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Thank you all for coming today – though I know from a little experience in the military and a lot of experience in government that some of you may have been “volunteered” for this additional duty. I hope you have not had to wait around too long.
When this visit was first planned a few weeks ago, it was supposed to be part of a farewell tour – my last chance as secretary of defense to give a final goodbye and thanks to our awesome men and women serving in the theater. Well, as you may have heard, there’s been a slight change of plans. I now have a better appreciation of what it’s like to be stop-lossed.
There were many important reasons to accept President-elect Obama’s request to stay on as secretary of defense: the crucial next phase we are entering here in Afghanistan and also in Iraq; the tough choices the Pentagon needs to make about its budget and priorities; and many more.
But no reason was more compelling to me than the fact that if hundreds of thousands of young Americans are doing their duty – you doing your duty – without fail often under difficult and dangerous conditions – then I really had no choice but to follow suit, even if it means failing retirement from government service for the second, and hopefully final, time.
On the subject of leaders, I should tell you that I have with me today a figure familiar to some of you, Lieutenant General David Rodriguez, my senior military assistant. General Rod, as we call him, was the commander of Combined Joint Task Force-82 and RC East until April of this year. And as we take the critical next steps in Afghanistan, I am fortunate to have someone with his experience and expertise at my side. It tells you something about Dave’s sense of duty, humility, and patience that he was willing to go from the glorious perch of commanding the 82nd Airborne Division to a job whose duties sometimes include note taker and meeting monitor.
Before opening the floor for questions, I wanted to make a few comments about why I am here and what I’d like to take away from our discussion.
First, I wanted to be able to look you in the eye and say thank you – on my own behalf, on behalf of our current and next commanders-in-chief, and on behalf of the American people. Each one of you could have done something easier, safer, and probably better paid, but you chose to step forward to wear this country’s uniform. You chose to volunteer – and in some cases re-volunteer – knowing full well that a deployment to a combat theater was the most likely result.
Every one of you probably knows of someone lost in this war, whether from your unit or from a previous rotation. Each death hurts beyond measure. Carrying that sorrow, you have gone forward – not only for the sake of a just and good cause but for the sake of the people fighting to the left and to the right of you.
These past two years, I have come to work every day with the conviction that the first, second, and third priority of the secretary of defense – and the department he leads – is to do everything possible to get troops what they need to succeed and to protect themselves on the battlefield. That has been my conviction from day one.
And so, form virtually a standing start, over the last 18 months we have built and sent to the theater some 12,000 MRAPs. Several thousand more are on the way. On an urgent basis, we are sending all possible MRAPs to Afghanistan. And we are working equally urgently to select and build an all-terrain MRAP vehicle designed specifically for Afghanistan. As many of you know, we are vastly expanding the intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities you need. I promise you we will do whatever else it takes to give you the tools it takes to complete your mission and come home safely.
We are entering the holiday season. It’s a particularly difficult time to be separated from your friends and families. Your people back home embody the sustaining power of love and loyalty. They endure – not joyfully, but willingly – bound together by their shared experience, by sacrifice, and by the pride they rightly feel in you. Your fellow Americans are proud of you, thinking of you, and praying for the success of your mission and for your safety.
The size and scope of that mission are going to see some changes in the coming months, though the details are still being worked out. And the final decisions will be made by the next President. But a consensus has emerged that more troops are needed to provide security and train Afghan security forces. I don’t need to tell any of you that success in this campaign – in a country with ethnic fissures, grinding poverty, and daunting terrain – will not come easily or quickly. A former Afghan cabinet minister called Afghanistan “the theme park of problems.” General Petraeus has said this would be “the longest campaign of the long war.”
Nor will success come through military means alone. There will also need to be a substantial plus-up in areas such as infrastructure, reconstruction, economic development, and governance. Our civilian agencies, our NATO allies and partners, plus international organizations and NGOs, will all have to step up, do more, and coordinate better as we help the Afghan people defend themselves against violent extremists. For the Afghans, this is, after all, their country, their fight, and their future.
But I believe we can succeed, we must succeed, and we will succeed. The attack that killed nearly 3,000 innocent people on our soil was planned and organized in this country. And those who would perpetrate a similar, if not worse, atrocity, are plotting and operating on the border with Pakistan as we speak. I have total confidence that the men and women of the American military – with the Afghan people and our partners from around the world – will, over time, finish the job that was begun seven years ago. But even now our men and women in uniform come home to the honor and gratitude you so richly deserve.
One of the highlights of this job has been meeting with small groups of service men and women – from junior enlisted to company and field grade officers, from active duty to guard and reserves – without their chain of command present. Hearing their questions, concerns, and aspirations – unvarnished and uncensored – has been bracing. And it’s been helpful.
Your suggestions have shaped my thinking on everything from day-to-day military operations to enhancing the quality of life for service members and their families.
This gathering is larger, but I hope it won’t keep you from being direct and honest with your questions and concerns. And don’t worry about the reporters here – they are good people.
So at this point, I would say thank you for your time and attention, I look forward to your questions, and then I’d like to shake hands with each of you, get an individual photograph, and give you a coin.
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