border here, at this moment, is drawing
them further and further into the fight?
Jamie Shea: Drawing who into the fight
Julie?
Julie: The allies.
Jamie Shea: I don't think we are any more
in the fight than we are at the moment.
General Jertz: We are in the middle of
the fight, at least since 70 days now.
There was also some tough competition to get in the
last word:
Major General Jertz : It isn't Jamie who
has the last word but he can still have it once I have finished (laughter)
It is written in German and I have to translate it even though it is a
very short sentence. The German general said it but he didn't mean it (laughter)
To be honest he said: "It is pretty close to being finished" and he said
it in German: "Luftangriffe sind factisch eingestellt!" - air raids are
factually finished. Factually! Is that a good word?
Jamie Shea : Practically.
Major General Jertz : Practically, yes,
but of course, as I said, it is up to NAC and other authorities to finish.
Jamie Shea : Before these briefings turn
into language classes, I think we had better stop them! (laughter)
Even until the final day of airstrikes:
Jamie Shea: Ladies and gentlemen, just
before you go, very briefly, I wanted to just say goodbye to General Jertz,
who has been my briefing partner, and fortunately never my sparring partner,
here for the last few weeks. I promised him the final word today, it's
the only opportunity that he has had since we started to have the final
word, I think - the second perhaps - opportunity, so today's your day,
Walter, for that. And now I hand you over to Walter.
Major General Jertz: Well, ladies and
gentlemen, thank you very much. Jamie, this one will really be the last
one - last words - of today. Maybe I come back tomorrow! I try my latin.
First of all, I have to thank you very much for your openness, for your
frankness, for your kindness and also for the fairness you have shown also
against the German not really living in your language, at least not from
the beginning. I think I became better and better, I hope you don't ........the
difference! And the second one is for the latin guys amongst us "qui desiderat
pacem praeparet bellum". Does it help? Ok, thank you very much.
Jamie Shea: He was determined to have
a quotation!
Ever the historian, Walter Jertz made sure that he
started his first briefing and ended his last briefing with a quote. Suitably,
this segment should end with a Jertz quote:
"Even though I do know that I do have to cover
every day a very serious topic, which is military effects on targets, I
would like to assure you that I am not a British general, as stated in
some media yesterday, and I am not sure if the Royal Air Force would love
to have me because if they would have me they would have to pay me also!"
