For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
May 25, 2001
Remarks by the President at U.S. Naval Academy Commencement
U.S. Naval Academy Stadium Annapolis, Maryland
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Remarks
10:20 A.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very
much. Thank you, all. Secretary England, thank
you very much. For those of you who don't this, he was
sworn-in at noon yesterday, just to be here as the Secretary of the
Navy. I'm proud to have this good man serving our country.
Admiral Clark, thank you very
much. General Jones, Admiral Ryan, members of the Board of
Visitors, members of the United States Congress, distinguished faculty,
distinguished guests, family and friends and, most of all, graduating
midshipmen of the Class of 2001. (Applause.)
It is a tremendous honor for me to stand
before the future of the United States Navy and the United States
Marine Corps. You'll always remember this commencement day
-- a day of excitement, pomp, circumstance; tears of joy and relief
when the speaker finally stops speaking. (Laughter.)
When I accepted the invitation to speak here,
I asked Admiral Clark, fine man that he is, if he had any thoughts on
what I should talk about. He said, Mr. President, you should talk
about 20 minutes. (Laughter.) So we'll see how I
do.
I bring with me a small graduation
present: in keeping with long-standing tradition, I hereby
absolve all midshipmen who are on restriction for minor conduct
offenses. (Applause.) It seems a lot of you are
cheering. (Laughter.) I leave it to Admiral Ryan
to define exactly what "minor" means. (Laughter.)
Your class has so much to be proud
of. You've endured the physical shake-down of your plebe
summer and the academic shock of your plebe year. You've endured sea
trials and the trial of the Herndon Climb. You've slept in
rooms adorned with brass plaques that remind you of predecessors whose
chests were adorned with Medals of Honor. You've worshipped
in a chapel engraved with the words, "Non Sibi, sed Patriae" -- not for
self, but for country.
You've studied in buildings named after
giants: Nimitz, Sampson, Mahan and Michelson. And
just in case the studying wasn't enough, some of you gave the
left-handed salute to Tecumseh, the "God of
2.0." (Laughter.) They didn't have that statue where I went
to school. (Laughter.) I wish they
had. (Laughter.)
No one made you come here. No one
made you stay. And no one made you to subject yourself to a
code of honor and a life of discipline. But you
did. And your President and your country are so very
grateful and proud that you have chosen to
serve. (Applause.)
We all know that you did not arrive at this
day by yourselves. You had a lot of help. And at
the top of this list must go your parents, and I'd like to congratulate
them, as well. (Applause.) The class of 2001, you
launch yourself into what we all hope will be fair winds and following
seas. It's a good time to reflect for a moment on the things
that change, and the things that never change.
Today, I'm going to talk about the changing
world you're entering, and the enduring values you'll bring to
it. Presenting the "butter bars" to the Class of 2001 will
be four flag officers from the Naval Academy Class of 1951, Admirals
Burkhalter, Dunn, McKee and Metcalf. We're so honored to
have them here, as well as a true modern day hero, and your former
superintendent, Admiral Bill Lawrence.
The Class of '51 and the Class of '01 are
separated by 50 years, but you have much in common. You
exhibit the same patriotism, the same professionalism, and the same
drive. And let's not forget, both classes beat
Army. (Applause.)
Half a century ago, the Class of '51 ventured
into a world where the very existence of our nation seemed to hang in
the balance. Thanks in part to their service and sacrifice,
the values of democratic freedom prevailed throughout some 40 winters
of a Cold War.
Today, you inherit a world that is safer and
more peaceful, a world the Class of '51 helped to make
possible. You're the custodians of their legacy, the next
link in the long, unbroken chain that is Annapolis past and present.
The world you're entering today is different
from the one they entered in five decades ago. But it's
still dangerous. It still requires America to have a forward
strategy for freedom. The Navy-Marine Corps team you're
about to join as new officers will be an integral part of that
strategy.
Today, nearly one-third of our naval forces
are forward-deployed overseas. The USS Constellation carrier
battle group and its 10,000 sailors are plying the waters of the
Persian Gulf, enforcing the no-fly zone over southern Iraq.
Another 3,800 sailors and Marines stand guard
nearby with the Boxer amphibious ready group, deterring and mischief
Saddam might contemplate. The USS Enterprise is in the Mediterranean,
along with the Kearsarge amphibious ready group. They're
supporting NATO efforts to maintain peace in the Balkans and deterring
those who would break the peace. And in the Pacific, the USS
Kitty Hawk is on call, ready, if needed, to defend America's
interests.
These forces are America's insurance policy in
a world of change and challenge. They give comfort to our
allies and pause to our enemies and adversaries. America
today has the finest Navy and Marine Corps the world has ever
seen. And with your help, I am committing to ensuring that
we have the world's finest Navy and Marine Corps tomorrow and every day
after. (Applause.)
To do so, we must build forces that draw upon
the revolutionary advances in the technology of war that will allow us
to keep the peace by redefining war on our terms. I'm
committed to building a future force that is defined less by size and
more by mobility and swiftness, one that is easier to deploy and
sustain, one that relies more heavily on stealth, precision weaponry
and information technologies.
Fifteen years from now, as many of you
approach the point of command, a President may stand here and describe
a far different range of deployments than the one I just
gave. He -- or she -- may speak of Aegis destroyers
protecting entire continents from the threat of ballistic missile
attack. Modified Trident submarines carrying hundreds of
next-generation smart conventional cruise missiles; agile Marine task
forces ready to deploy with far greater speed, operational reach and
precision than ever before. And global command and control
systems providing near total battle space awareness in real time to
on-the-scene commanders.
Building tomorrow's force is not going to be
easy. Changing the direction of our military is like
changing the course of a mighty ship -- all the more reason for more
research and development, and all the more reason to get started right
away.
Yet, building a 21st century military will
require more than new weapons. It will also require a
renewed spirit of innovation in our officer corps. We cannot
transform our military using old weapons and old plans. Nor
can we do it with an old bureaucratic mind set that frustrates the
creativity and entrepreneurship that a 21st century military will
need.
The world around us is made smaller every day
by the powers of science and technology. These forces of
change are transforming every field, from business and communications
to health and culture. As the newest officers in our
military, your leadership challenge is to embrace those forces, so that
you might shape them and harness them to build the security of our
country. Only by accepting this challenge will you be able
to see over the horizon, and to develop the new concepts and
applications that our Navy will need in the decades to come.
It is this spirit of innovation that in the
late '20s allowed a visionary like Admiral Marc Mitscher to truly
understand the potential power of putting an airplane on a
ship. He and other great pioneers perfected in less than 20
years the doctrine, technology and tactics of naval aviation that would
win the war in the Pacific.
That same decade, the spirit of innovation
allowed a smart Marine Major named Pete Ellis to understand that such a
war would require the ability to land men and heavy equipment from a
ship. So he spent the better part of his career developing
the doctrine of amphibious warfare. The Marines at Iwo Jima and Inchon
were thankful he did.
The same spirit led Admiral Hyman Rickover in
the '50s to the insight that the nuclear genie could be bottled to
allow our submarines to stay underwater for months at a
time. It led Admiral "Red" Raborn to understand how to put a
nuclear missile on a submarine. And it led Arleigh Burke,
the father of the modern Navy, to have the foresight to put these two
men and their ideas together to create the third and most invulnerable
leg of our Cold War nuclear triad.
Creativity and imaginative thinking are the
great competitive advantages of America and America's
military. Today, I call upon you to seize and to join this
tradition of creativity and innovation. Our national and
military leaders owe you a culture that supports innovation and a
system that rewards it.
Officers willing to think big thoughts and
look at problems with a fresh eye are sometimes wrong. New
ideas don't always work. If you pick up this mantle, some of
your ideas may fail. But we need to give you this freedom,
and we will. It is from your failures that we will learn and
acquire the knowledge that will make successful innovation possible.
As President, I am committed to fostering a
military culture where intelligent risk-taking and forward thinking are
rewarded, not dreaded. And I'm committed to ensuring that visionary
leaders who take risks are recognized and
promoted. (Applause.)
The Navy of the future will require innovation
and entrepreneurial leadership. It will require safeguarding
naval traditions of accountability and responsibility. And,
as it always has, it will require men and women who live and breathe
the values that have made America and her military great.
You know by now that life in the Navy and
Marine Corps is not glamorous. You will endure long hours of
routine, punctuated -- at times without warning -- by moments of
danger, where the stakes for your crew and your country could not be
higher.
Annapolis has prepared you well for this
life. It has strengthened your bodies and sharpened your
minds. Most importantly, it has fortified your character
with timeless values: honor, courage and commitment.
Through four years, your class has sat through many a lecture about the
meaning of these values. You don't need another lecture
today. But I do urge you to reflect upon their
importance. Reminders of their relevance surround us.
Last month when our EP-3 crew came home from
Hainan Island in China, millions of Americans had the opportunity to
hear their story on television. From officers and crew,
including Lieutenant John Comerford, Annapolis Class of 1997, America
learned firsthand about the skill and courage it took to land their
wounded plane. We also saw a glimpse of the fortitude that
allowed the crew to maintain its unity and spirit.
What Americans couldn't know from those
television appearances was that these men and women of uncommon valor
are, in fact, quite common in today's Navy. What looked
extraordinary to America is nothing out of the ordinary among those who
wear the uniform. (Applause.) And our Navy and
Marine Corps is filled with people, both officers and enlisted, who
have the courage, maturity and judgment they displayed. I'm
sure the Admirals from the Class of 1951 who joined us today could tell
you quite explicitly how the Navy's core values have served them
throughout their illustrious careers.
But there are many others from the Class of
'51 whose stories are lessor known, such as retired Lieutenant Colonel
Bill Holmberg. One year and a handful of days after
graduation, Second Lieutenant Bill Holmberg found himself on the Korean
peninsula, faced with the daunting task: to infiltrate his
platoon deep behind enemy lines in an area swarming with patrol; to
rout a tenacious enemy to seize and hold their position. And
that's what he did. And that's what his platoon did.
Along the way they came under heavy fire and
engaged in fierce hand-to-hand combat. Despite severe
wounds, Lieutenant Holmberg refused to be evacuated, and continued to
deliver orders and direct the offensive until the mission was
accomplished.
And that's why he wears the Navy
Cross. And today, his deeds, and the deeds of other heros
from that class, echo down through the ages to you. You can't dictate
the values that make a hero. You can't buy them, but you can
foster them. And you can give a class like yours a sense of
confidence and teamwork that will carry you through the toughest
moments in a life of service to a cause greater than all of us.
Today, you leave here knowing in your heart a
great truth that some in life never discover: that values
are important. You understand that life cannot be lived with
casual commitments and shallow creeds. You understand that
no one can be neutral between right and wrong, tyranny and freedom,
cynicism and honor. And you know that the greatest victories
are sometimes won on the private battlefields of conscience.
Over time, your weapons and methods must
change, but your values will not. And because of this, you
contribute not just to the military might of our country, but to its
meaning and conscience and soul. (Applause.)
You will not only be the defenders of America,
but an example to America, and we're deeply grateful.
Finally, as you go about your great work,
remember that you're not only officers, but ambassadors from the land
of freedom. Your work will take you far from our
shores. And for many people, you will be, literally, the
face of America, the first and, perhaps, only American they will ever
meet.
Remember that your very diversity of regional,
racial and religious heritage is, itself, a rebuke to those who hate
the ideals you have pledged to defend. Remember that America
has always been committed to enlarging the circle of human freedom, not
reaching for the crown of empire.
And as you wear your nation's uniform,
remember also to wear the humility of true greatness. As
your class helps America chart its new course in this new century,
these values -- honor, courage, commitment and humility -- must be both
your anchor and your compass. You are part of the long, blue
line of service and sacrifice, committed to defending the highest
aspirations of the human heart.
The best days of our Navy and our nation are
yet to come, and you, by the grace of God, will help us reach the next
shore.
Thank you, and God
bless. (Applause.)
END
10:37 A.M. EDT
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