Commencement Remarks by Secretary of the Army Pete Geren
US Military Academy, West Point
31 May 2008
Excerpt
Mark Twain told us that history does not repeat itself, but that it does rhyme...
Now, no graduation speech would be complete if I did not attempt to leave a few lessons behind. You enter our Army at a dynamic period in the history of our service-in the history of warfare--policy, doctrine, training and equipping are adapting rapidly to a constantly changing threat--an environment where our Soldiers must hold and build, as well as they clear. You have learned how to "eat soup with a knife" and other important lessons about leadership in your 21st Century Army.
For the lessons I want to leave with you, I will borrow heavily from a man who has spoken here before, as I could not improve on his prose and I share his vision for your service. He summed up succinctly a day in the life of an American Soldier in Iraq or Afghanistan today. He told your predecessors:
• "Your military responsibilities will require a versatility and an adaptability never before required in either war or in peace."• They will "involve the command of more traditional forces, but in less traditional roles ... risking their lives, not as combatants, but as instructors or advisors."
• "This is another type of war, ... -- war by guerillas, subversives, insurgents, assassins. War by ambush instead of by combat ... seeking victory by eroding and exhausting us instead of engaging us."
• "The non-military problems which you will face will be most demanding: diplomatic, political and economic."
• "You will serve as advisors to ... foreign governments."
• "You will need to ... understand the foreign policy of the United States and the foreign policy of countries ... that 20 years ago were the most distant names to us."
• "You will need to give orders in different tongues;"
• "You will be involved in economic judgments which most economists would hesitate to make."
• "You will need to understand the importance of military power and also the limits of military power..."
Perhaps most importantly, he told your predecessors:
• "Your posture and performance will provide the local population with the only evidence of what our country is really like."
And, in closing he said:
• "You have one satisfaction, however difficult your days may be: When you are asked by the president of the United States or by any other American what you are doing for your country, no man's answers will be clearer than your own."
History does rhyme. These words were spoken 46 years ago by President Kennedy, standing here, speaking to the graduating Class of 1962."
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President John. F. Kennedy - Remarks at West Point to the Graduating Class of the U.S. Military Academy, 6 June 1962 (Video)
Secretary of the Army Pete Geren - Biography
Hat Tip to Mr. Michael Brady for alerting SWJ to Secretary Geren's speech.