Remarks by

Adm. Mike Mullen

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

at the

United States Transportation Command

Assumption of Command Ceremony

Friday Sept. 5, 2008

Scott Air Force Base, Ill.

ADMIRAL MIKE MULLEN: Secretary Gates, distinguished visitors, to many of you who’ve come back to recognize this very important assumption of command, to Duncan and Linda, I’m particularly thrilled to be with you on this great morning in our country’s heartland. It is always a thrill to come – it’s always a thrill to get out of Washington but it’s indeed always special to come to the heartland. And Deborah asked me this morning to be brief so I will try to do that, although I worry a little bit whether Duncan will be brief. Actually, one minor administrative issue, I think Colonel Goldstone – where are you – and I just wondered if you were getting any sleep this week. I know you just took command and if we get through this all right, maybe you can rest for the weekend. But I want to say thanks to the Joint Total Force Scott, the base looks great, the hangar looks great, and you’ve done a lot in a very short period of time, so thanks to you and all your people.

And to our delight, his family – it’s great to see you, although Duncan said, having moved back in the neighborhood and looking at his old house that it’s not quite as good a shape as it was when he left it. And for Duncan and Linda, Ms. Linda, it’s truly an amazing road that you’ve traveled. I actually got to know Duncan a few years ago in 2001 when we were both in the budget world in our respective services, came to create a very close friendship very rapidly, engaging, caring, focused, and dedicated to all that we all try to achieve in these jobs and then since our time, our paths have crossed frequently. And I can’t think of a better family to assume command than the one that comes back home, in many ways, today.

This morning is about, more than anything else, it’s about great people and great warriors at TRANSCOM and at the risk of this – of sounding like a cliché, and it is, but there is a saying that amateurs worry about strategy, dilettantes are worried about tactics, and professionals worry about logistics. And I would – don’t hold me to the first and second assertions, but the third is unquestionably true. And history strewn with casualties, those who failed to honor this critical tenant of combat operations. Combat operations cannot succeed without secure, mature lines of logistics and if you ask any TRANSCOM professional, they’ll tell you that they’ll make it work. They get it; they live it every single day. And certainly all of us who have participated in operations over these six-plus years have only been able to do that and accomplish our mission because of the incredible support of this command and so many tens of thousands of people that make those operations possible.

As was indicated, this command was born from key lessons learned in World War II and in Berlin and Vietnam. And we are – we’ve never been in better shape and I am grateful and proud to serve with you in all that you do, to be able to sustain the highest tempo of operations for the longest period of time that we’ve ever had in our nation.

As I indicated, I think the McNabbs are a spectacular addition. And you can look at the bio and it says an awful lot about where they’ve been and what they’ve done. But more than anything else, they care about those that serve. They care about families that serve and that aspect of who they are and how they do their work is very, very special. And most recently, and I certainly won’t go through General McNabb’s bio, but he has led in very turbulent times – turbulent for the nation, turbulent for our military, and certainly, turbulent for our air force. And my hats off to General McNabb as he has led at the highest levels of the Air Force and prepared for the recent assumption of the Chief of Staff job by General Schwartz and done so in a way that will allow General Schwartz and the Air Force to move forward and continue to remind everybody that our air force is the best air force in the history of the world.

And in that regard, there is no one better qualified to come in and assume command here to follow General Schwartz than General McNabb. I won’t go over how operations have occurred in recent times and I could cite an awful lot of really staggering statistics. One of them, from a few years ago, which speaks to the day-to-day operations in the ’03, ’04 time frame, was essentially when we were making – changing out our first big rotation. And I was reminded by, actually, it was General Schumacher, who is the chief of staff of the Army, that indeed, moving in some 125,000 troops and all their gear and moving out the equivalent was the biggest move of people and our equipment since World War II. It went without a hitch. It continues to be the case today.

And TRANSCOM and it’s three major components, including those who support TRANSCOM. Many of our commercial supporters and partners, but to deploy and get those in the fight that need to be gotten in the fight, to be able to sustain them with bullets, beans, and band-aids, to be able to mobilize and sustain that mobility and then be able to retrograde all that we move around. And I won’t focus on the things but I will focus on the people. You’ve done extraordinary work across all your requirements. But on the people side, even more so. Getting them there on time, getting them back on time and we are so proud of you in addition to your focus on that mission, but as Secretary Gates pointed out early in his tenure, Secretary of Defense, the most important mission we have is to get the right people to the fight. The second most, is to take care of those who are wounded and those who fall in this fight. And we could not do that – we could not do that – we could not have saved the lives that we have without the incredible support of so many in this command. And that goes on today and we are grateful.

I can speak just to recent events, two of note, one is Gustav and all that went well there and there was a tremendous mobilization tied to that, lessons learned from a few years ago applied, and in fact, permitted us to withstand her arrival in a way that really made a difference and gave great confidence to the American people and indeed, the world, that we have learned so much and we could execute so well. On very short notice – in fact, I’d almost liken it to a light switch, we moved 2,000 Georgian sailors, sorry, I’m captured by my previous life, 2,000 soldiers from Iraq to support the operations there, great ally supporting us in Iraq but were needed at home, returned in very short order into what could have been a very, very tough set of circumstances in terms of just getting back. And again, you made it look easy. And we are working very hard right now to get – get a generating – being able to generate electricity in Afghanistan at a place called Kajaki Dam and I know that you are heavily involved in that as well.

I’d like, in particular, in this interim time, to thank Admiral Ann Rondeau, who has led here in this time of transition. It’s never easy to that and events keep occurring and so Ann, thanks for what you did in this time of transition and took care of so many things so professionally well. General Schwartz laid a great foundation here at TRANSCOM and he built – and he would be the first one to tell you that – on so much success in the past. And again, I’m looking forward to General McNabb – we all are – continuing to build on that incredible reputation in a time of war, continue to make a difference.

So again, I’m very privileged to be here and serve with you. I’m excited about General Duncan McNabb and Ms. Linda assuming the ranks here at Scott. We are all blessed and we look forward to the continued level of excellence that is the hallmark of this command. And I’ll leave you with the following quote from Alexander the Great, who said, “My logisticians are a humorless lot. They know if my campaign fails, they are the first ones I will slay.” So Duncan, good luck as you assume command. Thank you very much.