DEARBORN — General George W. Casey, Jr. – the Chief of Staff of the United States Army and a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff – toured, and gave a speech at, the Arab American National Museum here on Wednesday, June 18.

“We in Dearborn know what a great treasure the Arab American National Museum is, but it was phenomenal to see someone of such national prominence enjoy it too,” said Mayor John B. O’Reilly, Jr. “General Casey talked about what a great benefit it would be to our military service personnel to be able to visit the museum, as way to increase understanding of the culture and history of Arab Americans – something that’s especially important in these challenging times.”

Mayor O’Reilly expressed thanks to those who helped make General Casey’s visit possible, including the Arab American National Museum, the Detroit Council for World Affairs, Wayne State University and Jim Allen of the American Arab Chamber of Commerce.

The title of General Casey’s address was “Meeting the challenges of persistent conflict in the 21st century.” His remarks discussed the likelihood that America will face recurring fights with terrorists and others for decades to come, and how the Army is and will be transforming its forces and capabilities to meet the many different kinds of threats that conflicts might take the form of in coming years.

General Casey was sworn in and assumed responsibility as the 36th Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army on April 10, 2007. In his previous assignment, he was the Commander, Multi-National Force–Iraq, a coalition of over 30 countries, from July 1, 2004 to Feb. 10, 2007.

He served as the senior coalition commander in Iraq from June 2004 to Feb. 2007. For his part as a military commander, he focused on training Iraqi forces, limiting the role of American forces, and transferring the burden for providing security to Iraqi forces.

In his career, he has served in operational assignments in Germany, Italy, Egypt, Southwest Asia and the United States. He has commanded at every level from platoon to division.

General Casey holds a master’s degree in international relations from Denver University and has served as a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council of the United States.