 There are far too many dignitaries who have now joined the room for me to see them all, but I would like to acknowledge the presence here of Frank Carlucci, former Secretary of Defense, if you would wave from wherever you are. I think there he is at table 11. We welcome you. Ambassador Brandon Grove, we welcome you. Thank you. Searching for my boss, who I hope is somewhere in the room, but until I see him, I'm too pumped, I think. There's nothing like the hush of expectation. And as soon as I see the chairman and his introducer, I can promise you you will see less of me. And I do see them entering from the back. This is really a wonderful moment in the program, having heard from the diplomatic community, having heard from the humanitarian community, having heard from Tammy Duckworth this morning, representing the veteran and military community, and being now able to share with you the next introduction and to invite up here the man who has really made all of the United States Institute of Peace activity in the last years happen and is also responsible for that beautiful building that many of you have commented upon that stands at 23rd and Constitution as a great symbol and substantive beacon of peace and security. I welcome Richard Solomon, president of USIP. Every time one of my colleagues talks about me and the building, I get into trouble because those of us who know how that remarkable structure has come about knows the role that our board chairman, Robin West, who he better be in the room today, or I want him to know that and everybody to know the role that he has played in bringing about a remarkable development in the history of the Institute, which, and I think we've heard that there will be more meetings that we won't have to hold in a hotel, nothing, not that there's anything wrong with the Ritz Hotel, but we'll have a facility for doing these kind of events after we move in next spring. Let me just say that it's a particular pleasure to host this session honoring the 10th anniversary of UN Security Council 1325 and I think the mosaic of communities that are in the room here today reflect the broad interest in the challenges of dealing with the gender issues that are now very much a part of, I think, not just our agenda but the global agenda. Let me just also note that the Institute of Peace has been focused on these issues for well over a decade. You just heard from our Executive Vice President, Tara Sonnenschein. Her predecessor was Harriet Hentchis, who more than a decade ago began some work with Swanee Hunt, who was then working with her Women Waging Peace Project. And so these gender issues have been very much on the Institute's programmatic agenda for some time. But what you're now able to do with Tara Sonnenschein's leadership and that of Kathleen Kienist, who will be doing some of the Q&A in our session and is really responsible for organizing this event, is raising the level of these gender issues to a new level of activity at the Institute. And just to show that this is a gender issue and not just a women's issue, we are exceptionally honored to have with us today for our keynote a longtime colleague and friend, now Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen. I first got to know Admiral Mullen when I was on the Chief of Naval Operations Executive Panel. He was at that point the Chief of Naval Operations, and that turned out to be, I think, certainly from the Institute's point of view, a very useful opportunity to find out what the military requirements were, not just in warfare, but in peace building. And we found this collaboration, I think, very useful over the years. Admiral Mullen, as you know, is Chairman of the Joint Chiefs. He is the senior military official and the President's principal military advisor. And so from that perspective, he's at the top of the mountain and really has a broad perspective on the issues that he'll be covering today. One of his priorities has been, as he has put it, resetting, revitalizing and reconstituting the armed forces for the kinds of challenges that we're dealing with in the early 21st century. And better integrating and engaging women in the armed services has been very much a part of that effort. He has worked, among other things, with one of our board members, Admiral Anne Rondo, who's the President of the National Defense University, and Admiral Mullen recently had an event honoring the trailblazing work that women are now doing in our armed services. And the Admiral has also been out in front on a very tricky issue, including women among our submarine force, something that has been an issue of some controversy. But he has been a real leader out in front on major changes that are occurring in our armed forces. So with that as a bit of welcome, let me bring to the podium Admiral Mike Mullen with our real appreciation. Well, good morning, and Richard, thank you for that introduction, and I'm honored to be here today and think so much of what USIP is and so much of what USIP does. So it's very special. And I want to commend this organization for hosting such an important conference on the 10th anniversary of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325, and for continuing to call for the empowerment and the protection of women around the world. While I do not profess to be an expert on international law, I come to you as someone whose life has been deeply impacted by superb leaders, men and women, and the transformation our military has undergone over the last 40 years. So for the next few minutes, I'd like to, I'd hope to offer my perspectives on how this transformation has benefited our military and the world, and identify some trends I see for the future. And I certainly look forward to your questions. First, let me say that I am privileged to serve alongside some of the most accomplished and most influential women in this country. I rely on their talent and counsel every single day. Women like General Anne Dunwoody, our first female four star general, and Vice Admiral Anne Rondeau, otherwise known recently as Dr. Anne Rondeau, she'd want me to point that out. She just, she just achieved her doctorate, who, and both they, Anne proudly serves on the, on this board, as Richard said. And as I meet women in uniform and other female leaders, they tell me how important it is for young women to be able to look up and see female leaders to emulate. Leaders like Dunwoody and Rondeau and many others who kept the faith when role models were rare because opportunities were extremely limited. Times have clearly changed. Anne Dunwoody may be our first four star female in the military in our nation's history, but I can promise you that many more are on the way. As I think of the progress we have made and the, and the work that remains, I can't help but view this in the context of my own growth and development. I started my career in the Navy back in 1960, whatever, in the thick of the Vietnam War. I went to sea, traveled the world, and even got to command a ship at a very young age. And I'll be the first to admit that at that age, a woman's role in the military was just not something that I focused on. My high school was all male, Annapolis back then was all male. The ships I served on were, well, I think you'd get the idea. If I wanted a female's perspective on things, I had to, I had to go home to get it and I certainly did get it there. Now I grew up in a household where both my mom and dad worked very hard in their professional lives. So I'd like to think that I was not stuck in the stone age. But in the Vietnam era, gender equality in the military was anything but. Eight years after I graduated, I came back to Annapolis and I was looking forward to a break from life at sea and to spend more time with my family in a town that I had grown to love. And then a telegram came from Washington telling us that women were on their way to Annapolis. Women's did the right thing, even though we couldn't. Needless to say, life became a whole lot more interesting after that. I was selected to serve on the admissions board and we had to move quickly to plan for the integration. We had eight men and one female psychologist trying to figure out how to do it. Fair to say she had her hands full and I think she ended up needing therapy after that effort. But it was a great lesson because it focused us all to think about things we never had to consider before. To look at problems as best we could through someone else's eyes. It's a lesson I've carried with me throughout my career and which extends far beyond just the issue of diversity. It also taught me that it's very important to have the right people and voices at the table to broaden our perspectives. And you can bet that today when we consider future efforts to expand opportunities for women in the military, we aren't doing so with an 8 to 1 ratio of men to women. 81 women entered Annapolis that first year and into a military that was less than 5% female. And I've watched many of them blaze trails and do extraordinary things. Paving the way for so many to follow since that telegram 35 years ago. Today women are rising through our ranks and expanding their influence at an ever-increasing rate. Serving magnificently all over the world in all sorts of ways. And each time we open new doors to their professional lives, we end up wondering why did it take us so long? More critically, in these wars of ours, they've served and sacrificed and led every bit as much and every bit as capably as any man out there. Well over 200,000 women have served in Iraq and Afghanistan demonstrating tremendous resilience, adaptability, and capacity for innovation. Indeed, they have given us a competitive advantage. Five years ago in Iraq when the enemy was using Iraqi women to subvert our security checkpoints, female marines began the lioness program to counter this threat and then conduct broader outreach to the women of Iraq. In Afghanistan, female marines are providing hope and promise through female engagement teams in the Taliban strongholds in that country. Lieutenant Colonel Diana Staniszewski is in Afghanistan for a year as a mentor to the female engagement teams. And she reflected recently learning the language and interacting with the population makes me a strategic and tactical game changer. And while these young warriors may face cultural and language hurdles, they have also been able to operate where male troops often cannot go. For instance, one Afghan elder who opened his home so female marines could visit with his wife told Washington Post reporter Tom Ricks, your men come to fight, but we know the women are here to help. And I would tell you that all of our deployed troops, men and women alike, are there to fight for and to help the local population. But these women have been able to build relationships and trust with Afghan women to see things through their eyes and gain valuable insight that we would not have gained elsewhere. Time and again they show us that courage and leadership recognize no gender. And I believe that those who undercut the contributions of one gender do so at their own peril. Sacrificing half the talent, half the resources, half the potential of the population. President Obama reminds us in our own national security strategy that countries are more peaceful and prosperous when women are accorded full and equal rights and opportunity. When those rights and opportunities are denied, countries often lag behind. No one knows this better than my friend, three cups of tea author Greg Mortensen. The schools for girls he builds in Pakistan and Afghanistan are shaping the very future of an entire region and giving new hope to an entire generation. Greg often quotes the African proverb, if we educate a boy, we educate an individual. But if we can educate a girl, we educate a community. Greg explains why this concept has what we in the military term multiple order effects. When these young women grow up, they are the ones who promote the value of education in the community. Infant mortality is reduced. Populations grow in a more manageable rate. Quality of health improves. In fact, Greg explains that culturally, when someone goes on a jihad, they often receive permission from their mother first. And when women are educated, they're less likely to condone or encourage their son to turn to violence or extremism. Ultimately, as our nation begins its second decade of war, until 15-year-old boys face better options than picking up a rifle or a suicide pack, the seeds of conflict will always be there. So our efforts to educate these communities, to educate women, are not merely the right thing to do, they are essential to our future. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton wisely summed it up last week when she said, if we want to make progress towards settling the world's most intractable conflicts, let's enlist women. I couldn't agree more and I would only add, the time to act is now. So we don't have to ask yet again, why did this take so long? But as we think about how far we've come, we must also consider how far we have still to go. This decade of persistent conflict has had an impact we are just beginning to come to terms with. An impact of untold costs and undetermined toll. And I believe the costs we see today are truly just the tip of the iceberg. In a war where there is no longer a clear delineation between the front lines and the sidelines, where the war can come at you from any direction, this will be the first generation of veterans where large segments of women returning will have been exposed to some form of combat. And I know what the law says and I know what it requires, but I'd be hard pressed to say that any woman who serves in Afghanistan today or who served in Iraq over the last few years did so without facing the same risks of their male counterparts. They're also coming home to Dover. And just as their male counterparts have, they are returning with wounds visible and invisible with consequences for our healthcare system, our national employment rate, and even homelessness. They've seen that many other veterans have a hard time translating their military experience into jobs, a situation made even more difficult by our struggling economy. Along with other issues, these financial hardships are driving veteran homelessness to a rate faster than experienced by the Vietnam generation. Experts say that more than 100,000 veterans are homeless on any given night, and almost 4,000 are from today's generation. And 10% of those seeking help for homelessness are women. Many of these women have young children who have already been through so much. This is something that deeply troubles me, because the resources for these women haven't caught up with those for their male counterparts. And they have unique challenges that the system just does not understand yet. Assistant Secretary of the VA, Tammy Duckworth, herself a combat wounded veteran and who spoke here earlier this morning, recently said to Oprah, we are all dishonored any time a veteran sleeps on the very same streets that he or she has helped to defend. So as we celebrate the doors that have been open to our women in uniform and honor the impact they've had around the world, we also have to look very hard at doors that are still closed. Because all of this, the benefits to our military, our efforts across the globe, and addressing the cost of war has implications for our future. And the future of our children, and yes, grandchildren. I particularly mention grandchildren because my wife and I have just been blessed with our first granddaughter. And I think about the opportunities we want for her. How we need to view these challenges generationally. In the military, we don't bring people into our organization as senior leaders. It takes a generation to build them. So the recruits and young officers we bring in today will be the four star leaders of tomorrow, 30 years into the future. That's why when it comes to diversity, I believe we can't go fast enough. And when we think about diversity in the military, we need to be thinking about two generations ahead. In 2040, when our granddaughter turns 30, we will need a military leadership that is truly reflective of and connected to the American people. And let's face it, when that day comes and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of 2040 looks at her leadership team, those of us who are still here will not want to have an answer to answer the question, what took you so long back in 2010? So thank you for the attention you bring to these important issues, for helping us to keep moving forward, and for the opportunity to participate in this dialogue. I've not forgotten the lessons I learned so long ago in Annapolis. Actually, I've not forgotten anything from those days. So I'm eager to listen and learn from you through your questions. Thank you very much. We'll have time for a couple of questions. There is the microphone there. Please don't trip over each other running to be the first couple of questioners, but I see somebody is making their way. And if you would not mind identifying yourself and keeping the question relatively short. Thank you. Go ahead. So the question is about Somalia and what is being done to address the conflict there. This last, obviously this last weekend, great focus on another country of concern, and that's Yemen. And for a considerable period of time, I've had a focus on and spoken to the potential for new safe havens in both Yemen and Somalia. And they continue to evolve. So from my perspective, the concern continues to grow in both those places. As is the case in any of those countries, it's an enormously complex challenge. We are, from a military standpoint, we're extended right now in terms of both the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. And other challenges that we have globally. And I am concerned long term about where does Somalia go. And I think it's very important for, not just the United States, I think it's very important for international leadership to come to grips with this. And you specifically mentioned Al-Shabaab, which is a viral terrorist organization, and certainly fomenting as much violence and extremism as they can in Somalia with their ultimate goal being take over the country. So I think that you raise a great question. The answers are very, very difficult. And as is in the case in so many places, there's certainly a security component. You have to have security before you can have much else. But it goes far beyond that. And I go back to my comments in my remarks. We've got to get to a point where 15-year-olds have a better opportunity than just putting on a suicide vest. That is tied to long-term prosperity and security. And that is not going to happen overnight in a place like Somalia. Second question, and I see our passionate women are not going to probably let you go after two, but we may extend just to a third question. So two, and second, and then one last one. Elaine Serea with Foreign Aid Through Education, and I'm a Franklin fellow at the Department of State on Public Diplomacy for South Asia. Admiral Mullen, thank you very much for being here today. Could you possibly point to how you would think the role for U.S., South Asian diaspora women could provide support for threshold societal stabilization in South Asia? When you mentioned the multiplier order effects in the female engagement teams, do you see a role that we can try to make a link from support from here of the diaspora into your efforts in South Asia? Well, I don't know if this is exactly the right answer, but as I think about where you working in the state department, or certainly at least temporarily, so I think about opportunities that are tied to USAID as it grows and, you know, as it grows from where it has been recently to, I think, what it needs to be in the future. And I'm also struck that in Afghanistan and Pakistan, the number of NGOs that are there and actually have been out there for, in many cases, decades. Oftentimes, when you ask about a certain group of individuals, vigils that the diaspora hear, the question is, and maybe it is yours, is how do you connect the two? And I think one of the responsibilities that we have in government is to be able to do that and then get out of the way, because I think on the private side, with the connection, you would create the kind of both entrepreneurship and innovation that needs to occur, although there's an awful lot of very basic things that need to take place. If I were going to pick one, I'd certainly pick education, and how do you improve? It goes back to Mortensen because I think with education, and this is going to be a long-term challenge, with education comes opportunity. Certainly, you've got to be able to provide for your family. So it becomes a combination of education and employment in a part of the world that sometimes doesn't value female, women, employees, or employment. And so I think pushing it from that point of view and just taking it sort of one step at a time, but keeping the pressure on. Thank you very much. Final question. Excuse me, Gilbert Rondella from DRC. We all here came from a woman woman, and violence to a woman is a crime. I had the pleasure of witnessing the birth of my children, and I never thought how a woman could suffer when she was giving birth. And when I saw it, it gave me joy, but I was also holding my wife's hand and helping her to deliver. This is something that we don't do back home in the Congo. But I have the privilege of being in America to witness this and live this. I say this because when Mobutu was in power, our troops went into Rwanda. Our troops went into Chad. Our troops went into Angola. There was never, never claim of rape, violence by Congolese military. They were trained, led by student military, was trained here in the United States. Even during the pillaging that took place in the Congo when Mobutu was falling, there was no sexual violence done by the military. Everything started when the Rwandese troop entered in the Congo. And today we learn that these Rwandese troops have been trained also by the U.S. What kind of training have you given the Rwandese to come to rape our women to destroy life in the Congo? Thank you so much for the... What are you doing? Let me let Admiral Mullen respond. To change the situation. So the perpetrator, the commander of these crimes are arrested or brought to justice. They mentioned Calixt from the FDLR. But the major birds are still sitting, some in Kinshasa and others in Kigali and Kampala. Thank you, sir. Thank you so much. I certainly, I mean, I don't, and the United States does not condone that kind of conduct in a way, shape or form. We, from the United States military perspective, in our training programs with militaries all over the world, in fact, train to a standard that is very visible in terms of no kind of sexual violence, the proper kind of conduct. So I certainly, and I know that for a fact, I certainly take your point. I don't know enough about the specifics of this training program and of this military, but I am certainly happy to look into it based on just your question, but it's unacceptable across the board. And over time, militaries, we spend a fair amount of time in my military and actually in my government focusing on proper conduct of militaries and on human rights violations. And while we may not get it immediately over time, it is something that very, very significantly gets addressed in terms of eliminating training, the requirement for a military to train itself to certain standards and show that, hold accountable those who have led and perpetrated any kinds of crimes. And we've done this fairly consistently. So that all speaks to what is completely unacceptable in any kind of gross human rights violation. And from our military's perspective, we certainly don't just train to it when we train with other armies, other military members, we expect that. And with that, I would like us all to thank Admiral Mullen for being here today. Thanks so much.