>> order arms. ..

the army provided versatility to the joint force in the requirements of combat and commanders for security assistance. the humanitarian relief operation and contingency operations around the world. the general odierno drove aggressive implementation of mutually supporting the strategic initiatives ensuring that the united states army was the foundation of the joint force. it remains the greatest land force in the world. general odierno insures that the army possessed the capability to provide globally responsive and a wind forces as well as expeditionary and decisively and power across the full range of

military operations providing a groundwork for the global land power of interconnected nodes. simultaneously, general odierno worked with the other joint chiefs of staff to ensure that the united states armed forces stand ready to serve the nation in any capacity needed and to advise the countries senior leaders as required. general odierno led the effort in developing and implementing the vision for the army but synchronized and intrated the joint organizational and multinational teams positioning the army army and the joint force. the accomplishments of general odierno call minis along career in the service of his country and reflect great credit upon himself. the united states army and the office of the secretary of defense signed ashton carter secretary of defense. the distinguished service medal

by the air force and united states coast guard. [applause] headquarters department of the army special orders by order of the secretary of the army following soldier is retired. general raymond odierno. [applause]

at this time secretary mchugh is presenting the united states flag to general odierno for his faithful service to the country. the cochairs senator james and half of oklahoma and senator jack reed of rhode island picture butte to general odierno in the congressional record is one of the nation's finest military officers. [applause] on the distinguished soldier we recognize that service mrs. linda odierno the secretary of defense has awarded the department of defense medal for distinguished public service to linda odierno.

she is recognized for distinguished public service and support of the members of the united states armed forces. since june, 1976 to august, 2015. over the course of nearly four decades, mrs. odierno served as an advocate for the military community at large. the servicemembers and their families as an ambassador for the department of defense and the department of the army posted a senior military and civilian leaders and selfless towards improving military communities and and quality of life programs for the men and women in uniform. in the military support organizations etc. and support groups to ensure that they were aware of how to best support to military families. she enthusiastically volunteered her time and support to military and community organizations which benefited countless military families along the way. whether helping servicemembers and their families cope through

deployments to iraq and afghanistan are meeting with the wounded warriors and their families. mrs. odierno was always there to aid and assist with understanding and caring support. the accomplishments of odierno reflect a great credit upon herself and the department of defense. sign ashton carter, secretary of defense. [applause] mrs. odierno is being presented with the department of the army certificate of appreciation for her faithful and devoted service and dedicated support which made possible such a lasting contribution to the nation played made by order of the secretary of the army. [applause]

ladies and gentlemen come at this time recluses are being presented to mrs. linda odierno on behalf of the men and women of the united states army. also at this time about white roses are being presented to his daughter and mother-in-law. the chief of staff chief of staff claims are being presented to the grandsons. [applause]

[applause] [applause] ladies and gentlemen the secretary of the army will swear in the general as the 39th chief of staff as the united state's chief of army assisting the secretary is his wife polly.

raise your right hand and repeat after me. i mark alexander having been appointed the chief of staff army do solemnly swear that i will support and defend the constitution of the united states against all enemies foreign or domestic and i will bear true faith and allegiance to the same, that i take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion and that i will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office upon which i'm

about to enter, so help me god. congratulations. [applause] ladies and gentlemen at this time she's being presented flowers from the men and women of the united states army and a rose is being presented to margaret his daughter and a claim to his son, peter. [applause]

ladies and gentlemen please stand for the colors. ♪ ♪

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please be seated. ladies and gentlemen, secretary carter. [applause]

secretary, my friend, public servant, thank you for hosting today's ceremony. it's a privilege to be here today to honor these two great americans and their families. and thank you also to the large and distinguished audience that came here today to wreck - to recognize ray odierno in recognizing the army to all walks of life of american society that's represented here today and the magnificent representatives of the force who stand so proud before us all. on his first day of the 38th army chief of staff, general

odierno shared the creed defines his life and his duty. the strength of the nation, he said it is our army, the strength of the army as our soldiers, the strength of the soldiers is our families. that is what makes us army strong. i join everyone here today to celebrate ray odierno's years of unwavering commitment to the army and the soldier and family. let me start with his family. your source of comfort from the family as a source of leadership in the military communities and the second source of healing for the wounded warriors and their loved ones. the entire family, we cannot thank you enough for your service to the nation and

support. his legacy is like he himself it simply will not fit into the space behind the podium. let me characterize it this way. his story is our army's story. he is a leader and the very symbol of the u.s. army. they, strong, capable and always willing. after 9/11 under the weight of the army's mission, important, difficult, unprecedented and all-consuming as it was, our soldiers performed exceptionally with courage and constraint befitting the most highly trained and professional and power on earth. no other force could have executed or adopted the way that our army dead in iraq and

afghanistan. for that, we are so proud and so deeply in its debt. his tenacity helped us get through the most heated period of conflict. his operational savvy helped us surmount the insurgency. his commanding presence called the confused and his courage and compassion helped carry the burden of loss and sacrifice. i and my predecessors the secretary of defense and their commanders in chief had a great confidence knowing he was on the ground bleeding the political and military work in those heroic and trying times. he embodies as a symbol army strong. he is a big guy but even bigger

is his passion and his heart. he devotes so much time to mentoring young leaders not just because the right thing to do but because he loves it. and his soldiers let him back. he is as likely to give you a bear hug as he is to give you a sturdy handshake. he speaks with his shoulders always forward, his eyes clear arguments always sharp. each one by the unyielding commitment to his mission and his people what they're listening in template to the family or looking at the foreign leader to deliver the honest truth or shaving stephen colbert's head in front of the soldiers. simply put, in the post-9/11 era, he sustained and strengthened the u.s. army statute as the world preeminent land power and the groundwork

that he laid in a battlefield commander and above all as the chief of staff in the army to guide the army's transition to confront future challenges will bear fruit for years to come. each service gives the military unique and unrivaled penalties. our planes fly high and ships sail and marines act quickly but it's the soldiers unmatched in their abilities to dominate the physical terrain. they help give the military and the nation an overwhelming edge in defending our people and making a better world for our children. america maintains that edge today forged in the long war sharpening the efforts around the world and leading what must forever be a free world. we must not take that for granted. we must keep at the edge into the future as the world changes we must change with it to stay

unrivaled imposter, agile and ready and army strong. the charge now .-full-stop the general, the 39th army chief of staff. he is the right officer to lead the army over the next four years, to shape the force to continue restoring its readiness, to get there quickly and two when as the nation expects of the army. he is a leader, warrior and statesman. one story as it happened i was with mark and afghanistan at the u.s. consulate when it was attacked in 2013. i saw him take decisive command of the scene. in addition to the decades of operational experience, he also has a strategic vision that is needed to build on what he started. i have confidence i know he will

succeed because he carries that same commitment to the army, soldier and family. and in his case, something he doesn't have but i do have, mainly the boston red sox. [laughter] [applause] i also want to thank holly for her leadership and service as another admired military spouse. to the family, thank you for supporting mark and supporting this post with him. to the general and with their families, for your distinguished leadership, your selfless service and your belief that above all, our people and principles make the military the finest fighting force the world has ever known, your country will be forever grateful.

[applause] [background sounds] ladies and gentlemen, the secretary. [applause]

really, the red sox? welcome. thank you so much for being here for your dalia guidance and leadership over not just the army but the entire united states military. we are appreciative both of that leadership and obviously making time to be here with us. thank you for all that you do for joining in each and every one of the audience members thank you so much for joining in what is not an unusual certainly special celebration of not one but two great americans and two great american families of course the general, their

amazing family, and also to welcome him to and congratulate the incoming chief of staff general mark and his bride and their family. and i want to again repeat what i said four years ago when we first welcomed them to the pentagon as the 21st secretary of the army. i can't think of anything more important than this job. and i can think of few were aspects of the jobs that are more procedurally important than this the transfer of authority from one chief of staff in the army to another not with weapons, not with force as we have seen in so many other places across the world but with honor, tradition and veterans. today is indeed a credit to the democratic principles. indeed a credit to the nation,

but most importantly it is a credit to the selfless men and women of the present character and conviction who take up arms and donned the uniform in the defense of the nation, the liberty and freedoms. this is a bittersweet moment where we are rightfully celebrating the incredible career and contradictions of ray and linda and at the same time i'm losing a buddy a partner and two good friends. in good times and often not so good times, the chief and i were tied at the hip although i had to stand on my tip toes to have that happen. but as anyone who has had the pleasure of serving global firm but it's a great comfort to enter a room, hearing or ceremony with him by your side, exactly what i like a truly

commanding. simply put, he is as fine an officer as i've ever known and a leader that is committed to the army, and in doing so the last four years the army headquarters fully dedicated to the people and relationships that propelled the mission to the broad strategy framed in the department of defense. more importantly at all times he has been committed to the men and women of the united states army. to the men and women of the united states military, to all who wear the uniform and their families. as it is with me come he can look out the window at the pentagon office and a view of the field of the cemetery.

it is an irrevocable responsibility and consequence of the position of the chief of staff in the army and as before them he firmly believed that soldiers are not in the army committee are the army. and it's always been his number one job to serve them well and honorably and whether it is fighting into the visiting wounded warrior in the hospital bed at walter reed come he's been the leader distinguished and thoughtful but with a quick mind and a serving spirit. and while they've been the profession for more than 39 years serving the great nation and its people protecting his beloved army has always been the career but there are so many of you here today, so many senior

leaders retired and civilians and is a clear testament of ray odierno. as the secretary said there is no way to fully capture the depth of 39 years of service to the army and to the nation at least not in the ceremony. but to put it most broadly, he's made a difference everywhere he served in each post leaving a rich and lasting legacy through his army. his grandfather and father also named him that life lesson and ensured his own family and soldiers to do the right thing regardless of what is around you. as george marshall once said go right down the road, do his best and give it frankly without evasion. to finish and great benefit he has lived every day for the past

39 years. because of your efforts the army will forever be in your debt but i know you haven't strived, you haven't served alone. you've been a powerful and a ready source of strength and by so doing you served this nation. for all that you have done i recognize my thanks but i hope that mine combined with what really is hundreds of thousands of those whom he has led expressed some degree of the depth of gratitude that we have to you as well. i know that your desire to make a difference will not end here. you will continue to serve the

nation and help us through the next challenges. your legacy of service will not just be remembered. your kids and grandkids will see more and get what i'm told is a needed boost. but as he said much work remains to be done. and if the character and commitment of the leaders that will carry the days that lie ahead and that's why we have once again this morning turned to one of the best. it's one of the united states military is highly regarded senior officers and strategic commanders and i've had the privilege of knowing the two star commander of the tenth mountain division in new york the army installation i was part of the congress shall district i had the honor to represent.

he's been a remarkable leader as well and i'm confident, i'm absolutely certain he will be an exceptional chief of staff and member of the joint chiefs. he has 34 years of exceptional leadership as the secretary noted in every level. he is the mix of a forthright thinker and a warriors warrior and he has a deep appreciation in both the environment that he's entering and the task at hand. as i said when the selection was announced i watched him leave the soldiers overseas in afghanistan and iraq in places like fort hood and most recently as the army forces command. at all times, he's led with distinction both in the war and peace. he has the personal trust of each and every one of us. the trust to guide the army through the next critical phases

and when he takes the flag he will also take the momentum of the predecessors and keep his eyes on the horizon of the bright future for the u.s. army, the nation and the soldiers. welcome back to the pentagon ranks. we are thrilled to have you here and i looked forward to working with you in the years ahead with the right leader for the job and we are all grateful for the willingness to take it on. the toughest soldiers can't do it without support and all of us appreciate you and the rest of your family for the willingness and support as you take on yet another tough assignment. so both families, thank you for what you've done and thank you for what is to come. it is because of the great leaders like you and the soldiers that you are privileged to lead that we remain the world's preeminent ground force

in the world indispensable nation. congratulations, thank you all. [applause] ladies and gentlemen, general dempsey. [applause] thank you all for being here

today for this great celebration in the army families. i will begin by adding my own complements to the guard for everything they do for their country. often and always with distinction and let's give them another round of applause. i'm honored to be part of this occasion to see so many distinguished guests and friends who include many great leaders past and present. congratulations. it's a privilege to be part of the ceremony to celebrate you and linda for 39 years of exceptional service and to welcome mark. i am not here representing two groups. when the chiefs of staff and the other the former chiefs of staff chief of staff of the army and i would like to begin by expressing the most profound compliment of the professional military officers to share with each other and that is all done. it's appropriate to begin by

thanking you for the strength and compassion for the families and for being a rock beginning with your high school days in new jersey and especially for those long months more than four years and iraq and so much more. the grand arc of the beautifully military family represents everything that's great about being part of the military family. our nation throughout its history has looked to the generals to lead the soldiers during life and struggles and the defense of the united states and in support of the principles we cherish. we are especially fortunate when history aligns the leaders of the passion and courage with the greatest challenges which is certainly the case during the tenure.

the class of 1976 is alleged to be well represented here today. [applause] you notice they always put them off on the side so they can't get into any mistress. from his days on the field of strife, from his years he's been a soldier of the highest character than expected up and down the ranks for his relentless drive and sharp strategic mind and complete devotion for putting first man and women in uniform and their families. he's always believed that developing dementia tomorrows leaders is the greatest strength and best investment in the future and whatever the challenge he has always raised passionate points on their behalf that he's giving it to us straight sometimes in the words i cannot repeat in this setting. you stand among the giants quite literally of the army's history and cast a long shadow across the army and the joint force to

read you leave read you leave behind an institution folder exception of leadership's confronting the most complex challenges we face ahead and we thank you for all you've done for the army and for building the bench behind you. for the army chief of staff and also in the hearts and souls of thousands of lives you've touched in iraq and across the road. so first the b-52 and now a c-17. they like you. i wish you and your family the best and well well-deserved retirement. we look forward to seeing you in north carolina for the code for the retired pentagon location. and this reminds me that it's a

good time to end by remarks because nothing compared to the symbolism and image you see before you. now it is your turn. as an army we will continue to learn and adapt smaller than at any time in the lifetimes. different, certainly. the best in the world, you better believe it. doing what the nation asks, absolutely. and in doing so there's no more important fish on them and shoring and showing that the sons and daughters are ready at the best lead lead me quite a training force on the planet. i know you understand that and we thank you and your family for taking on the task. the nation has placed its trust in you both. you are an inspired choice and you will be terrific. army strong. [applause]

ladies and gentlemen, general odierno. [applause] i will try to make this short. first i want to thank the secretary. thank you very much and i would be run as if i didn't think the

secretary who all have served under in combat or here in the pentagon. the secretary almost six years now and incredible dedication and great partner i can't thank you enough for your incredible leadership. thank you very much. thank you to the joint chiefs, great friends, incredible leaders. there's a lot of people who try to make a story about lots of fighting and there's not. we understand the mission and we go forward together and try to build the best force and it's been an ounce of the pleasure of mine to work with these true professionals and i want to think the combatant commanders that are out there on the front lines every day and showing that security contains the same so thank you all for what you do. i also want to to thank the retired general officers almost all of them who are members of mine i want to thank all of the

majors that are here the backbone of the army i want to thank all of the civilian guests who really decided to come here today so thank you very much. >> i would be remiss if i didn't mention my classmates from the spirit of 7643 years ago we were two weeks from getting through and many of us were off sure that we would make it at that point the point i want to make about this class as we entered the academy and 72 it wasn't the most popular place to go and it took people extra very character and commitment in order to sign up at the time and i think that is something special about the eyes that has held up through the year and remains incredibly close and i want to thank you for supporting me and continuing to support the army so god bless all of you. [applause]

the soldiers on the field represent all of the soldiers. whether it is the fight for the drum corps, they represent excellence. they represent the best of who we are. and as i look at their confidence, commitment and character, but i think is right it is right now are the soldiers in iraq who are the best at what we have to train and advise the security forces. i think of the soldiers in afghanistan continuing to build the afghan army. i think of the soldiers in eastern europe reassuring our allies by the way a soldier was a man of the year in lithuania last year. that is who the soldiers are. they are the republic of korea supporting the advice for the war on terror around the world.

that's why i stayed in the u-uniform uniform for so long is because of the soldiers. their dedication and commitment to this nation. i want to take a minute to talk about the noncommissioned officer corps. what makes us different than any other army in the world are the noncommissioned officers. they are standard bearers. they are what changed the army over the last 40 years i've had the opportunity to serve. it's been the changing nature of the noncommissioned officers that it's transformed the army and they continue to do that today. i think that 39 years ago to the first class christiansen. if it wasn't for them i wouldn't be standing here today. if those officers continue to

stand up and lead the armed men and women no matter how difficult the task is to the officer corps i mean this when may miss when i say that i've never had a bad boss. maybe i was lucky. i had the opportunity to work with incredible leaders who took the time to mentor me and to train me and who underwrote the risk and mistake that i made growing up. because of them, in my opinion we developed an officer corps like no other and today as we stand here, the finest officers corps in my opinion in the nations history. battle tested, flexible, innovative, able to accomplish any mission i have complete confidence in the officers that we have in the army today and their ability to lead us to the

uncertain future. that's what makes me proud to be in the army. i come from a strong worded family but also the family that supported me for so long. they grounded me and all the in all the right principles. they told me it's about family and closeness and values for the most important thing that they embedded in me is love of country. i thought that the father served in hawaii during the attack it's about serving the nation and i am forever indebted to them. to my children, tony, katie and

mike i can't thank you enough for the sacrifices that you have and are never wavering in the ways they're supporting me. tell me how proud they are to have the opportunity to grow up in the army. what makes me feel great is that there are great people that are grounded and continue to live good lives and contribute and that is what makes me the most proud. i'm very proud of all of you. thank you very much for everything. to my wife, linda 43 years we've known each other through west point she's always been by my side. when i graduated i told her we will stay five years and then get out. our five years are up. [laughter]

she is the activity of selfless service. she always put others before herself. she's always been by my side through the good and bad. she's always been the strength of our family. she's been the role model for so many thousands throughout the army. and the reason is because she always treated everyone with dignity, respect and with a little touch of love. she sacrificed her entire life for me. i can never repay her for that. it's often hard for me to stand up here and make other people understand how much our spouse sacrifice. if you don't understand, you don't understand everything that they do every day to make us a better army i don't think there is any other profession that we count on to do so many things. and linda is the academy of

that. and one fact the last 15 years she's attended over 500 memorial services. i just want you to think about that for a minute. therefore, our families most of the time i wasn't there because i was the diploid but she was there for our families. her dedication to the wounded warriors and everything that she's done. i simply cannot repay you. i love you with all my heart and you've made me a better man. thank you very much. [applause] to everyone out there wondering about mark and pollyanna, mark is an incredible soldier and holly has an incredible heart

and they love the army more than anything. that's all you need to know. this army is in great hands. we are so proud of both of you that we know that you will deter fake work. so congratulations to you. in closing, being a yankee fan and and and buy the latest 3-2, yankees versus red sox i just want to point that out. i'm going to paraphrase a quote when he said i'm the luckiest man in the world. i feel like i've been the luckiest man in the world to serve the army for 39 years alongside the incredible soldiers of courage, dedication and commitment. that has been my honor for 39 years. and i will never, never forget. our army is admired and deeply respected by the allies. our army is feared by the

adversaries. our army is an essential part of the joint force and one that will continue to be critical to the nation's future. and i know that they will continue to do whatever they are asked wherever they might be asked to do it. they will be prepared. the strength of the nation is the army of the strength of the army of the soldiers of the strength of the soldiers is our families. that's what makes us army strong. bless all of you. thank you very much. [applause] ' [background sounds]

[background sounds] ladies and gentlemen, 39th chief of staff of the united states army, general millie. [applause] it's incredible i can actually call him ray after so many years and for the class of 76, thanks for being here. let's hear it you sound off. that wasn't very good.

okay. just for the record is 3-2 but it's only the second inning. [laughter] they are showing up shortly and they are all card-carrying members of the red sox. the morning and welcome to all of the distinguished guests and family. thank you for being here and for your support of the united states army the entire family we are deeply honored by your presence and for the guard you will be done here in just a few minutes, so hang in there and we will be passing the review shortly. first one to start by thanking general ray odierno. as you've heard for 39 consecutive years in peace and war to the nation, and for linda, you have been an incredible light of leadership to all of you, not only spouses and families, but for those of

us in uniform as well. and she's such an incredible example, positive example of resilience. she embodies what it means to be army strong and to include all of those in uniform. and you are in fact a giant fan but more important than being a physical giant, you are a moral giant with incredible courage and you have led the army through difficult times, and we've done that with enormous grace and distinction at your legacy will live on in the years to come. in a personal note, and again it sounds to be cool to call that i haven't quite figured out marty but that will come. many of you know it's been a

struggle over the last couple of weeks maybe a month or so. very difficult for him to give up the reins of the united states army. why, because i'm a red sox fan. but my son was born in manhattan. i live two years in new york city and i want you to know i have a very special place in my heart for the new york yankees, and ability second place. [laughter] the secretary carter i want to especially thank u. for your confidence in me to become the 39th chief of staff of america's army. i've known you for many years now and the senior leadership and action, and you are exactly the right man to lead the entire defense of the united states in the complex and uncertain future did i commit to you that i am the entire army will give you 110% in everything we do and we will never fail.

and to secretary mchugh, thank you. as previously noted for the consecutive years as the army secretary. and i am keenly aware that i am the last of the long line of chiefs of staff that have stood by your side. and i am even more aware that you are a diehard yankees fan at least publicly. what i want you to know full well. that is part of the red sox nation. during the time of the massachusetts it was part of that great race state and i will always keep a closely guarded secret but you one time admitted to me at fort drum new york in the closest of privacy that you are indeed a member of the red

sox nation, so the score is 3-2. but i understand as is a former congressman from missouri to the northern new york that i think you'd nonetheless for your confidence and support and general, yes yet another yankees fan. he gets some points for that thank you for your great leadership and for being a great turn in of the joint chiefs of staff and i look forward to serving with you in the months and years ahead. and for the low service chiefs, and all fellow generals and sergeant at all the representatives of the partner nations thank you all for being here and thank you for supporting the army. i want to start off by thanking him on behalf of me and the entire army for being outstanding noncommissioned officers. with them today is also my first

sergeant. both of them from start to finish her represent this united states army. so thank you all for coming. and for the personal professional life many of you flew in from all over the world as high school classmates and high school hockey coach, but hockey team is there playing from canada and england and all over the world almost didn't make the pros. my college roommates all of them are not here to celebrate to confirm that actually eventually they graduated and friends from the hundred first is a low company commanders from the seventh division and the fifth group and so many others, thank you all for being here.

.. the last 35 years in both my mother and my father have passed , but they were never sober nations greatest generation and probably served it -- proudly served in uniform in world war ii with my mother in a hospital in washington

state tending to the one from the pacific and my father with the fourth marine division slugging it out in the bloody campaign making landings saipan and finally iwo jima. though not here physically, they like all of us in uniform all of our parents, that shaped us in ways that will be with all of us forever. both my brother sandy at my sister mary kay are with us here today and i want to publicly thank them for their unwavering support for me, our army and our nation. and i'm unbelievably lucky to have my incredible one-man pollyanna. she has been my guiding light, my inner strength that has kept me going through the toughest of times. she has been a constant source of inspiration and love. and like many other army families, so many army spouses,

she had to be a single parent during multiple deployments from iraq afghanistan and many other other places answered countless days and hours of relentless training. she has just completed this past week 96 hours ago her 30th move by driving aq hall from fort bragg to fort myers and that is representative of army strong. most importantly, she raised our two wonderful children are daughter mary margaret and our son peter and i want to thank both of them for their love, their support and their sacrifice for so many years and i'm so proud of the both of them. for it is our children, our children are the real reason that we in uniform all serve. some say it's education, some say it's money or for a variety of other reasons.

no, it's for others. we serve for others and most importantly we serve for our children. as citizens of these united states, we were granted a gift, the most precious gift of all, the gift of freedom and that is a very very, very expensive gift for its paid for in the sacrifice and the blood from those who came before us and it is our responsibility, a responsibility of the living to pass that gift along, to pay it forward to the next generation, to the next group of children and today that gift is being paid for all over the world by soldiers, sailors airmen and marines, soldiers of the united states army and at this moment great soldiers are deployed in

combat operations across the globe. they are simultaneously deterring adversaries and assuring allies building increase partner capacity and responding to regional challenge, providing humanitarian support, disrupting terrorist networks. wherever they are, america's soldiers are displaying courage, commitment and character and demonstrating unparalleled confidence and agility no matter the challenge no matter how complex the environment or how dangerous the situation. our soldiers when. and just a short distance from here just 100 yards or so, there are so many lying in perpetual rest that have given that last full measure of devotion to ensure that we remain free and enjoy life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

those soldiers, those sailors, those marines, those airmen are all forever soldiers of freedom and it is our job now to carry the torch into the future. we are in fact the best equipped him of the best trained and the best trained army in the world and we must stay that way they want to remain the free people. we will adapt, we will change and that this a given for our army. where an organization that change to meet the challenges for over 240 years and we will change yet again to meet the challenges of the future but there is no cheap way to change. more importantly there is no cheap way to buy freedom. the only thing more expensive than fighting and winning a war is fighting and losing a war and winning wars with the united states army is all about. there are many who think wars can be one only from great

distances, from space, from the air and the sea. unfortunately those views are very very wrong. war is an act of politics where one side tries to impose its political will on the other and politics is all about people and people live on the ground. we may with you or otherwise but it is not. wars are openly decided on the ground where people live and it is on the ground where the united states army, the united states marine marine corps and the united states special operations forces must never ever fail. to succeed in that unforgiving. amber: of ground combat we must have forces that have both capacity and capability, both sides stand still. they must be manned, they have to be equipped and they had better be trained and they will be well led.

we must adapt to combat. as america we have no luxury of a single opponent. we have to be able to fight guerrillas and terrorists all the way up through nation-states military. if we do not maintain our commitment to remain strong in the air, on the sea, and yes on the ground, then we will pay the bill in blood and we will forever lose the precious gift of our freedom. as your chief of staff i will ensure that we remain ready the world's premier combat force. readiness to fight and win ground combat is in vogue remain the united states army's number one priorities and there will be no other number one. we will always be ready to fight today and we will always prepare to fight tomorrow. thank you and may god loves

those who have made the ultimate sacrifice and given they are tomorrows for our two days, army strong. [applause] [applause] [background sounds]

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♪ ♪ [applause] ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ [applause] >> ladies and gentlemen this concludes today's ceremony. yes sir what am to join general and mrs. odierno for a receiving

line in front of the reviewing stand immediately following the ceremony. thank you for your attention and enjoy the rest of your day. ñlñll >> what is it meant for the civil rights movement which have been involved in for your entire life and still are as chair emeritus of the naacp to have a black man elected to the presidency of united states? >> that means the work we have been doing since 19 on line has an then worthwhile and we were talking together and joked upstairs about the headline in

the onion the day after obama's election, black man gets worst job in the united states. [laughter] but it means the work we have been doing all these years has paid off. it doesn't mean that work is over. there is more work to be done but no one can believe that barack obama would be present of united states had it not been for the naacp and many of our organizations and many groups and organizations for the work done by these people in these groups over the last several years so it was like vindication that all of this labor, all of this labor has been worthwhile if we were happy to be a will to do it and see the results of it. he spoke at our convention in 19 on line. i'm sorry 1999 our centennial convention. is that right? 2009, my wife is here in the front row. [laughter] and she serves many wonderful

purposes. one of them is dreck being me. >> i am glad she did that because i couldn't get it right either. >> in a way he spoke to our convention in 2009 and we were so happy to see him. he spoke to us as senator obama. he spoke to less as candidate obama running for the presidency. he spoke to us as nominee for the democratic party and to have him come to us as president was great for all of us. when he was first running -- [applause] and even after, there were civil rights veterans, members of yours and my generation who seem to be resentful particularly because he had not lived what they regarded as the black

experience. i think jesse jackson was the most prominent of those who seem to be unhappy about it in that respect. is that important? >> it's important and it's important to note that it's also important to note that reverend jackson became a strong supporter and is a strong supporter today campaigned vigorously for him and i'm sure will be campaigning for him when he announces his formal campaign when he undertakes his formal campaign for re-election and many of those people who felt that way, i felt that he made a wonderful president. i had friends in chicago kept telling me we have this great state senator that's going to be president someday and we would say oh kosher. then he began to run and won a couple of primaries and said zero kosher and then he wanted in iowa and to me that was it really feca and when it in the whitest of states than he can run all the way to become

president of the united states. i became a convert and i hadn't been a convert before. i did not support him because i didn't like him, just didn't think it was possible and i wasn't going to waste my vote but he proved to me it when i was happy to support him. we have an african-american family in the white house. african-americans in the united states are still disproportionately suffering from poverty bill health, poor schools all of the other things that he had worked so hard to correct in many ways. is it harder now to argue for affirmative action and to argue for issues of that kind? >> it is a little bit harder because the feeling in the population of having elected a black man and these problems have all been solved and they have gone away and the remedies

that solve these problems are no longer needed any more. course that's false thinking. the fact that a black man is in the white house doesn't mean the country is become a wonderful place where everything is happy and everything is fair and equal but because many people do believe that it's harder to argue with these things but we argue for them nonetheless. presidential candidates are visiting the iowa state fair this week stopping by "the des moines register"'s candidate soap box. each presidential hopeful gets 20 minutes to speak on the state

of the grand concourse and take questions from the audience. >> he was really into computers and sci-fi and that pushed him and then he would always heard about silicon valley and dreamed of getting to america and so from a very young age that is what he pined to do in the 17 you ran away from home and did it.

>> in silicon valley he is the next figure. i actually think of them like that for sure. he has his attention to detail and pushes workers really hard to i tend believe more in this ad isn't kind of idea although i think elon has a lot to prove but what i've really taken away is that he is a guy who gets these thousands of engineers at as low the brightest of the bright and these very hard-working individuals that really are able to get product out of band that can be commercialized and that have changed the industry. to me he is the guy who has, he is combined software and hardware that fits in a way that nobody else has.

>> while congress is on break this month we are showing booktv. tonight at look at military lives with allie at ackerman on his book green on blue. a lane rally riot author of be safe, love mom and military moms stories of courage comfort and surviving life on the homefront. and retired general stanley mcchrystal who wrote team of teams, new rules of encasement. that's tonight starting at 8:30 eastern. >> the idea behind the city's tours to take the programming for hdv or american history television and book to be on the road and beyond the beltway to produce pieces that are little bit more visual that provide again a window into the cities that viewers would normally go to that also have really rich histories and a rich literary scene as well. >> a lot of people have heard

the history of the big cities like new york, l.a. and chicago but what about the smaller ones like albany new york? what's the history of them? >> we have been told for 75 cities. we will have been to 95 cities in april of 2016. >> most of the it is a band coverage. these are not event coverage species. they take you someplace. they take you to a home or a historic site. >> the key entry into the city is the cable operator who then contacts the city because in essence this is the cable industry bringing us there. >> we are really looking for great characters treat you really want your viewers to be able to identify with these people that we are talking about >> it's an experience that the program where we are taking people on the road to places where they can touch things, see things and learn about -- it's

not just the local history because a lot of the local history plays into the national story. >> if somebody is watching this it should be enticing enough that they can get the idea of the story but also feel as if this is just in our backyard did let's go see it. >> we want viewers to get a sense that oh yeah i know that place just from watching one of our pieces. >> c-span's mission as we do with all of our coverage bleeds into what we do on the road. >> you have got to be got to do but communicate their message about this network in order to do this job so it's done the one thing that we wanted it to do which is build relationships with the city and our cable partners and gather some great programming for american history tv and booktv. now a discussion on terrorism

and hostage taking. panelists including a former marine corps commandant provided some historical analysis and talks about changes in u.s. hostage policy. they also gave their recommendations for combating terror groups. this is nearly two hours. >> why do we get started. i'm professor wallace and i want to welcome you to the international institute which i am a chairman and a colleague of yonah. i will introduce you all in one moment. first the topic of this program, terrorism captives, tactical legal and strategic implications. those of you who have come to other programs of the institute and ourselves will know that yonah been that yonah unbearably says we shouldn't forget the victims of terrorism and this is a program about victims in a way. maybe the first one we have had. one of my colleagues pointed out that i think it's isis in egypt

is -- the croatian i think is working in egypt. so tack ticks and strategy. i think yonah mentions in this write up the best practices. one of our colleagues who you will hear has written a book which i happen to have read at this time and he makes the point that we are not very good on strategy and i suppose it's a real test it seems to me in this area. how does one formulate a strategy, what might be a strategy for dealing with this extraordinary array of victims who are of terrorism and we have heard a lot recently about ransom negotiations etc. and i imagine we will deal with all of these things. at this point i will turn everything over to yonah and he will introduce the speakers and

the programs of thank you very much. >> thank you very much dawn, for your great introduction but i know more is coming. since he did not speak in terms of substandard if issues we will go to that particular topic. i'm not going to present to you two bucks -- two books.

one is alfred gray. general gray is sitting next to you. the only thing since you did say a few words i'm going to present to you a smaller version of general gray's wisdom right here , okay? second leg, i'm not going to present you another book which was just released yesterday. this is my only copy. yours is coming on nato because nato plays a very key role as you know in terms of terrorism, counterterrorism strategy and also related to hostages and so on. we will go into this issue later on. what i would like to do very

briefly because we have a very distinguished panel is to provide some context perhaps a roadmap to what we are going to discuss today. as moderator i am taking the liberty of doing that and first of all i would like to introduce our panel. you do have the program in front of you. first of all i would like to introduce very briefly the panel you met professor don wallace. next to him is general gray the 29th, and onto the united states marine corps and currently senior fellow and chairman of the board of regents of the potomac institute for policy studies.

he always requests to have the last word. he can have the last word in the first word i'm going to give it to him to decide when to jump into it he had at any rate, we are going to have first ambassador retired i would say, ed marx. fortunately for me i had the opportunity to meet him and for many years when he was at the office of the state department academically contributed to our work. next to him on the left not lyrically but at any rate my friend and colleague dr. wayne zaideman. the only thing i would say now because i am a scholar and former fbi in the middle east etc. etc..

next to him is the minister and counselor for counterterrorism efforts at the embassy of israel and then next to him, next to her, i'm sorry dr. odierno seven a colleague going way back and is currently a senior adviser of the atlantic council and we are fortunate to have his wisdom in the articles basically every week. now, i would like to acknowledge the contribution of c-span that is recording our event and bringing the discussions to a much wider audience in the united states and around the

world and our co-sponsors in addition to the international law institute. the potomac institute for policy studies and the university of virginia law school core operating with us on this discussion. let me be very brief at this point. i will hopefully have something to say later on. first of all what we are going to discuss today are basically two challenges that the general general -- is facing for many years. one is mother made sure of course that we know sometimes we have no control over what then

what is of grave security concern is man-made i think challenges first on the technological disasters that we see happening now with several explosions today in china, injuring and killing many people, devastating which has to do with some chemical and the reason i'm mentioning this is because we have to think about the future in terms of the worst to, and in terms of our stake in it and i will come back to that in a minute. then today of course the report about the croatian hostage allegedly that was killed by the islamic state province in sinai.

i say allegedly because we need the evidence in terms of that particular event but i believe that's whatever the situation is, it leaves the message coming through loud and clear to intimate the international community so it's not only those tortured and killed but the wider audience around the world and basically the entire society and is a potential victim of terrorism. so we have this particular situation and in addition to that of course we know and we are going to discuss today the role of isis, the islamic state in this particular area, the

hostages that we know we have seen and intimidated not only the families that the united states and our friends and allies all the way from the journalists from the united states, the u.k., the japanese jordanians and so forth. so i think also let me mention that the islamic state would have to define hostages and kidnappings and a broader strategic thinking of isis, they are taking slaves as a major target as a particular practice, not only individuals but entire communities and ethnic racial and religious i think members

and so on. in terms of the hostage situation of the media recently i will focus attention on the u.s. citizens were the so-called prisoners in iran and in the context of the nuclear deal with the iranians, the questions really is why did not the united states try to pressure iran to release the hostages and prisoners in iran cracks i really think that in addition to traditionally talking about hostages in kidnapping and i will come back to it in a minute i think we have to look at also the pirates and piracy. whether it's a criminal act also related to some ideological and

political goal as well and piracy again is as old as history so is terrorism. now in terms of the kidnappings as we know and i am raising this again, i think we can talk about kidnapping for ransom for example and the whole issue relates to policies of government that we would have to deal with whether governments have a clear policy related to ransom by families for example or institutions and so on so we have to deal with that. and you cannot isolate the terrorism political acts or cap deck from organized crime.

for example the whole issue of nor could trafficking. we see what's happening in mexico and we see what happening in central america. we see what's happening in latin america and again latin america used to be the capital of kidnapping in the world in the 1980s and 90s but since we find a great deal of kidnapping and latin america as well, about 23% during the year. then of course we have to look at some other regions around the world like african boko haram and abduction of the schoolgirls that is a particular challenge that continues and it has many implications originally and globally. now one or two other things that i think we also discuss today.

one is the so-called historical lessons because we are dealing really with anniversary dates. for example what lessons can we learn? today, august the 13th is the fourth anniversary of the kidnapping or the abduction are the hostagetaking of a u.s. contractor who was kidnapped by al qaeda in pakistan and the united states try to rescue him and another hostage from italy unfortunately were killed. so this actually happened in 2011, in other words four years ago and what kind of lessons can we learn from that and also i would like to mention that elsewhere for example in spain

on august 13, 1997, this is the 18th anniversary that a spanish politician blanca and we do have some people who are experts on spain, he was kidnapped and shot. i think we have to remember this as well. it's not only the americans and a hustonians that there are many others and we will have to deal with that. the point i'm making is we really need a new approach so to speak to deal with hostages in terms of placing priority rather than another statistic. there is a saying in judaism and islam and christianity that if you save one life, it seems as

if he saved the entire world and i do hope that we learn from history. we learn from history. what really concerns me as one of the generations of the holocaust because my family was killed during the second world war, 70 years later now of this particular period and also i want to take into account some other atrocities from the middle east related to the armenians

actually, i'm talking about 1979 in 1972 we have the earlier episode and tragedy in munich when the 11 israeli athletes were taken hostage and then killed. the entire world was watching

and watching and did not actually lift a finger. later on in odor to do something about a terrorist threat and finally also in 1979 the takeover of the mecca by terrorists in saudi arabia sent a signal that the threats within islam between the sunni and the shiites are also important to take into account. but this context i would like to invite our speakers to discuss whichever they think is important for a dialogue later on. general gray would you like to say a few words now or later on? it's all yours. here we have someone has a very extensive maddock background and

also an academic that ground any deals with many of these issues. as i said we will present to you later on the book. >> thank you. thank you don. it's good to be back. thanks again for inviting me back here. this time it's different because i'm leaving off which allows me to make broad general statements. the last time as harris to love speaker and i spent most of the time leaving stuff out and i ended up with the cia redacted document. we'll talk today about hostagetaking and terrorism. and i'm going to focus mostly on the united states. it's always good to start with a definition so the seizure or

detention of a person with a threat to kill, injure or continue to detain that person in order to compel a third person or government organization to do or to abstain from doing an act as an explicit or implicit condition of the person detained. that's the u.s. government official definition. in a sense modern political hostagetaking arises from two historical precedent, traditions. one of which yonah referred to as a long history of the political and military used of hostages as guarantees of good faith and the observance of obligations between states, monarchies etc. but the practices of taking hostages for the security they carrying out of the treaty of civilized states is pretty much obsolete. in 1949 the geneva convention and international convention

against the taking of hostages both prohibit hostagetaking as a crime or an act of terrorism. the criminal version of kidnapping is also historic and there is a historical precedence to that in that continues of course. in fact some countries hostage taking for-profit has become almost an industry, ransom being the only demand for what is basically a criminal at today. an and major problem therefore facing government in dealing with this situation is determining whether a specific event is actually a political intent or pretends to be political because for some reason some criminals appear to be claiming that a political motivation in some ways more respectable so you have got this problem facing governments deciding what it is they are actually facing. but we are talking about is

political hostagetaking something intended to make a political statement, challenge of existing government or further the influence of a particular movement a group so i think the question of criminal kidnapping of the fbi this is their turf, they been doing it for a long time. they know how to do it. now modern terrorism hostagetaking began to some degree mostly defined in the 1960s. we have the marxist terrorist groups in latin america, europe, japan. yemen and libya became centers of training and orientation where marxist militants of different nationalities learned tradecraft from the kgb come these germans and from each other. then we had the afghanistan situation i guess we will call at which spawned al qaeda and other global jihadist movements. training was done by the cia and

pakistan's intelligence director in particular and of course we had some of us remember the innocent days of the red brigades group, the children of the bourgeoisie. that period reduced traditional u.s. government ct policy. it would bring terrorists to justice isolate state sponsors of terrorism improved allies counterterrorism capability and retrospect to hostages sessions, no deals. after 9/11, that policy was somewhat expanded with the global war on terrorism much more aggressive policy, at least rhetorically and especially more and were -- and the military. and then we had afghanistan, iraq followed idea that states patriot act, the creation of the

department of homeland security etc.. part of ct policy is always the question of dealing with hostages. and i was much taken by a recent discussion on the background of this policy by rand corporation's brian jenkins to you all know. his basic thesis is many people erroneously believe that negotiations with terrorists are prohibited in all circumstances at least from the u.s. government. but there is no law against negotiating with terrorists. existing negotiation policies were intended to apply only to assess situations and even dare was exaggerated. as i said to begin with there's no legislation, no statute in the criminal books, no explicit direct if brevity negotiations with terrorists. the only guidance is in the form of policy statements that pertain to negotiations.

this development began in early night in 70s when terrorists began seizing this old -- diplomats and other government officials. diplomats resent this and armored vans you know. thou shalt not attack nuns children and diplomats but that was gone in a world which has created a false sense of decency. the united states took the position of the host country was responsible for the safety of diplomats. yielding to terrorist demands seeing no way to encourage the possibility of more occurring. the united states worried that if it was seen to intervene in negotiations that might attract more kidnappings of american officials and direct demands on united states as a host government and thereby absolve local governments responsibilities.

the policy was and sent sales in march of 1973 with terrorist groups to two american diplomats hostage in khartoum. hostages demanded the release of palestinian prisoners held and sirhan sirhan. responding to a question during the crisis president nixon stated quote as far as the united states as a government getting into black out demands we cannot do so and we will not do so and boat. after the statement of public terrorists murdered to the pill's and their browsing colleague and two days later the state department director was using the presence language. therefore an unscripted response to a specific question in specific circumstances became general policy. it was used often and subsequent

considerations over the years not giving in to blackmail demands which was expanded to include no negotiations. this was widely interpreted as a ban on all discussions. this approach became a mantra for the u.s. government repeated in numerous situations from the twa airliner hijacking in 1985 to secretary of state condoleezza rice stating in 2004 that quote the president of the united states does not negotiate with terrorists and quote. the policy statements are now law. history and current law including the patriot act make it clear that the no negotiations policy was never intended to interfere with the authority, the second branch to conduct foreign policy or to pursue negotiations with anybody in addition, a threat to the u.s. official in 2014 to

persecute -- persecute the family of hostage for providing material support to a terrorist organization if they paid ransom would have gone nowhere in a u.s. court. there are too many contrary examples. u.s. policy does not preclude the fbi from assisting families faced with ransom kidnappings and it would not be able to hold to that policy in a court. not only the united states, the united kingdom adopted a no negishee since policy for dealing with hostages long before us get that policy did not preclude did not prevent them from them indicating eventually pushing with the iron ore did american policy against negotiation prevent the u.s. from using its influence on both sides in that issue so we negotiated and dealt with the ira as well. i want mention the peace accords in vietnam which involve the viacom board despite the

promising promise we made to the israelis we would never talk to the plo in fact we have talked to the plo many times and negotiate with them. in some, despite the situation and i will quote ryan jenkins here because he is pretty good, quote absurd interpretations bike hushes bureaucrats and contorted for trails by a knowledgeable officials unquote led to the adoption of a policy which comes from a century short-term response. now, policy guidance in other words is just that. it's guidance. it may be the right way to go and it may be the policy want to follow but you have to always let the circumstances determined when the guidance make no sense that must be ignored and we and others will do that and we'll do that in the future.

a lot of press comment, a lot of criticism and in response president obama invoked a special review which issued a new presidential policy directive. u.s. nationals taken hostage abroad and personal recovery effects. tdd 30 reaffirm the traditional no concerns and policy but, but for the first time no concerns and says not mean no communications. the u.s. government may communicate with hostage takers and others. the u.s. government a assist private efforts communicate with hostage takers to secure the safer cover of a hostage and this is interesting, the u.s. department of justice will no longer imply, hints or worn the families that face criminal prosecution and in the best tradition of washington we have new at this rate of arrangements. there is no hostage response

group, an issue manager, a family and a german team and a new presidential envoy for hostage affairs. ..