 Good afternoon and welcome to historic Joint Base Meyer Henderson Hall, originally established as Fort Whipple in 1863 and changed to Joint Base Meyer Henderson Hall in 2009. Its main purpose was fortification in the defense of Washington. Since its inception, Joint Base Meyer Henderson Hall has been the home of horse cavalry, artillery, and infantry. Today it is home to the Old Guard, the United States Army Band, and the United States Army Garrison. Before today's review begins, the United States Army Band Pershing Zone presents a pre-ceremonial concert featuring the following musical selections, official West Point March, and Army Strong. Once again, good morning and welcome. Today the United States Army Military District of Washington represented by the soldiers of the Third United States Infantry Regiment, the Old Guard, and the United States Army Band Pershing Zone welcomes the 23rd Secretary of the Army. Participating in today's review from left to right is the United States Army Band Pershing Zone. Formed in 1922 by then Army Chief of Staff General John J. Pershing, the United States Army Band is the premier band of our senior service. Pershing Zone provides musical support for ceremonies and special events in our nation's capital and throughout the United States. The United States Army Band is under the direction of Colonel Andrew Ash and is led by drum major Julian Ayres. Elements of the Old Guard include Delta Company, commanded by Captain David Hunter, and led by Staff Sergeant Lucas Kopasco. Next online is Hotel Company, commanded by Captain Mark Deredita, and led by Sergeant First Class O'Neill Wright. Next online is Honor Guard Company, commanded by Captain Adrian Scharr, and led by First Sergeant Russell O'Donnell. Following is the Commander-in-Chief's Guard, patterned after the unit created by General George Washington in 1776 to be his personal guard. The Commander-in- Chief's Guard is commanded by Captain Andrew Talone and led by Sergeant First Class John Suggs. The last element online dressed in the Continental Musicians uniform is the Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps. During the American Revolution, musicians wore the reverse colors of their parent's infantry unit. The men and women of the Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps maintain this tradition by wearing red coats instead of the infantry blue. The Corps is led today by drum major John Parks. And to the rear of the formation are the 56 state and territorial flags of the United States, commanded by Captain Micah Wolfe and led by Sergeant First Class Emmanuel Moore. Ladies and gentlemen, moving into position is the commander of troops for today's ceremony, Colonel Jason T. Garkey, Commander, Third United States Infantry Regiment, the Old Guard. Since the days of the American Revolution, the colors have been one of the most important elements of a military unit. Therefore, taking the center of our formation in just a moment and bearing the national color is the nation's foremost color team, the Third Infantry's Continental Color Guard, led by Staff Sergeant Colt Stafford. Ladies and gentlemen, please stand for the advancing of the colors. Please be seated. The history of the Third United States Infantry Regiment reflects the growth and development of our nation. 55 well-earned battle streamers, two valorous unit awards, three meritorious unit commendations, and five superior unit awards, a test to the Old Guard's record of bravery in action and achievements during peacetime. In 1922, the War Department granted permission for the Old Guard to pass and review with bayonets fixed. The Old Guard will now fix bayonets to the traditional beat of the drum. Ladies and gentlemen, taking the reviewing stand is the reviewing official for today's ceremony, the Honorable Mark Esper, 23rd Secretary of the Army, accompanied by the host, General Mark A. Milley, 39th Chief of Staff of the Army. Ladies and gentlemen, please stand as honors are rendered and remain standing for the invocation offered by Chaplain Colonel Brian Walker. Let us pray. Father gathered to welcome the 23rd Secretary of the Armoring, Dr. Mark Esper. We first want to express our thanks as Army family members to be part of a lineage of service, sacrifice, and commitment to duty that extends back through conflicts great and small to that first group of patriots who took up arms in the defense of freedom. We are grateful that in a world all too often divided by racial and religious prejudice, we are able to unite on a common ground of loyalty, respect, integrity, and selfless service. Although we pray for peace, we acknowledge that we live in an uncertain world and thus ask that you would bless and anoint Dr. Esper as he leads us to defend against and defeat those who would seek our nation's harm. Finally, whether at home or abroad, provide all with the courage to live lives of moral excellence reflective of our high calling as members of America's Army. In your name we pray. Amen. Please be seated. Ladies and gentlemen, please stand for the plane of the United States National Anthem. Please be seated. Ladies and gentlemen, General Milley. Oh, what a great day it is for the army. Oh, the newborn. Oh, come on, little army. Hey, look it. Let me, uh, first, uh, welcome everybody here. And, you know, in front of you represents the best of America. Uh, in front of you is the third United States infantry, the old guard. Uh, and they do ceremonies like this frequently. Uh, they were up in the freezing cold the other night at Dover, uh, bringing back one of our fallen heroes. They go around the country and represent the greatest army on earth. Uh, and they bury our dad and give ceremonies for a living. Uh, and these are wonderful, wonderful soldiers. So how about a round of applause for all of them? And I want to thank everyone again, uh, for coming out today and freezing temperatures. We were going to do this outside, but Secretary Aspa said he's from Pittsburgh, couldn't stand the cold, so he had to do it inside. But I want to welcome everybody today, uh, for the, uh, arrival ceremony of the 23rd Secretary of the Army this morning. We had the pleasure to have Secretary Defense Mattis swear in Dr Asper as our 23rd Secretary. And now we have the honor of doing an army welcoming ceremony. And there's many, many distinguished people in the crowd. In fact, in my view, all of you are distinguished in so many ways. And we in uniform are deeply appreciative of all the support that all of you give to our army. But I did want to sing a lot of few recognitions. We have a member of Congress here and many members of the congressional staff are here. And for those of us in the army and really in the military, we should always remember, uh, that the United States Congress is our board of directors, all 535 members. They are the ones who write the checks. And in fact they are the people's representatives. Uh, and we are the people's army and we are bound and sworn to defend the people of America. So thank you for the congressional members and staffers that are here today to represent the people. I'd also like to recognize we have many, many generals in the audience, but four in particular, four or five in particular former Chiefs of Staff. We have General Vono, General Sullivan, General Reimer, General Senceki, the former African Commander General Ham, and the former Korea Commander and Vice Chief of Staff of the Army General Tuleli. Thank you all for making your presence here today. And also amongst us are many attachés representing the allies. And as you heard, General Mattis this morning, the country with allies does very well in this world, but a country without allies, fair is really, relatively poorly. So I want to thank all of you, all the attachés representing America's friends and partners around the world for being here. We also fight as a joint force and Secretary Spencer is here from the Navy and also several undersecretaries and assistant secretaries from the Navy and Air Force and many of our joint force brothers and sisters in uniform are here. We the Army are just one part of our big machine, the American military and a great machine it is, but we fight with our brothers and sisters in the Navy, the Air Force, the Marines, and the Coast Guard. Also, there's some special friends of Secretary Esper that are here. Too many to recognize. I think the entire community of Western Pennsylvania is here. So I'll leave that to Secretary Esper. But I do want to single out a few more additional people. Undersecretary of the Army, Ryan McCarthy is here and Vice Chief of Staff of the Army, Jim McConville. And this Army is truly blessed to have their leadership as we move into the future. And they are doing great work running the Army day to day and they're also blazing the trail forward into the Army of the future through modernization initiatives. So thank you both for being here. And you know 90% of the United States Army are not officers. They're enlisted and we are blessed with the finest senior enlisted soldier the Army has ever seen and Sergeant Major of the Army Dan Daley and his great wife Holly. So thank you both for being here. You know Secretary Esper, he didn't get here by himself. You know, it's a it's an amazing thing and I know it's kind of a CNN news flash, but every one of us has a mother. And I want to thank Polly, Secretary Esper's mother for being here. Without her and without her true leadership and guidance bringing him up, we wouldn't have Mark Esper today. So thank you ma'am for doing such a great job with your son. His sisters, all three of them are here with Denise's and nephews and of course his kids and lovely spouse are here with Luke, Jack and Kate. So Luke is 25 years old and he works here in D. C. For Senate number Kane up in Hill as a staffer. I graduated from University of the 4.2 GPA. Very impressive. It gets better as you get younger with Jack who's 22 just graduated Virginia Tech. Although he's still looking for a job, he graduated 4.5. So anyone in the hiring business feel free to ask him at the reception afterwards. And Kate, who's a freshman at Virginia Tech and she is already in exceeding both her brothers and by far exceeding her father. She has got a 4.8. So we're very, very proud of all three of them. But I have to tell you that for all three of you kids that the Secretary Esper has sacrificed a lot over the years and he could never have made it to where he's at today without your love and your support throughout all the years of his sacrifice, both in uniform and in public service. So thanks to each of you for doing what you're doing. And then, you know, Secretary was lucky. David Urban's in the crowd. David, where are you? David Urban, where you at? He didn't make it. He bailed. So a long time ago when Secretary Esper was assigned to the Screamin' Eagles at 101st Airborne Division, a guy named David Urban was also assigned there. And David and then Mark went out and David Urban set him up on a blind date. And he met Leah. And they have since been gloriously married for 28 consecutive years and they're in their 29th year of marriage. And Leah has been an Army spouse on active duty. She has supported him while he was in the Garden Reserve, supported him in all of the various duties and responsibilities he's had over the years. She's been an active member of Family Readiness Group. She's currently a volunteer at the USO and she personally knows the sacrifice it takes to build a resilient Army family as she watched her husband go off to the First Gulf War. So Leah, thanks so much. Thanks so much for what you do for our Army. You know, like I said, today's a very special day and we have the 23rd Secretary and I might say that seven out of the 23 have occurred on my watch in the last two years. That's true. I can name him. McHugh, Fanning, Murphy, Fanning again, Speer, McCarthy, and now Esper. So lucky seven. And he's here to stay. I talked to him this morning after Secretary Mattis talked to him and he promised me that he would work late nights, get up early, do PT and all that. And he's here for the long haul. And I believe him. He's been a member of the Army family since birth. He comes from the great community about 30 minutes outside of Pittsburgh called Union Town, Pennsylvania. And as you all know, in this room, our greatest general, General George C. Marshall also hails from Union Town, Pennsylvania. And that's got to be quite a community to produce both General Marshall and Mark Esper. And the only downside of Secretary Esper coming from Union Town is he happens to be a Steelers fan, which they're having some problems this year. They're 13 and 3. And he does like, you know, Sergeant Major Daly's also from Pennsylvania and anything south of Connecticut is considered the Confederacy if you're from Boston. So Daly always calls Pennsylvania the motherland. But I want to remind both of you that up in the Holy Land of Boston, we still have the New England Patriots. And yes, there's been a little spat in the last 24 hours, but we're not concerned about it as we're on our way to our sixth Super Bowl to beat the Steelers. So won't be a problem. But anyway, I want to thank, I want to thank the Secretary from being from the great state of Pennsylvania, even though he went to a second-rate school up along the Charles River called Harvard. And he really, he whispered to me the other night in confession. He actually came to me. I couldn't find Father Hurley. And he said, he said to me, he said, bless me, chief, for I have sinned. And I've been, I've been rooting for the Steelers for all these years, but I'm actually a closet Patriots fan. That's what he said. That's what he said. And he also said, you know, the other day, I saw Tom Brady on the field with three refs. And I was for the first time in my life, I witnessed four of the greatest Patriots in Patriot history. That's what Esper said. So hey, look it, you know, all kidding aside, we are blessed to have Mark Esper as our secretary. And you know, I talked to his three sisters and his mother, and they clearly have an army background because they observed all the rules of operational security and wouldn't tell me anything. So what I did was I did what a lot of people do in Washington as they go to the deep state. So I went to the deep state and I talked to his children and I assured his children that I would keep the sources anonymous. But they told me a few things. And I went to other members of the deep state, his classmates from West Point. And of course, the the keeper of the deep state, I went to him, Mike Pompeo, he was there this morning. And I said, I got to get some information here. I mean, you are the director of the CIA, I got to have some information on Esper. So absolutely, they all told me and, and I have no problem guarding my sources of Rick French and Steve Valentine and Mike Pompeo and David Urban and, and of course, the kids. So your, your secrets are for sure, secured with me. And and here's what I learned. And this is not fake news. This is actual eyewitness accounts. That Secretary Esper spends three hours a day watching the dishes. He's a neat freak and he cleans up the house, according to his kids and wife, when the house never needs cleaning. I don't know, I don't know what you make of that. Maybe that goes back to Beast Barracks. I'm told that he wears shorty shorts around the house along with baggy pants. And because Jack doesn't have a job yet, Secretary Esper forces Jack to go out in the yard and pick up a cons. So I don't know, these are just eyewitness accounts. So I, you know, because West Point's a public university and we the taxpayers, we pay for that place. I don't know if anybody knows for that, but we do. And because it's public, all the information about West Point is available on the information highway. So I went on the web. And I went out there and I, after talking to the deep state, I got a couple of leads. And I went out there on the information highway and here's what I learned. I learned that at West Point, Secretary Esper had a whole bunch of nicknames. One of them was troop. But there were others, which actually I won't, well, I can say gig, that's okay. The others I'm going to leave off because we are in a family friendly environment, we're live streaming right now. But he had a whole bunch of nicknames. I also was had available his GPA and he's an intellectual standout to be sure. But at graduation, as it turned out, he was a two oh and go. So he just barely made it just above Rod Rodriguez from the class of 76. 10 years earlier, his discipline was solid. That was for sure. He had very low tolerance for nonsense, said his roommate. And he logged him here 244 hours on the area, a two century man, imagine that clearly understanding the rules of West Point. And not only that, but this guy was an athletic giant. Marques, I mean, look at him today, it doesn't quite look that way. But he was an athletic giant at West Point as a member of the karate and judo clubs where he was soundly thrashed in every fight, according to David Urban. So actually, none of that is true. I actually did make all that up. That all it really is fake news. And I really don't even know those names that I just mentioned. He actually graduated with a three to GPA at zero hours. He was the commander of the first regiment. He was like the model cadet. And he was so dedicated that he went to British Jump School and taking instead of taking leave over the summer. So this is a guy who showed early signs of intense discipline. And I'm sure he still has that today. But I do know, even though I don't know for sure all the West Point stuff, I do know the rest of the story. And I know that Mark Esper is outstanding in every way. Both his time in uniform is time and other jobs both in the civilian and public sector. He personally knows the hardships of being an active duty soldier. He served with honor and distinction as an infantry officer in a wide variety of positions. He was an infantry platoon leader. He was a tow platoon leader, as well as a rifle platoon. He was a company XO and he was a battalion assistant S3 in the famed 187th Infantry, the Rockessons of the 101st Airborne Division. And the only reason he's in the Rockessons is because he wasn't good enough to get in the 506. But he did serve in combat during Desert Storm and he served with distinction earning a Bronze Star. He's assigned to the Ranger Training Brigade as a Ranger instructor and then later commanded a rifle company under then Lieutenant Colonel Abizade, or now general retired Abizade and third of the 325 infantry in Vicenza, Italy. He was selected to attend that second tier Ivy League school on the Charles River where he earned his master's degree up at Harvard and then his PhD at GW here locally. He served on the Army staff as a strategist and a war planner and along the way he earned a coveted Ranger Tab Pathfinder badge, Air Assault badge, and his senior parachutist wings along with a whole bunch of other awards and decorations. And after his active duty service he then joined the National Guard and later the Army Reserve, serving in both the Virginia Guard with the famed 29th Division and the D.C. Guard here locally where he's deeply involved in mobilization planning and a variety of other activities. Finally putting the uniform away in 2007 retiring as a Lieutenant Colonel. Mark Esper is no sunshine shoulder. He's a combat veteran and he's proven himself through the hardship of service for over two decades in all three components of our Army in both peace and war. But that's not good enough. That's not good enough to be selected to lead the third largest organization in the world in the foundation of that joint force I was talking about earlier. He not only has the experience of the Army and the deep knowledge of how the Army runs and how things operate in and around the Pentagon, but he also has deep knowledge of Capitol Hill, the Department of Defense, think tanks, and industry. And he served in a wide variety of positions as a Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense and Policy, the National Security Advisor to the Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, the Policy Director for the House Armed Services Committee, a Professional Staff Member for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the Legislative Director and Senior Policy Advisor to then Senator Chuck Hagel and a Chief of Staff at the Heritage Foundation and concurrently he was Vice President of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Global Intellectual Property Center and also the Vice President for Defense and International Affairs at the Aerospace Industries Association and most recently as Vice President for Government Affairs at Raytheon. That's his record and his record is one of exceptional competence, but still that's not enough. It takes much more than just a record and competence to be selected and then serve as the Secretary of the Army. It also takes commitment, compassion, and most of all character to lead this Army and Dr. Esper has all of that and then some. He is all in and he left the lucrative civilian career to answer the call to the colors at a time of great uncertainty in the world. His nation and his Army needed him and when asked he did not hesitate to say like Joshua, send me. He has always done that from West Point to being a paratrooper to serving as a citizen soldier in the Guard and the Reserve. He's always a men and man of great compassion as well as commitment for our soldiers and their families. And just the other night he and the Vice Chief of Staff of the Army spent many hours in the freezing cold at Dover, bringing home one of our fallen heroes in the battlefields of Afghanistan. He personally knows the pain and the sacrifice of war and he knows that firsthand and his compassion for those that risk it all in defense of this great nation runs deep and it runs true in Mark Esper. And most importantly, he's a man of enormous personal integrity who lives the cadet code of duty, honor, and country day in and day out. He has a spine of titanium steel that is not going to bend to the temporary dramas of the day in D.C. And I've seen him up close now for some time and he has the Army's static line like a good jump master and he will not waver. He will never fail to do the right thing for our nation, our troops, and our Army regardless of the consequences to himself. This man, Dr. Mark Esper, is truly going to be an extraordinarily effective and successful Secretary of the Army. And it's good. It's good that he's here. It's good that we have a strong leader because our Army faces turbulent times ahead. As General Mattis said just this morning, the world today is the most complex and demanding that he has seen in four decades of service. He charged us to be prepared for war, to increase the lethality of our force, to continue to build alliances with our friends and partners and to reform the institution. So balancing current operational requirements in this unpredictable and increasingly dangerous world, full of challenging threats and uncertain budgets against the needs of the Army both currently and in the battlefields of the future. Today we've got 180,000 soldiers deployed around the world in support of our geographic combatant commanders engaged in combat and non-combat operations. We have soldiers that have helped destroy ISIS and are cleaning that up with its remnants in both Iraq and Syria. We've got soldiers right now on the cutting edge advising, assisting and fighting alongside our partners in the Afghan Army and national security forces. We've got soldiers training shoulder to shoulder with our allies and partners in many European nations, maintaining a line of deterrence and equally important our soldiers continue to provide support to our citizens, most notably and most recently across Houston, Florida and Puerto Rico, helping these regions who were absolutely devastated by natural disasters to recover and resume normalcy. But perhaps most importantly right now as a situation becomes increasingly dangerous and more uncertain, we have thousands of soldiers training hard every day on the demilitarized zone in Korea and tens of thousands of more soldiers here in the continental United States standing ready for that call if it is needed. While we in uniform, while we in America, while we pray for peace, we the United States Army will prepare for war and our enemies need to know that the American soldier we want peace but we are ready to do whatever is necessary to defend these colors and defend the United States of America. Our job is to be ready, to be ready for combat, to deter a war but to fight and win if deterrence and diplomacy fails. That is our solemn task for this nation and we are and will remain ready to engage in the intense bloody unforgiving crucible of ground combat against any foe, anytime, anywhere. Simultaneously we need to prepare for the readiness of tomorrow and to modernize our army. It's imperative that we do that now. As we all know the character of war is changing and we must adapt or find ourselves unready or irrelevant for a future fight and unreadiness results and paying the butchers bill with the blood of American soldiers in an unforgivable sin for the senior leaders of our army. We must have the right structure and the processes, the right technologies, we must have the right weapon systems and we must have all of that at the right time. We've begun this evolution with the establishment of army futures command and the ongoing review of our entire acquisition portfolio and under the leadership of Secretary Esper and Secretary McCarthy and the Vice Chief of Staff, McConnell and many other army senior leaders. I have absolutely no doubt we will get our army modernized and prepared for the future so that America remains free in our life, liberty and the pursuit of our happiness, a preserve for generations to come and will not perish from this earth. Secretary Esper, Dr. Esper, you now have the most important mission you've ever been given in your life. You will climb that hill, you're going to cross that river with the greatness that you've always shown from the plains of West Point, from the hometown of Uniontown, all the way to volunteering yet again to serve our nation. And I as Chief of Staff am honored to say to you that on behalf of all of the soldiers, the civilians and our families, Mr. Secretary, welcome back to the army and we are proud to call you our 23rd Secretary of the Army, Army Strong. Ladies and gentlemen, Secretary Esper, well, thank you very much, General Milley, for that very kind and generous introduction. It means a great deal coming from you. I can't say enough about it, except to say that in show business, they say you never want to follow kids and pets, except if you're following the Chief of Staff of the Army because he gets such a great performance. I was just wondering if if I could yield my time back and let you come back up and entertain us some more, because you do such a wonderful job. I found myself entertained sitting there. But I do want to thank you publicly for all of your years of dedicated leadership, your service, both in peacetime and war, and to you and your bride as well for all that you've given the army. And my vow to you is to be your last Secretary and to serve you and our wonderful officers, NCOs and soldiers to the best of my ability. As you said, there are a number of distinguished visitors, guests here today. I would like to welcome and thank members of Congress and their staff, my fellow service secretaries. We also have Under Secretary McCarthy, who's been an outstanding Under Secretary, Vice Chief of Staff McConville, Sergeant Major of the Army daily. We have a number of retired General Officers, former Chiefs of Staff who have come to know and thank them for being here and for their Council, as well as some combatant commanders that General Milley also noted. Also, many, many Under Secretaries, Assistant Secretaries, many are former friends. I have former colleagues from the Hill here today that I want to welcome. Fellow Rangers, Rockissons and Blue Falcons, with whom I shared many great experiences. Classmates from the West Point Class of 86, whose friendship and courage never quits. Thank you for being here. And so many, many other friends and guests too numerous to list. I just want to thank you. I'm honored by your presence. Events like this just don't happen. They represent a tremendous amount of work by a number of people, dedicated Americans who labor behind the scenes. So I want to thank the Military District of Washington, Fort Meyer, the Army Protocol team and everyone else whose efforts make these types of events appear very easy. That said, I especially want to thank the Old Guard and Pershing Zone. You look great and sound extraordinary. So thank you for your participation. Having done a few reviews and parades in my past, I know that some of you are very anxious for me to hurry up. So I will do my best to get off the stage as quickly as possible. And finally, I want to thank my family and my mother, my three sisters and their families. And of course, my wife, Leah and my kids for their support, their encouragement and their uncanny ability to keep me grounded. That said, punishments will be doled out tonight for all the information you gave the Chief of Staff. And we have many chores to do this weekend. As the Chief mentioned this morning, I had the great honor of being sworn in as the 23rd Secretary of the Army by Secretary of Defense Mattis. Nearly 32 years ago this coming summer, I swore the same oath on the plane at West Point as a brand new cadet. And for over 25 years I had the privilege, the privilege to wear the uniform of the greatest and most lethal, most lethal ground force in modern history. And I would say in all of history. Over the years I was honored to serve in some of the best active and guard infantry units in the Army, the 101st Airborne Division, the 82nd Airborne Division, the 29th Infantry Division of the Virginia Guard. Three great units whose history is written in blood from the beaches and drop zones of Normandy to the battlefields and forward operating bases of the Middle East. I was privileged to attend the Army's top training and leadership schools, serve on three separate continents in defense of our country and fight under the nation's colors as a screaming eagle in the 1991 Gulf War. So I think I understand well the challenges of military service, the importance of readiness, the rigors of wartime deployment, and how it all impacts our soldiers and their families. And especially the families. Throughout my military career I was fortunate to serve with America's best, the soldiers, NCOs, officers, and civilian employees of the US Army, some of whom are here today, whose selflessness and vigilance keep our great nation safe, who serve for love of country and whose character inspires us all. I have learned a great deal from all of them and would not be here today for many of them. So a special thanks to all of them throughout the ages who have supported me. People, soldiers are the Army's greatest asset. Their welfare and readiness will always be my top priority. As the chief noted, the Army is at a critical inflection point in its history, not unlike what it faced at the end of other long wars, except the one that we've been fighting in now for 17 years hasn't ended. We are now challenged to address the rise of aggressive near-peer adversaries in Asia and in Europe, where our soldiers continue to fight terrorist groups abroad, reassure our allies at home whose lives around the globe and help reassure our allies around the globe and help our fellow Americans here at home whose lives have been devastated by a natural disaster. And I would be remiss if I didn't point out those soldiers who, while often off-duty, risk their lives or give their lives in support of their fellow Americans. In the past two weeks, we have seen soldiers jump into the fray of a terrible train accident in Seattle to help others. And just recently, a young soldier from the New York National Guard rescued several folks from a burning house, family members and friends, before giving his life so he could help others. On top of all this, fiscal pressures at home continue, and the lack of budget predictability severely impacts the ability of the military to do its job. In my first few weeks as secretary, it is clear to me that the most difficult task the army faces is ensuring that we are ready for today's fight while simultaneously preparing for future ones. In my first 30 days, I've been able to watch the first Calvary Division train at Fort Irwin, meet with the global response force at Fort Bragg, preparing for a no-notice deployment and visit with our troops in combat in Afghanistan. And just 36 hours ago, with a heavy heart, I joined the vice president of the United States to welcome home the remains of one of our fallen heroes at Dover Air Force Base. These experiences have galvanized me. In my vow to leverage my skills, my experiences, and all my energies. Working with the great leadership team we have, General Milley, Under Secretary McCarthy, Vice Chief of Staff, McConville, and Sergeant Major of the Army daily, to make the hard choices that will ensure we are ready whenever the war talks and sounds. As I said at my Senate confirmation hearing, my first priority is and will remain readiness ensuring the total army, regular army, National Guard and Reserve, is prepared to deploy, fight, and win across the entire spectrum of conflict. With the army engaged in over 140 countries around the world to include combat operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, training rotations to Europe to deter Russia, and forward deployed units in the Pacific defending against North Korea, readiness must be our top priority. This means recruiting and retaining the best our nation has to offer, ensuring these young men and women are well trained and well led, and equipping them with the best weapons and technology available. Every unit must be prepared to deploy and accomplish its mission. My second priority is modernization, building capacity and capabilities in the longer term. This means growing the force while maintaining quality, reshaping it to be more robust and successful in all domains, and modernizing with the best weapons and equipment available to guarantee clear overmatch in future conflicts. For modernization to be successful though, the current acquisition must be overhauled. This includes improving how requirements are set, empowering acquisition personnel to be successful, ensuring accountability, prototyping and demonstrating systems early, and evolving the private sector much, much, much more. In short, we must provide our soldiers the tools they need to fight and win when they need it. And I am confident that the new futures command we are designing will do just that. While the department's other leaders and I will continue to make the case for more robust, predictable and sustained defense dollars, the Army must exercise better stewardship of its resources. So my third priority is reform. To achieve this, I intend to play a very active role in streamlining the service, reducing bureaucracy, and wringing inefficiency out of non-operational organizations and processes. We must free up time, money and manpower to be utilized or invested in our other priorities. Finally, we must continue to build strong alliances and partnerships around the world. Countries that train together fight well together. And those that fight well together are most likely to win together. In addition to these three focused priorities, I also highlighted two enduring priorities in my first message to the force a few weeks back. The first was ensuring that our soldiers' surveillance and their families are well-led, well-cared for, and that we must offer them rewarding professional opportunities and a sound, good quality of life. These great Americans deserve nothing else and nothing less. The second enduring priority was an ask, an ask I made of all members of the Army family, and that is a recommitment by all, especially our leaders, to the Army's values. This includes treating everyone with respect and dignity, collaborating broadly, and always, always, always doing the right thing. I've always found that the Army is at its best when it works and fights as one team, and with these challenges we face ahead, a recommitment to these values will serve us well. And I'm sure I've gone on too long, but I hope you get a good sense of my passion, my enthusiasm, and my total commitment to the job ahead, and my complete commitment to our soldiers, our NCOs, our officers, and their families. So to everyone gathered here today, let me reassure you that your Army is ready to fight and win when the nation calls. And to all of our soldiers, family makers, lawmakers, Army civilians, and grateful citizens, thank you for what you do on a daily basis to make our Army better, our country safer, and the world more peaceful. It continues to be the greatest honor of my life to serve with you. Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, the Army Song! The United States Army is honored to have presented today's special ceremony. We ask that you please remain at your seat while the official party and family departs. Thank you for attending and enjoy the rest of your day.