By Cheryl Pellerin
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, May 29, 2014 – On the first stop of a 12-day,
around the world trip, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel yesterday took time to
visit troops at Alaska’s Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, thanking them and
their families for their service and sacrifice.
He also brought them greetings from their
commander-in-chief, President Barack Obama.
“I was with him before he went up to West Point to give the
commencement address,” Hagel told the troops, “and he, too, wanted me to convey
his best personal regards and his thanks for what you do up here every day for
our security, for our country and for our future. On behalf of the president of
the United States, thank you.”
Before taking questions from the service members, the
secretary addressed issues that he said are important to the nation and its
citizens.
First, he said, the way active-duty service members work
with the National Guard and reserves at Elmendorf-Richardson is a model for how
such engagement is supposed to work.
“You take that for granted, I suspect, but it’s very
important,” Hagel said. “And it is part of not only the integration, the
pattern and the structure of our defense operations and our enterprise, but it
is also laying a … foundation for the future of our force structure.”
Turning to Obama’s remarks at West Point, the secretary
acknowledged that many in the audience had served in Afghanistan, some more
than once, and some had served in Iraq.
The nation is particularly grateful for that service, he
said, and at West Point President Obama thanked U.S. forces for their service
in those wars.
“What the president talked about at West Point was not just
our post-2014 role in Afghanistan,” Hagel added, “ … but he framed [it] in a
larger context -- what is America's role today in the world?”
Hagel noted that the president also praised the
“exceptionalism” of the nation’s people.
“He said it in an important way. He wasn't boastful about
it. There are great people all over the world and we respect all cultures, all
countries,” Hagel said. “But our country is unique and I think you are all
clear testaments to that exceptionalism.”
Obama emphasized that, as the nation works through big
challenges over the next few years, building partners' capacity and capability
and integrating alliances and relationships is important, the secretary said.
The challenges facing the world today are so complex, the
president said, that the nation can’t focus only on fighting terrorist
networks, which are not isolated to one country or one city but are connected.
“It's going to take the integration of all our efforts, our
policies, our focus, all of our instruments of power, and our partners,” Hagel
said.
In his remarks the president began with people, the
secretary told the troops.
“Regardless of the sophistication of our weapons, our
systems, the uniqueness of any component we have, our Constitution or our laws,
if you don't have quality, capable people, people committed to great things and
to their country for the right reasons, it won't matter,” Hagel added.
The president also spoke about the transition out of
Afghanistan and the greater historical transition taking place worldwide.
“We are defining a new world order. You are doing that up
here,” Hagel said. “A good example of that is the Arctic, its strategies and
focus and our interests.”
The Arctic is opening, he added, making possible new
opportunities for many countries and people and presenting new challenges and
dangers for the world.
“That’s but one example of how you fit so importantly into
this new framework of America's role in the world, where you are, what you do
every day. You are defining much of our strategic operational focus with what
you do every day. You probably don't think a lot about that every day because you've
got real-life challenges and jobs to do, but you're doing that,” Hagel told the
troops.
Hagel said the president discussed such things at West
Point. The secretary then told the troops in Alaska that it’s “particularly
important for you and your families to get a bigger sense of why you make these
big sacrifices.”
It all works together, the secretary added, “just like what
I noted on how our National Guard, our reserves, and our active-duty here
connect, how you integrate, how you make this work together seamlessly in the
interests of our country.”
Hagel reassured the service members that the department
would continue to support its people and their families as it navigates its own
transition period after more than a decade of war.
“But I want you to know that we are committed to our people
first,” he said. “We'll get through this. We've got budget challenges … but
we're always going to need … active, agile, ready, modern armies, navies, Air
Force, our reserves, our National Guard.”
He told them, “We are shifting, we are changing, we are
transitioning. But … we'll work through this and we'll work through this
together.”
Hagel described the rest of his trip –- to Singapore for the
annual Shangri-La Dialogue, to Afghanistan, to Brussels for a NATO defense
ministerial, to Romania, to Paris, and then on to Normandy to commemorate with
President Obama the allied victory of World War II and the astounding sacrifice
and courage manifested on the beaches of Normandy on June 6, 1944 -- 70 years
ago.
Afterward, Hagel took questions from troops who asked about
the future of the infantry as warfare becomes more technologically advanced,
the effect on retention boards of service members voluntarily separating from
the services, how the department could ensure service members with PTSD that
they would be taken care of medically after serving their country, and if there
are plans to overhaul the defense acquisition system.
Before asking the troops to line up so he could shake their
hands and give them challenge coins from his office, Hagel said, “This was a
good opportunity for me to get up here to say hello to you, to thank you. I
know sometimes maybe you wonder if anybody's paying attention, but we are. We
know how valuable you all are.”
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