LAS VEGAS – With a focus on leadership and a global perspective, General Tommy Franks (Ret.) will deliver the NACS Show 2006 Closing General Session address this afternoon at 1:45 p.m.

General Franks will share his unique global perspective from his distinguished four-decade career that began in Vietnam and later included service ranging from Germany at the height of the Cold War, to the Demilitarized Zone in Korea, to the deserts of Arabia. In June 2000, he was promoted to four-star general and assigned as commander-in-chief of the United States Central Command, where he led American and Coalition troops in Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan and Operation Iraqi Freedom in Iraq. General Franks retired from the military in 2003, and in 2004 his autobiography, American Soldier, reached number-one on The New York Times bestseller list.

The October 2006 NACS Magazine featured a Q&A with General Franks; here are some additional insights beyond those published.

NACS Daily: What is not being reported in the war on terrorism?

General Franks: I recall not so long ago having an interview with one of the mainstream media anchorpersons, and actually I chided this particular person by saying, 'You know it is not a matter of you guys reporting good news; it is a matter of you guys reporting balance. What you need to do is you need take a look at what really is going on in either Afghanistan or Iraq. You need to have some sense of expectation, and you need to apply reality to the expectation, and then report in a balanced way.'

Well, that person looked at me and said, 'General, I would have thought you would know by now that in my business, journalism, good news is not good business.'

I would give you that as sort of a precursor to an answer that says 'balance.'

NACS Daily: What do Americans need to know about global events and their impact on their daily lives?

General Franks: Think about the United States of America at the turn of the 20th Century. We were rural, we were agrarian. How did competition between businesses look at that time? A hundred years ago competition was local. The people who competed for our business were people who responded to the needs of an industrial society, an agrarian society.

Well, take a look at what is going on in India with microprocessing and communications, for example. Networking has created a condition where it is just as easy to get work done in India to process claims as it is to get that work done down the street. There is no escaping the fact of market pressure. Market pressure says that wherever demand exceeds supply, those who can best meet the needs of the people are going to be the ones who get business.

NACS Daily: Military commissaries are very similar to convenience stores. Are there lessons for our industry in how they've evolved?

General Franks: It is a spectacular thing that this association has included in its name the word 'convenience.' What are we all about? What will be the metrics that will establish our profitability? It is the word 'convenience.' Military commissaries provide the best value for the military customer when they are in locations and are able to price appropriately to provide convenience to the troops.

As the military evolves, I don't know whether commissaries will remain in business or not. I think the open market will be the determinant. If you take a look at the club system, for example, within the military, you will find that as long as there were not other places that would cater to the needs of either non-commissioned officers or officers, those club systems were full every night.

As America began to change and we began to have everything from fast food to casual dining to more sophisticated dining possibilities available to troops, the club system essentially died because it became more convenient for moms and dads to take their kids from military bases to go downtown and eat in an Outback Steakhouse. We are going to see the same thing with commissary systems. As long as the value and the convenience are there, the military shopper will stay with commissary. When there is no longer a price advantage, when there is no longer convenience, then the military shopper will ease on down towards the supermarket and the convenience store.

The NACS Show 2006 concludes today. The NACS Show 2007 will take place November 6 to 9 at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, Georgia.