arleigh would be so proud of john.unselor here, one of them said when we honored him on his 80th birthday, csis was the first institution in washington that sought to be truly strategic. why not? arleigh burke was truly strategic. thank you very much. [applause] [applause] >> i would not as i say our panel, it doesn't seem right to call this distinguished group a panel. every one of them is such a singular leader in america and were so proud to have them here. you got copies of their resumes. i'm not going to go through introducing anybody by personal background. because i think that would be done again this afternoon. but let me just take the opportunity to save a sincere thank you. please everybody sit down in a sincere thank you to admiral mullen, to admiral ann rondeau into the secretaries john warner here at csis for being here. evan thomas is a fabulous author and has captured the spirit of these times and probably the most gripping of ways. we've asked them to take the leader. adam, can i turn it over to you? >>

could arleigh burke have survived today? [laughter] >> i guess in the way david captures him so well, i would say he would have figured the way to do it. given those that he routinely challenged and the description i think of the word "interesting" and how he would draw individuals in -- even as they got mad and even at that level and clearly want to hear from him again. so i suspect he could. and that he would have figured out a way to adjust to the circumstances that exists today and very much so. >> but can you -- can you address the larger question of when particularly a military officer in a civilian-controlled system -- when and how and under what circumstances -- what are the rules of the road on challenging higher authority and dissent? >> well, i think -- actually i think not unlike what -- what admiral burke did in the sense that in discussions that would be routine with your boss, your civilian boss, and then those that you could -- when you -- when you disagree and feel strongly about it, even as we can now right