Q: How are you doing?
SECRETARY OF DEFENSE ASH CARTER: Good. And you?
Q: Good. Brad Peniston.
SEC. CARTER: Brad, thanks for coming. What class were you?
Q: '91.
SEC. CARTER: What college?
Q: Yale. My dad was ROTC in 1956 if you can believe it.
Q: Awesome.
Q: Yeah, a long time ago.
SEC. CARTER: Well, let's see. Our president's a Yaley [sic Columbia], our secretary of state is a Yaley, our secretary of defense is a Yaley. I forget who else. Jack Lew, we need to find out.
POTUS went to Columbia and the Harvard for law school...he wasn't a Yaley.
Q: So --
SEC. CARTER: Not Jack?
Q: Not Jack.
SEC. CARTER: Okay. Well, that's the top three isn’t it?
Q: Yes.
SEC. CARTER: Pretty good.
Q: (off-mic.)
SEC. CARTER: Well, first of all, thank you as always for coming. There are two purposes for this trip.
One will be at Electric Boat and at the Groton submarine base and the Naval War College, and the naval undersea weapons centers, it's now called -- used to be system center, all of which emphasize the undersea dominance which the United States has and is going to continue to have.
It's got a big focus in the '17 budget that's on the Hill now. And that's a major Navy theme, and of course, I'll be speaking Friday at Annapolis, and then off to the Shangri-La Dialogue over the next weekend. So, it's appropriate that we have this trip now.
And I'll be looking at current programs, particularly the Virginia class and the Virginia payload module, but also looking to the future of the Ohio replacement. Those are the three big programs at Electric Boat. The Naval Undersea Weapons Center is doing a number of things, many of which I can't share, but again, the theme is undersea dominance.
The other theme here is the Force of the Future, continuing to attract and retain. Begins at Yale, which has its first ROTC commencement in a long time. And I'm so glad to see ROTC come back to Yale. And as a Yale graduate, I can't imagine being the secretary of defense and not having ROTC at Yale.
I remember those days. I think it's so appropriate for good young people to have what is a wonderful opportunity to be part of something bigger than themselves. And I'm glad the country is together enough now to be supportive of Yale ROTC.
Over -- when we go to the sub base, I'll be talking to officers who are little further along in their career. And here, the inflection point is retention. So, I want to talk to these folks about their -- their decisions, how they look at their careers, what, if anything, that's consistent with our other needs we can do differently to make it more attractive to them to stay.
You know, that's why I made some changes in our family program a short time ago, because these people are also at the age where family is a big part of their general decision making for most of them.
And also, to talk to the shipyard workers and the electric boat workers here. Can't ever forget they're part of the force, too. And they're part of our technology base and our industrial base, and that's what keeps us superior in technological terms, even as our people keep us superior in human and innovative terms, in terms of operational art.
So, those are the two purposes for this particular trip, and that's about it.
STAFF: Any questions?
Q: Secretary Carter, when you entered Yale in the fall of 1972, ROTC had completely packed up. There was a lot of anti-Vietnam War turmoil and fervor. Can you speak a little bit about what it was like as a student to, you know, be in that atmosphere where there was no military presence on campus and kind of what it means to you now to be sort of closing the loop on that history?
SEC. CARTER: Well, I was probably rare at the time in not having caught the anti-war bug. In my -- where I grew up in Philadelphia, people took sides on that issue mostly by what street they lived on, rather than any real understanding we had.
And of course, I was focused on physics and history at the time and had no intention ever to do this. But ROTC had closed down by the year I arrived and feelings were still raw -- the campus, including with the faculty -- many of whom clearly disagreed with this decision, and would make it known in class.
So, I'm so glad to have it back. And again, it's hard to imagine being secretary of defense in an era when our military was so suspect. And I'm so gratified now, it's just the opposite. I think that society is very admiring of the institution of the Department of Defense and the military.
And our young people are giving serious consideration -- which they should -- and it just makes me very proud to head this institution. And that it would have been heart-breaking for me to be trying to do it at that time.
Q: Is that -- is that -- would you also be speaking to Yale administrators about is, you know, bringing more Yale students into the military? What will your discussions today with them sort of center on?
SEC. CARTER: Yeah, well, I -- obviously, we'd like the program to expand. We want that to be true on every campus. And we'll make room for that if there are more people who volunteer.
By my going there and welcoming them, I hope that others on campus get a little bit of visibility into the program and the tremendous opportunity it offers them, so we get more and more. And by the way, I should say the program doesn't just encompass Yale. And there will come a time, perhaps, when the program expands beyond the Navy and the Air Force, which is where it is now.
But we're very happy with what it is now.
Q: Is this your first trip to Yale? When was your last trip to Yale?
SEC. CARTER: It's been several years since I've been back to Yale.
And fortunately, there's a major reunion coming up in just a few weeks that I was going to go to and see a lot of friends. And now, I can't, because I have to be in Asia at that time. It's very -- it's sad. So I recorded a little message for my classmates, but I would have loved to have seen everybody.
Q: When are you going to talk to the leaders? There's something on your schedule about talking to Yale leaders? Are you -- what are you going to talk to them about?
SEC. CARTER: Well, I'll meet with the president, and talk to them, and then some leaders who I know from the physics department and the history department. These are people I've known for a long time. I just want to sit down, talk with them.
One of them was my physics professor. Very, very distinguished physicist, with whom I did experiments at Fermilab and Brookhaven in those days.
Q: What's his name?
SEC. CARTER: Bob Adair. And Bob also was a distinguished veteran. Bob was machine-gunned seriously by Germans in World War II and -- but went on to a remarkable career in experimental physics, and those were the days when Fermilab was brand new and first getting its beam energy output.
It was a thrill for me to fly out to Chicago and do experiments with him. And then in Brookhaven, which is down on Long Island. And then Yale also has, as those of you who went there, I think the best history department in the country, and so I'll see a couple of historians there.
Q: Mr. Secretary, clearly the Ivies have allowed ROTC back on campus now, but is it -- is there still a bit of a cultural gap at the Ivies where there -- the numbers remain small? Are they still embracing the military level that you'd like to see?
SEC. CARTER: Well, all the campuses I've been on, and the presidents of those universities and the faculties have -- the climate that was there on campuses when I was in college has really very much dissipated. Partly, that's a generational thing, but it's also, I hope, recognition that, you know, what we do is one of the things that students ought to be told is a really meaningful way to spend your life and use your education to better our country and the world.
So, I think that's getting across.
STAFF: Last one. Sydney?
Q: Mr. Secretary, as a Harvard graduate -- mind if I change the subject? Vietnam announced this morning -- and you had -- you had signaled this before. So what's the bilateral impact? And given Shangri-La coming up next week, what's the multilateral regional impact of this opening to Vietnam?
SEC. CARTER: Bilaterally, this allows us to make yet further advances in what really is an historic military-to-military relationship with Vietnam. And I think this will particularly be reflected in the maritime domain, which is one of the areas that we work most closely with Vietnam in.
And I had the privilege about a year ago to be the first American visitor to Haiphong Harbor and the Vietnamese naval fleet there. And so I'm glad that we took a number of steps there, and I'm glad the president has decided to increase it further.
And in terms of its wider regional meaning, what it is is a reflection of the fact that more and more countries in the region are coming to the United States more and more, to do more and more with us because of their general concern with the security environment in the region. And their recognition that we recognize and it's reflected in the rebalance that the Asian miracle of the last 70 years has been the result of peace and stability in the region.
And the American presence there and our pivotal role, which we intend to continue, has made that possible -- one of the factors that has made that possible. So it does have both a bilateral meaning, and it reflects a larger regional desire to work more with us that’s really gratifying.
Q: Was it -- it -- with China obviously, a (inaudible) China -- (inaudible) -- China's actions, you know, have certainly been --
SEC. CARTER: Nothing we do there is directed at China, but there's no question that China's actions there, particularly those over the last year, have heightened concern in the region, and that's another factor which causes them to want to work with us.
STAFF: All right, everyone. Got to let him do some work.
SEC. CARTER: All right.
Q: Appreciate the time.
Q: Yeah, I like the tie, sir.
SEC. CARTER: Yeah, I know. Stephanie dug this -- I don't know where I got it. So she must have given it to me and that's pretty good, isn't it?
Q: Yeah.
SEC. CARTER: I love Stephanie. She showed up with it yesterday, little bulldog.
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