WEBVTT 00:00.775 --> 00:03.310 - Good afternoon, and welcome to the Atlantic Council. 00:03.310 --> 00:04.610 I'm Dennis Blair. 00:04.610 --> 00:06.880 I'm a board director of the Atlantic Council 00:06.880 --> 00:10.250 as well as a chairman at Sasakawa USA. 00:10.250 --> 00:13.040 And it's my pleasure to welcome all of you to our 00:13.040 --> 00:14.860 ^first Commanders Series Event this year, 00:14.860 --> 00:16.550 ^which is a conversation with the Commandant of the 00:16.550 --> 00:19.353 ^Marine Corps, General Robert Neller. 00:19.770 --> 00:20.940 ^And we're also, as I understand it, 00:20.940 --> 00:22.490 ^live streaming this event. 00:22.490 --> 00:25.293 ^So welcome to wherever the camera is, 00:25.378 --> 00:28.133 ^all of you who are watching online. 00:28.580 --> 00:31.031 ^And today's discussion continues the council's longstanding 00:31.031 --> 00:35.670 ^flagship Commanders Series, which is generously supported by 00:35.670 --> 00:37.293 ^Saab North America. 00:38.810 --> 00:43.170 ^Now the role of today's service chief was to find in the 00:43.420 --> 00:46.060 ^Goldwater-Nichols legislation the actual 00:46.060 --> 00:48.253 ^Goldwater-Nichols act of 1986. 00:48.910 --> 00:50.810 ^And this legislation basically assigned 00:50.810 --> 00:55.543 ^to combatant commanders the job of planning, exercising, 00:55.800 --> 00:59.453 ^and operating joint forces in contingencies and in combat. 00:59.910 --> 01:02.850 ^And it assigned to the Service Chiefs the roles 01:02.850 --> 01:04.930 ^of organizing, training, and equipping 01:05.390 --> 01:07.673 ^their respective forces. 01:08.640 --> 01:11.480 ^Now, that's not a bad basic contrast, 01:11.480 --> 01:14.123 ^but things are really not that simple. 01:14.590 --> 01:17.310 ^And this legislation set up a series of tensions 01:18.540 --> 01:21.770 ^in the roles of the uniformed military leaders 01:21.770 --> 01:24.410 ^that we've seen played out in various forms 01:24.410 --> 01:27.543 ^and solved in various ways since that time. 01:28.260 --> 01:31.730 ^The first tension is between supply and demand. 01:31.730 --> 01:34.139 ^The total force requirements of the combatant commanders 01:34.139 --> 01:36.990 ^to do their assigned mission with high confidence 01:36.990 --> 01:41.180 ^generally exceeds the total supply of the forces 01:41.180 --> 01:42.013 ^of the services. 01:42.013 --> 01:46.143 ^And so there have to be trade offs and risk judgements made. 01:47.520 --> 01:49.357 ^It's not the case that heedless, 01:49.357 --> 01:52.463 ^ignorant combatant commanders ask for the moon, 01:53.330 --> 01:56.470 ^rather, it's that the type of forces required for both 01:56.470 --> 01:59.500 ^the day to day and the contingency plans 01:59.500 --> 02:01.400 ^of different theaters are often quite different 02:01.400 --> 02:03.923 ^in type and in amount. 02:05.260 --> 02:08.313 ^The second tension is between the present and the future. 02:09.290 --> 02:11.890 ^Within fixed budgets a service cannot generally 02:11.890 --> 02:14.772 ^satisfy all our demands for current ready forces, 02:14.772 --> 02:19.390 ^as well as making adequate investments in the equipment 02:19.390 --> 02:21.420 ^and in the people that will be needed 02:21.420 --> 02:26.420 ^for crises or conflicts, five, 10, 20 years in the future. 02:27.210 --> 02:30.373 ^And again there have to be risks and trade offs. 02:31.730 --> 02:34.453 ^And finally there's a tension within strategy. 02:35.340 --> 02:39.750 ^Service Chiefs do not have a direct assigned role in forming 02:40.290 --> 02:44.123 ^regional strategies for crisis or conflict. 02:44.390 --> 02:46.170 ^Requirements, plans, and decisions 02:46.170 --> 02:48.543 ^run from the Combatant Commander and his staff, 02:48.970 --> 02:51.803 ^to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs and his staff, 02:52.020 --> 02:54.670 ^to the Secretary of Defense, and the President. 02:54.670 --> 02:57.250 ^And although there are many informal ways for 02:57.250 --> 02:59.060 ^the Service Chiefs themselves and for their 02:59.060 --> 03:03.570 ^Component Commanders in each of the Combatant Commands 03:03.570 --> 03:05.313 ^to make input to the process, 03:05.330 --> 03:08.133 ^there is not a formal involvement. 03:09.530 --> 03:13.070 ^So like all imperfect organizational processes 03:13.070 --> 03:17.253 ^the greater good is achieved only by the wisdom, maturity, 03:17.630 --> 03:19.533 ^mutual respect, initiative, 03:19.670 --> 03:22.793 ^and cooperation of individual leaders. 03:23.210 --> 03:24.930 ^They have to work within the system, 03:24.930 --> 03:26.883 ^do the roles they are assigned, 03:27.400 --> 03:30.980 ^but they must also compensate for these structural flaws, 03:30.980 --> 03:32.473 ^these structural tensions, 03:32.786 --> 03:35.510 ^and they have to do it by common sense 03:35.620 --> 03:38.479 ^and communication across structural boundaries, 03:38.479 --> 03:41.193 ^and by keeping the greater good in mind. 03:42.450 --> 03:46.080 ^In my experience in senior joint assignments, 03:46.080 --> 03:48.240 ^the Marine Corps and it's commandants 03:48.240 --> 03:51.380 ^have always been one of the most active and effective 03:51.761 --> 03:53.943 ^sets of leaders in this regard. 03:55.010 --> 03:58.400 ^Commandants over the years have managed to satisfy 03:58.802 --> 04:01.230 ^the requirements of Regional Commanders in ingenious 04:01.230 --> 04:03.213 ^and very effective ways. 04:04.190 --> 04:08.760 ^They have strong views and are able to satisfy 04:08.760 --> 04:11.913 ^both present and future requirements for their service. 04:12.268 --> 04:14.920 ^And they manage to stay deeply involved in forming 04:14.970 --> 04:19.010 ^regional strategies and helping Combatant Commanders 04:19.460 --> 04:21.600 ^make those in ways that will be smart 04:21.630 --> 04:22.973 ^and operationally savvy. 04:24.160 --> 04:25.130 ^And they always, 04:25.130 --> 04:27.820 ^and the Marine Corps is able to do this better than any, 04:27.820 --> 04:31.053 ^are able to preserve the traditions of their service, 04:31.441 --> 04:34.030 ^while still being open to new ideas 04:34.030 --> 04:36.530 ^and being contributing members of the Joint Force. 04:37.560 --> 04:40.840 ^So General Neller follows a long line of exceptional 04:40.840 --> 04:43.334 ^service leaders, and we look forward to hearing from him 04:43.334 --> 04:46.400 ^how the Marine Corps is thinking about and dealing with 04:46.690 --> 04:49.970 ^the complex national security environment of 2018 04:50.420 --> 04:53.285 ^and the probably more complex and more challenging 04:53.285 --> 04:56.743 ^security environment of the future. 04:57.610 --> 04:59.110 ^So it's my pleasure now to invite 04:59.110 --> 05:02.240 ^Jon Kaufmann of Saab North America to the podium 05:02.240 --> 05:03.910 ^to introduce General Neller. 05:03.910 --> 05:04.743 ^Jon? 05:05.160 --> 05:08.160 (audience applauds) 05:11.320 --> 05:12.930 - Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. 05:12.930 --> 05:14.593 As the Admiral indicated, 05:15.140 --> 05:17.763 ^my name is Jon Kaufmann from Saab North America. 05:19.610 --> 05:24.083 ^Just a quick and dirty on Saab here, just so you know. 05:24.250 --> 05:26.520 ^For more than 80 years, Saab has been at the forefront 05:26.520 --> 05:28.513 ^of technology and innovation. 05:28.720 --> 05:30.940 ^Designing manufacturing products to enhance 05:30.940 --> 05:33.053 ^and enable national defense, 05:33.270 --> 05:36.073 ^and to increase safety and security of the public. 05:36.600 --> 05:39.600 ^During that time we've grown from a relatively small company 05:39.690 --> 05:42.600 ^dedicated to building airplanes for the Swedish Government, 05:42.600 --> 05:45.773 ^to a global provider of defense security solutions. 05:46.410 --> 05:49.253 ^Here in the US we've been active for more than 40 years. 05:49.360 --> 05:51.150 ^Supplying the US Government and industry 05:51.150 --> 05:52.803 ^with our products and technology. 05:53.710 --> 05:55.580 ^Saab also places a great importance 05:55.580 --> 05:57.433 ^on international cooperation. 05:57.700 --> 06:00.960 ^As Europe faces evolving threats, it's crucial to maintain 06:00.960 --> 06:04.073 ^a strong relationship between the US and Europe. 06:04.740 --> 06:06.630 ^As a global defense security company, 06:06.630 --> 06:09.430 ^Saab wants to support efforts to strengthen these 06:09.430 --> 06:12.370 ^transatlantic ties by working together 06:12.740 --> 06:16.083 ^we can promote peace and security for all in the future. 06:16.480 --> 06:19.290 ^And given today's global security situation, 06:19.290 --> 06:21.823 ^this effort is clearly more important than ever. 06:22.850 --> 06:25.830 ^That is also why our support of the Atlantic Council 06:25.830 --> 06:28.173 ^and our sponsorship of the Commander Series, 06:28.310 --> 06:29.943 ^which is now in its ninth year, 06:29.970 --> 06:32.223 ^are so valuable and important to us. 06:33.520 --> 06:34.910 ^Therefore, I'm very pleased to see 06:34.910 --> 06:36.840 ^that so many of you could make it here today. 06:36.840 --> 06:38.943 ^Especially during spring break week. 06:39.310 --> 06:42.010 ^And it's a great honor for me to introduce our special guest 06:42.010 --> 06:45.240 ^for today, the Commandant of the United States Marine Corps 06:45.240 --> 06:46.830 ^General Robert B. Neller. 06:47.552 --> 06:51.220 ^I could read through a long biography here for the General, 06:51.220 --> 06:55.023 ^but I think he would prefer that I dispense with that, 06:55.267 --> 06:56.750 ^but I would like to say one thing, 06:56.750 --> 07:00.790 ^and I've heard him say before that the prime directive 07:00.790 --> 07:05.790 ^is that the Commandant ensures that your Marine Corps 07:07.060 --> 07:10.763 ^is the most ready when the nation is least ready. 07:11.010 --> 07:13.010 ^And I think there's a lot in that statement, 07:13.010 --> 07:14.833 ^that's quite accurate. 07:15.070 --> 07:16.283 ^But needless to say, 07:16.330 --> 07:19.540 ^the General has been in leadership positions 07:19.540 --> 07:21.490 ^at every level within the Marine Corps. 07:21.700 --> 07:23.720 ^He's a graduate of the Advanced Armor Course, 07:23.720 --> 07:25.960 ^the Marine Corps Command and Staff College, 07:25.960 --> 07:28.823 ^the NATO Defense College, the Armed Forces Staff College, 07:28.900 --> 07:31.600 ^and he holds Masters Degree in Human Resource Management 07:31.600 --> 07:33.183 ^from Pepperdine University. 07:33.500 --> 07:35.450 ^These are just a few of the highlights. 07:35.910 --> 07:38.150 ^General, we are very grateful that you're able to join 07:38.150 --> 07:39.143 ^us here today. 07:39.260 --> 07:40.620 ^Please join me in welcoming 07:40.620 --> 07:42.673 ^General Robert B. Neller to the stage. 07:43.814 --> 07:46.814 ^(audience applauds) 07:58.761 --> 07:59.920 - Well, hello ladies and gentlemen. 07:59.920 --> 08:01.010 My name is Kevin Baron. 08:01.010 --> 08:03.250 I'm the Executive Editor of Defense One, 08:03.250 --> 08:05.400 and as you all know General Neller here, 08:05.400 --> 08:06.796 Commandant of the Marine Corps. 08:06.796 --> 08:08.300 I'm a Pentagon reporter. 08:08.300 --> 08:11.513 I have been for about 10 years on this beat, specifically. 08:11.715 --> 08:14.430 And Defense One is the national security brand 08:14.430 --> 08:16.040 of the Atlantic Media Company. 08:16.040 --> 08:17.490 We're sister to The Atlantic. 08:17.740 --> 08:19.170 You can catch us all online. 08:19.170 --> 08:21.330 I'm sure the General's an avid daily reader, 08:21.330 --> 08:22.780 he can tell you all about it. 08:23.450 --> 08:27.710 But in addition to that bio, or partial bio we heard, 08:27.710 --> 08:31.370 I just learned backstage a key point that General Neller 08:31.370 --> 08:32.283 is a Trekkie. 08:33.370 --> 08:35.163 He's a big Star Trek man. 08:36.940 --> 08:37.773 Why? 08:38.790 --> 08:39.623 - Uh. 08:40.040 --> 08:42.230 - You said, specifically, you're a Captain Picard guy. 08:42.230 --> 08:46.623 - Yeah, I think that Star Trek is a leadership show. 08:47.590 --> 08:49.170 I think it talks about the future. 08:49.170 --> 08:52.363 I think there's different versions. 08:52.405 --> 08:55.350 There've been about four or five different versions 08:55.350 --> 08:56.183 of Star Trek. 08:56.183 --> 08:59.230 My favorite, as I told you, is Star Trek: Next Generation 08:59.230 --> 09:03.323 with Jean Luc Picard, as the Captain of the Enterprise. 09:03.920 --> 09:06.700 So, I just, I've always enjoyed watching it. 09:06.700 --> 09:09.270 I thought it was, eh just a little hokey sometimes, 09:09.270 --> 09:13.593 but we talked a lot about modernization technology. 09:14.450 --> 09:16.090 But I think it's, above everything else, 09:16.090 --> 09:20.700 it's a leadership show because you always find that the crew 09:20.700 --> 09:22.650 and the Captain are put in some sort of 09:23.080 --> 09:25.210 moral, ethical, operational dilemma, 09:25.210 --> 09:27.443 which I find interesting. 09:28.054 --> 09:30.040 - I just thought had to come out for-- 09:30.040 --> 09:31.590 - I can't tell you how much I appreciate you 09:31.590 --> 09:32.440 bringing that up. 09:32.689 --> 09:33.557 (audience laughs) 09:33.557 --> 09:34.390 - Yes, so, we now, 09:34.390 --> 09:35.735 there's definitely something to tweet about. 09:35.735 --> 09:36.568 - Yeah, right? 09:36.568 --> 09:37.401 - No matter what else we talk about. 09:37.401 --> 09:39.420 - My children are going to thank you for that. 09:40.430 --> 09:41.530 Oh, they already know. 09:41.740 --> 09:42.573 - Good, good. 09:42.573 --> 09:47.490 So I thought we would start wide and work our way down 09:47.690 --> 09:48.693 to some topics. 09:49.400 --> 09:51.970 And I told the General's staff, you know, 09:51.970 --> 09:54.220 I'd want to start us off by talking a little bit about 09:54.220 --> 09:57.380 these times that we're in, and what it's like for you 09:57.380 --> 09:59.710 to be a Service Chief in these times we're in. 09:59.710 --> 10:02.130 And when I say these times, I really mean all of it. 10:02.130 --> 10:04.120 I mean, we just walked past a news screen, 10:04.120 --> 10:05.460 where the news is breaking right now, 10:05.460 --> 10:07.700 the latest development about Stormy Daniels 10:07.910 --> 10:10.763 and what's occupying the White House's mind. 10:10.810 --> 10:13.410 And if it's not that, it's the latest development on 10:13.776 --> 10:15.220 North Korea or the Kim Jong Un's talks 10:15.220 --> 10:17.690 or Vladimir Putin's latest threat, 10:17.690 --> 10:19.423 or the President's reaction to it. 10:19.740 --> 10:24.250 I can't recall such an actual time where national security 10:24.250 --> 10:27.200 issues are just bouncing off the news, daily, daily, daily. 10:27.300 --> 10:31.443 How is that effecting your life as Commandant, 10:31.630 --> 10:34.430 especially in the last year with this new administration? 10:34.430 --> 10:37.040 What changes, what do you worry about, 10:37.040 --> 10:40.090 and what do you hear when you go out and speak 10:40.090 --> 10:42.263 to your troops, Marines around the world? 10:44.260 --> 10:46.410 - I don't really think it's changed much of anything. 10:46.410 --> 10:50.740 I mean, Secretary Mattis, since he assumed his position, 10:50.740 --> 10:53.800 has been pretty clear, and I think he's right. 10:53.800 --> 10:56.750 And our lane is the defense lane. 10:56.750 --> 11:01.092 You know, as Admiral Blair said, the Service Chief's job 11:01.092 --> 11:04.470 as a Service Chief is to provide trained and ready 11:04.470 --> 11:05.920 forces to Combat and Command. 11:06.640 --> 11:09.580 And we're there to provide those trained and ready forces 11:09.580 --> 11:13.293 so that the nation is secure globally. 11:14.600 --> 11:19.600 And that's our lane, and what happens outside of that is 11:21.520 --> 11:24.860 of interest but, this should not ever distract you from 11:24.860 --> 11:25.820 what you're trying to do. 11:25.820 --> 11:30.710 So, we have 186,000 active duty Marines, 11:30.710 --> 11:33.603 and about 39,000 reserve Marines that any one time, 11:34.340 --> 11:38.060 you know, a quarter to a third of them are deployed 11:38.470 --> 11:40.513 and their families are at home. 11:41.240 --> 11:44.640 And our responsibility is to ensure that they're out there 11:44.640 --> 11:46.370 with the proper gear, the proper training, 11:46.370 --> 11:49.623 and that they can do their mission and can return home. 11:50.060 --> 11:54.509 So, anything other than that is of mild interest. 11:54.509 --> 11:57.800 And so, when I go talk to Marines, 11:57.800 --> 11:59.450 you know, I understand that they're out there 11:59.450 --> 12:01.610 and they see all this, and I remind them, 12:01.610 --> 12:03.870 say look, you took an oath to support and defend 12:03.870 --> 12:05.662 the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, 12:05.662 --> 12:06.680 foreign and domestic. 12:06.680 --> 12:07.703 Do your job. 12:08.950 --> 12:09.783 Do your job. 12:10.670 --> 12:13.530 ^And don't bring that we don't have a place. 12:13.530 --> 12:16.113 ^We're here to defend the nation, that's what we do. 12:16.400 --> 12:17.810 ^We're the Defense Department. 12:17.810 --> 12:19.430 ^We're the United States Marine Corps, 12:19.430 --> 12:21.277 ^as was stated by Mr. Kaufmann, 12:21.277 --> 12:23.227 ^"Ready when the nation is least ready." 12:23.300 --> 12:27.478 ^And anything that distracts us from that is, quite frankly, 12:27.478 --> 12:28.993 ^not beneficial. 12:29.740 --> 12:33.619 ^So, focus on the game. 12:33.619 --> 12:36.163 ^Give it your best every day, 12:36.290 --> 12:38.910 ^and then the rest of everything else will work itself out. 12:38.910 --> 12:40.180 - And what's the response? 12:40.180 --> 12:42.580 So, and I'm thinking specifically the last couple months, 12:42.580 --> 12:45.003 the President went out and spoke to Marines. 12:45.050 --> 12:46.550 And there was a lot of reaction to that. 12:46.550 --> 12:49.780 Specifically to him, to the idea that being a politicized 12:49.780 --> 12:51.323 event in front of troops. 12:51.500 --> 12:52.510 You know, I'm a reporter. 12:52.510 --> 12:53.923 Going after the press again. 12:54.300 --> 12:56.820 Do the Marines, do they hear your message? 12:56.820 --> 12:59.490 Or does it bother you that they're applauding 12:59.770 --> 13:01.223 those political lines? 13:01.560 --> 13:03.497 - You know, I mean, they were at an event, 13:03.497 --> 13:05.050 and they responded to the President. 13:05.050 --> 13:06.450 ^He's the Commander in Chief. 13:08.810 --> 13:12.670 ^You know, that was an individual event, but you know, 13:12.670 --> 13:14.370 ^what I've seen when I've talked to them, 13:14.370 --> 13:16.280 ^and when I see them in training they're singularly 13:16.280 --> 13:18.230 ^focused on what they're supposed to do. 13:18.520 --> 13:19.920 ^They understand the mission. 13:20.040 --> 13:22.873 ^This is not just an all volunteer force, 13:22.873 --> 13:25.533 ^this is an all recruited and all retained force. 13:26.390 --> 13:29.450 ^I mean, and they have responsibility 13:29.450 --> 13:31.740 ^and I remind them of that and they respond. 13:31.740 --> 13:33.453 ^I think we're in a good place, 13:34.090 --> 13:37.878 ^but I do remind them of where they are and their role 13:37.878 --> 13:41.420 ^in the United States that they're Department of Defense 13:41.420 --> 13:42.733 ^and their job is defense. 13:43.120 --> 13:44.620 ^They're United States Marines, 13:45.100 --> 13:48.023 ^and there's a certain expectation with that. 13:48.310 --> 13:51.360 ^And we all have to do our best every day to live up to that 13:51.360 --> 13:56.093 ^expectation, which is not a low bar. 13:57.120 --> 13:59.690 ^- So at the higher level, the planning level, 13:59.690 --> 14:00.523 we'll talk, 14:00.523 --> 14:02.010 we'll get to planning for all these contingencies 14:02.010 --> 14:05.780 around the world, but one of the newer developments 14:05.780 --> 14:09.213 of the same vein has been this perceived crack down. 14:09.213 --> 14:12.228 Well not perceived, reported crack down on speaking to 14:12.228 --> 14:14.823 the press, of public engagements. 14:14.840 --> 14:17.563 It came out a couple weeks ago on the Air Force side. 14:17.630 --> 14:21.183 But I wanted to ask you, as speaking just for your service. 14:21.309 --> 14:25.640 Do you, is there a similar, give us the realities 14:25.640 --> 14:26.680 to some of the myths. 14:26.680 --> 14:30.040 I've heard everything from there's a limit to only one 14:30.040 --> 14:32.260 four-star a day should be talking to the press, 14:32.260 --> 14:35.093 all the way down to, you know, 14:35.810 --> 14:37.913 individual engagements being canceled. 14:38.610 --> 14:40.140 And whether or not it's even from the Air Force, 14:40.140 --> 14:42.030 or it's from the White House, or from Dunford, 14:42.030 --> 14:42.983 or none of it. 14:43.510 --> 14:45.925 Tell the public, what's going on behind the scenes. 14:45.925 --> 14:50.640 - I'm not, I don't feel that I've been restrained. 14:50.640 --> 14:52.140 And I'm not restraining any Marines. 14:52.140 --> 14:54.020 I mean, the media's part of the American life. 14:54.020 --> 14:57.020 This is a Democratic society, you're going to write a story. 14:57.230 --> 15:01.160 ^And I think we're compelled and should be able to convey 15:01.160 --> 15:02.893 ^to you our version of that story, 15:03.410 --> 15:07.060 ^and I've never told a Marine they could and couldn't speak. 15:07.060 --> 15:09.100 ^In fact, the best spokesperson for the Marine Corps 15:09.100 --> 15:11.100 ^I want you to talk to our young Marines. 15:11.420 --> 15:13.170 ^I mean, they're outstanding young men and women. 15:13.170 --> 15:16.730 ^And they're smart enough to stay with, 15:16.730 --> 15:18.480 ^to know when to stay in their lane. 15:19.556 --> 15:20.389 ^So, but I'm not. 15:21.170 --> 15:24.640 ^I have not been told one way or the other what to do 15:24.640 --> 15:25.780 ^or not to do with the media. 15:25.780 --> 15:29.010 ^So we'll continue to engage, because I want the American 15:29.010 --> 15:30.750 ^people to know what their Marine Corps is doin', 15:30.750 --> 15:33.570 ^'cause I think we're doing a lot of great incredible stuff. 15:33.570 --> 15:35.313 ^And they should be proud of it. 15:35.790 --> 15:38.380 - Alright, so sticking with the news. 15:38.380 --> 15:39.543 The latest development, 15:39.660 --> 15:41.321 and then we'll get to the regional stuff. 15:41.321 --> 15:45.723 Was the new policy on transgender troops. 15:45.974 --> 15:49.430 Give us your thoughts on that policy or your input 15:49.430 --> 15:54.430 as much as you can on this change of where previously 15:56.480 --> 15:57.710 open service was the rule, 15:57.710 --> 15:59.310 and now there are limitations to that. 15:59.310 --> 16:00.710 Did you support that change? 16:01.610 --> 16:03.410 - You know, the advice I gave to the Secretary of the Navy, 16:03.410 --> 16:08.073 ^and the SecDef is privileged communication between us. 16:08.570 --> 16:10.863 ^I mean I read the Secretary's policy. 16:11.080 --> 16:13.610 ^President said that they defer to the decision of the 16:13.610 --> 16:16.560 ^Secretary of Defense and the Director of Homeland Security. 16:16.680 --> 16:19.113 ^I believe this is all still under litigation, 16:19.650 --> 16:23.940 ^and so, in the meantime until the courts decide 16:23.940 --> 16:25.080 ^what the rules are gonna be, 16:25.080 --> 16:26.730 ^I think we just leave it at that. 16:26.990 --> 16:31.483 ^So there are any number of personnel in the Marine Corps. 16:32.550 --> 16:35.500 ^It fluctuates, it's not a large number, 16:35.500 --> 16:38.573 ^but I met with some of them and they're out there serving. 16:39.700 --> 16:40.620 ^- [Moderator] Some transgender troops? 16:40.620 --> 16:43.930 ^- There are, and so they're out there, 16:43.930 --> 16:46.720 ^and as long as they, like any Marine, 16:46.720 --> 16:48.220 ^they're expected to maintain the standards 16:48.220 --> 16:50.610 ^and perform according to their requirements. 16:50.610 --> 16:54.323 ^And as long as they do so, until we hear otherwise, 16:55.060 --> 16:56.680 ^they'll continue to wear this uniform 16:56.680 --> 16:57.880 ^and serve their country. 16:58.210 --> 17:00.850 ^So, we'll see what happens with the other decision. 17:00.850 --> 17:02.460 ^I know there's a lot of litigation going on, 17:02.460 --> 17:03.757 ^and I'm not going to speculate on that. 17:03.757 --> 17:06.220 ^In the mean time, they're United States Marines 17:06.220 --> 17:07.770 ^and they ought to do their job. 17:08.230 --> 17:09.063 ^- Okay. 17:09.570 --> 17:12.050 I'll remind the audience we will open to questions in the 17:12.050 --> 17:13.400 latter half of this discussion. 17:13.400 --> 17:14.703 So keep them in mind. 17:15.380 --> 17:17.643 So let's go around the world a little bit. 17:17.810 --> 17:20.000 I was fortunate enough to go out with General Votel 17:20.000 --> 17:21.503 to CENTCOM in January. 17:21.686 --> 17:22.519 - Mmhmm. 17:22.519 --> 17:23.930 - And we went through Iraq, went up to Syria, 17:23.930 --> 17:25.030 went through Afghanistan. 17:25.030 --> 17:26.990 So I'd like to talk about all those conflicts 17:26.990 --> 17:29.993 and the future of counter-terrorism, specifically. 17:30.330 --> 17:32.823 ^How 'bout we start with Afghanistan? 17:32.989 --> 17:37.210 ^There's a new strategy, some question how new it is, 17:37.210 --> 17:38.920 ^or if it's just a little bit more of just putting 17:38.920 --> 17:40.563 ^a little bit of foot on the gas. 17:40.880 --> 17:44.730 ^But out there, the Officers that I met with, 17:44.730 --> 17:47.317 ^and we were a little bit more focused on Air Force 17:47.317 --> 17:49.160 ^and that new expanded mission, 17:49.160 --> 17:50.643 ^but there was a lot of hope. 17:50.690 --> 17:52.563 ^And this is what I wrote out of it, 17:52.810 --> 17:55.310 ^and got a lot of strong reaction to that article. 17:55.310 --> 17:56.937 ^That, "You know what? 17:56.937 --> 17:58.017 ^"Here we go again." 17:58.020 --> 18:02.190 ^It's your whatever team, and this is just more the same. 18:02.190 --> 18:04.610 ^And here's another crop of up and coming young generals 18:04.610 --> 18:05.443 ^who just don't know. 18:05.443 --> 18:07.690 ^Or they've been drinking the Kool-Aid so long, 18:07.920 --> 18:10.728 ^combined with low public opinion back home 18:10.728 --> 18:12.853 ^of staying in these wars. 18:12.940 --> 18:14.520 ^And a little bit of unsurety of what 18:14.520 --> 18:16.103 ^the President actually wants. 18:16.830 --> 18:19.680 ^What's your, I mean what's your generic take 18:19.680 --> 18:21.943 ^on Afghanistan, but why should people, 18:22.550 --> 18:25.733 ^why should Americans think the US needs to stay as engaged 18:25.733 --> 18:26.566 ^as it is? 18:26.566 --> 18:29.863 ^Much less, ramp up the fight again? 18:31.634 --> 18:33.217 - Well I think it would be easy to say, 18:33.217 --> 18:36.570 "Hey, you know we just pull the plug and leave." 18:36.570 --> 18:40.110 But, I think, you know, we went into Afghanistan 18:40.460 --> 18:42.970 because it was a safe haven for those that attacked 18:42.970 --> 18:44.283 our country on 9/11. 18:44.310 --> 18:47.360 And I think you could make the case if we were not there 18:47.360 --> 18:48.911 present and support the Afghan government that 18:48.911 --> 18:50.453 that could happen again. 18:50.690 --> 18:52.083 There's also other forces. 18:52.747 --> 18:55.750 ^I mean, I know there's, I've never served, 18:55.750 --> 18:57.950 ^I visited Afghanistan multiple times, 18:57.950 --> 18:59.420 ^but I've never served there and it's different. 18:59.420 --> 19:00.520 ^I mean, I've served in Iraq. 19:00.520 --> 19:04.370 ^So, my ability to make completely 19:04.370 --> 19:07.913 ^without having served there and lived it day to day, 19:08.540 --> 19:12.100 ^so I'm somewhat guarded about making it. 19:12.100 --> 19:15.223 ^And talking to the folks that I know that have been there, 19:16.637 --> 19:18.787 ^and we have a Marine force back in Helmand, 19:19.030 --> 19:20.100 ^I think it's different. 19:20.100 --> 19:21.997 ^I think, you know we're going to have 19:21.997 --> 19:24.300 ^100,000 plus Americans there. 19:24.300 --> 19:25.950 ^The number is much, much smaller. 19:26.740 --> 19:29.800 ^Our involvement in the day to day tactical activities 19:29.820 --> 19:34.493 ^of the Afghans is, out on the street, is minimal. 19:34.840 --> 19:37.191 ^And we're facilitating them doing the fighting. 19:37.191 --> 19:40.400 ^And I think they're having some success. 19:40.400 --> 19:42.150 ^And we're at the beginning of the fighting season 19:42.150 --> 19:44.970 ^for this year, so we'll have to see what happens 19:45.420 --> 19:46.543 ^as we go through. 19:46.890 --> 19:49.460 ^Afghanistan is going to potentially have an election 19:49.460 --> 19:53.563 ^later this year, and that'll be a tell tale sign as to 19:53.563 --> 19:56.313 ^what the political climate is there amongst the people. 19:56.860 --> 19:58.830 ^But, I think it is different. 19:58.830 --> 20:00.790 ^I think the support of the Air Force, 20:00.790 --> 20:02.760 ^the support of their counter-terrorism services, 20:02.760 --> 20:04.523 ^the way we're doing the advising. 20:05.540 --> 20:08.780 ^Advising, not doing for them. 20:08.780 --> 20:10.780 ^Advising them and let them do the fighting. 20:10.780 --> 20:11.870 ^They're having some success. 20:11.870 --> 20:15.410 ^That said, I think that the most important thing 20:15.410 --> 20:19.860 ^is the offer of President Ghani, for reconciliation 20:19.860 --> 20:24.860 ^and for Afghan Taliban to come in and that's gonna be, 20:25.290 --> 20:27.510 ^I mean, that's gotta be a political resolution. 20:27.510 --> 20:28.633 ^There is no, 20:28.860 --> 20:31.350 ^you're not just going to fight this thing forever. 20:31.350 --> 20:35.120 ^And I think that's probably why there may be some 20:37.010 --> 20:38.240 ^concern on a part of people. 20:38.240 --> 20:41.973 ^We've been there since 2001. 20:43.893 --> 20:45.743 ^- But the strategy is essentially to, 20:45.868 --> 20:48.218 "We're going to fight them until they give up." 20:48.220 --> 20:49.640 - No, the Afghans are going to fight 'em, 20:49.640 --> 20:51.060 and we're going to help the Afghans. 20:51.060 --> 20:53.451 And we've got to bring 'em, and if we don't, if they-- 20:53.451 --> 20:54.290 - There are American Sugar Pullers on the ground. 20:54.290 --> 20:57.453 - Yeah, but they're not with normal, 20:57.590 --> 20:59.623 with conventional Afghan formations. 20:59.700 --> 21:02.926 They're out there, but you know, we're not at the 21:02.926 --> 21:04.893 point of contact. 21:05.180 --> 21:06.190 At least the Marines aren't. 21:06.190 --> 21:08.790 I know how the Marines are conducting the operation, 21:08.960 --> 21:09.793 and they're not. 21:10.750 --> 21:12.150 CT Forces, that's different. 21:12.750 --> 21:17.210 ^But at some point, I mean we'll have to take a look at this. 21:17.210 --> 21:19.260 ^And I'm, as a member of the Joint Chiefs, 21:19.679 --> 21:22.329 ^we're going to take a look at where we are with this. 21:22.340 --> 21:25.680 ^But there's got to be reconciliation 21:25.680 --> 21:27.580 ^or political resolution of this thing. 21:27.960 --> 21:29.260 ^And we're going to have to get 21:29.260 --> 21:30.910 ^other players involved with this. 21:31.190 --> 21:33.520 ^Other regional players that have equity there. 21:33.520 --> 21:36.630 ^I mean, and the Afghans themselves, they gotta, 21:36.630 --> 21:38.440 ^hey look, there's gotta be a better way. 21:38.440 --> 21:41.033 ^You just can't live in a constant state of war. 21:41.400 --> 21:44.423 ^For many of them, probably maybe their entire adult life. 21:45.000 --> 21:47.319 ^There's a better way to do this, and I think that's what 21:47.319 --> 21:48.693 ^we're going to try and convey. 21:49.340 --> 21:51.090 ^Working with the Afghan Government. 21:52.790 --> 21:55.760 - You see, I mean I'm trying to gauge how optimistic 21:55.760 --> 21:58.370 you are, 'cause, and I'll play Devil's Advocate, 21:58.370 --> 22:01.027 this sounds a lot like what we've heard for all these years. 22:01.027 --> 22:02.837 "Well we need political resolution, 22:02.837 --> 22:04.197 "the Afghans need to do it. 22:04.197 --> 22:05.330 "They need to to it themselves." 22:05.330 --> 22:06.163 But they're not. 22:06.170 --> 22:07.340 There hasn't been political resolution. 22:07.340 --> 22:09.630 - I understand and we're gonna see how this goes. 22:09.630 --> 22:14.630 So, I think, how long is it gonna take? 22:15.800 --> 22:16.840 ^You could say we've been there 18 years, 22:16.840 --> 22:19.333 ^or we've been there one year at a time 18 times. 22:20.300 --> 22:22.210 ^And I think this is different. 22:22.210 --> 22:26.830 ^And so this is going to be the Afghans figuring this out 22:26.830 --> 22:29.300 ^and we have to facilitate their success 22:29.740 --> 22:31.060 ^to the best of our ability. 22:31.060 --> 22:33.850 ^So we'll, you know my own personal view is 22:34.020 --> 22:35.647 ^I'm going to ask our Commanders that are there, 22:35.647 --> 22:37.817 ^"Okay, where are we?" 22:38.282 --> 22:40.913 ^You know there's gotta be at some point, 22:41.360 --> 22:45.880 ^gotta be some commitment to getting political reconciliation 22:45.880 --> 22:49.340 ^with the Taliban, and we're not going to do that 22:49.440 --> 22:50.273 ^just through fighting alone. 22:50.273 --> 22:52.960 ^That's gotta come through Afghan to Afghan discussion. 22:53.240 --> 22:55.113 ^And other leverage from other people. 22:56.710 --> 22:58.340 - So let's switch over to Iraq, 22:58.340 --> 23:00.290 where you do have plenty of experience. 23:01.300 --> 23:04.850 And a similar kind of question about the state of Iraq 23:04.850 --> 23:06.333 and the future of it. 23:07.990 --> 23:11.810 Right now we're being told the ISIS war might be near over, 23:11.810 --> 23:12.910 but it's not over yet. 23:13.580 --> 23:16.233 Even in Iraq, we'll hold off on Syria for a minute. 23:17.291 --> 23:19.720 But that, the future of that country is once again 23:19.720 --> 23:21.243 at a new beginning. 23:22.250 --> 23:25.920 The influence of Iranians versus the Saudis 23:25.920 --> 23:26.937 is all on the table. 23:26.937 --> 23:27.770 - Mmhmm. 23:28.450 --> 23:31.200 - What's your assessment of the 23:34.638 --> 23:38.990 the chances of Iraq having a better start this time around 23:38.990 --> 23:40.393 than the last time? 23:42.210 --> 23:44.830 - Well, if we were sitting here two years ago, 23:44.830 --> 23:48.360 we would have said that ISIS was controlled a certain 23:48.360 --> 23:49.380 percentage of the country. 23:49.380 --> 23:51.130 Their outside the gates of Baghdad. 23:51.470 --> 23:53.810 They had taken control of Ramadi and Fallujah, 23:53.810 --> 23:54.940 and now that's not the case. 23:54.940 --> 23:58.240 ^And Iraq has more or less 23:58.240 --> 24:00.840 ^restored the territorial integrity of their country. 24:00.900 --> 24:02.320 ^Does that mean that ISIS is gone? 24:02.320 --> 24:03.410 ^No, they go underground. 24:03.410 --> 24:05.330 ^They're out in the desert. 24:05.330 --> 24:07.833 ^Or they're splinter cells are still there. 24:08.080 --> 24:11.173 ^But the Iraqi Security Forces, again, 24:11.550 --> 24:13.770 ^they regained control of their country. 24:13.770 --> 24:17.333 ^We facilitated their success and, 24:18.690 --> 24:22.033 ^but to do that they paid the price. 24:22.210 --> 24:25.493 ^Both in casualties and in destruction of major cities. 24:26.040 --> 24:29.050 ^So, there's a lot of other political factors. 24:29.050 --> 24:30.570 ^I'm not going to speculate on that. 24:30.570 --> 24:34.070 ^But United States has been there to support 24:34.070 --> 24:35.790 ^Prime Minister Abadi. 24:35.790 --> 24:37.750 ^He's up for election here I think 24:39.345 --> 24:42.960 ^in May and we'll see who wins the election. 24:42.960 --> 24:45.000 ^And I think that'll tell with the future. 24:45.000 --> 24:47.100 ^But in the meantime, we'll continue to stay there, 24:47.100 --> 24:48.850 ^because they've asked us to stay there. 24:48.850 --> 24:51.743 ^And along with about 40 other countries. 24:52.360 --> 24:55.610 ^Part of a coalition that are there to help them train 24:55.610 --> 24:58.943 ^and sustain and reestablish security. 24:59.440 --> 25:04.440 ^So, it's not perfect, but it's certainly 25:04.960 --> 25:06.020 ^tactically better. 25:06.020 --> 25:07.363 ^We'll see long term. 25:08.309 --> 25:10.890 ^Iraq is a sovereign country. 25:10.890 --> 25:13.413 ^They're gonna do what's best in their interest. 25:13.840 --> 25:15.830 ^And so we're there to support 'em, 25:15.830 --> 25:20.190 ^and we'll see if their recognition of our contribution 25:20.190 --> 25:22.170 ^of them reestablishing the sovereignty of their country 25:22.170 --> 25:25.323 ^is, you know what's that worth? 25:25.470 --> 25:27.310 ^Obviously there are other players involved, 25:27.310 --> 25:28.910 ^as you mentioned, in the region. 25:29.180 --> 25:32.550 ^And Iran is part of this whole thing and with their 25:32.550 --> 25:35.653 ^involvement there and then in Syria and in other places. 25:35.740 --> 25:39.290 ^- You know, when we were in Baghdad we met with 25:39.290 --> 25:43.517 the three lead Generals from the Army, CTS, the Fedpol, 25:43.875 --> 25:47.750 and one of the things that they were stressing 25:47.750 --> 25:52.250 was what to do about the PMF and in the aftermath 25:52.250 --> 25:53.143 of the fighting. 25:53.970 --> 25:56.370 Just little bit of surprise were very defensive of them 25:56.370 --> 25:58.957 and said, "Look, even if they were backed by the Iranians 25:58.957 --> 26:00.807 "and the rest of us were backed by the Americans, 26:00.807 --> 26:01.640 "it doesn't matter. 26:01.640 --> 26:04.020 "We're all Iraqis and we all fought a common enemy." 26:04.020 --> 26:05.610 And now there's a plan, or there's a desire 26:05.610 --> 26:08.180 to turn that into a legitimate organization 26:08.180 --> 26:10.253 that's part of the Iraqi structure. 26:10.810 --> 26:13.560 Is that something that's concerning to you, 26:13.560 --> 26:15.593 or encouraging, or doesn't matter? 26:18.580 --> 26:19.953 You lived in that region. 26:20.233 --> 26:21.066 - There's different. 26:21.066 --> 26:22.450 Well when I was there, there were no PMF. 26:22.450 --> 26:23.410 I was in Anbar. 26:23.410 --> 26:26.083 Even though they were Shia members of the Iraqi army, 26:26.652 --> 26:31.060 ^there were not PMF forces operating in Anbar at that time. 26:31.060 --> 26:32.640 ^So, it's different. 26:32.640 --> 26:35.530 ^And I can understand they fought together, 26:35.530 --> 26:38.500 ^and if they're trying to reconcile with them 26:38.500 --> 26:41.390 ^in their own culture I think we have 26:41.390 --> 26:43.618 ^some concerns about that because some of those groups 26:43.618 --> 26:47.713 ^have taken American casualties. 26:48.000 --> 26:49.323 ^They've killed our folks. 26:49.830 --> 26:53.440 ^And again, we'll have to wait and see what, 26:53.440 --> 26:54.570 ^politically what happens, 26:54.570 --> 26:58.143 ^but I think it bears watching. 26:58.760 --> 27:00.983 ^And then we'll see what the outcome is. 27:01.310 --> 27:03.940 ^But there clearly are some of those groups that are 27:05.220 --> 27:06.870 ^not friends of the United States. 27:06.880 --> 27:09.370 ^- The other group in the region that is by far 27:09.370 --> 27:11.830 ^more friendly to the United States, would be the Kurds. 27:11.830 --> 27:14.483 And between the Peshmerga and the STF, 27:14.910 --> 27:17.483 what is your feeling about the, 27:18.898 --> 27:19.731 I don't want to say the complaints. 27:19.731 --> 27:22.110 Let's say the concerns, coming out of their leaders 27:22.110 --> 27:23.980 right now who are very worried that 27:23.980 --> 27:27.710 the US support for them is precarious. 27:27.710 --> 27:31.493 It's limited to the ISIS war and only to that ISIS mission. 27:32.230 --> 27:34.610 That frankly, some feel like they're being hung out to dry, 27:34.610 --> 27:37.703 in favor for geopolitics and what Turkey wants. 27:37.859 --> 27:41.363 And it's now put the entire ISIS campaign at risk, 27:41.990 --> 27:44.230 if some of those fighters feel they have to go defend 27:44.230 --> 27:46.880 against Turkey because the US won't do it for them, 27:46.880 --> 27:48.283 or something like that. 27:48.910 --> 27:50.023 - Again, I've never. 27:50.200 --> 27:52.320 I have not been over there for a number of years. 27:52.320 --> 27:57.280 I'm not going to speculate on what is or isn't going to 27:57.362 --> 27:59.453 ^happen with the Kurds or the STF. 28:01.010 --> 28:01.870 ^It's very complicated. 28:01.870 --> 28:03.195 ^We got a NATO ally, Turkey, 28:03.195 --> 28:06.379 ^who has concerns about certain groups. 28:06.379 --> 28:10.110 ^And they affiliate them maybe differently politically 28:10.110 --> 28:13.120 ^than we do, but we asked a certain group to help us fight 28:13.120 --> 28:17.470 ^ISIS, which was our common enemy among all the players. 28:17.470 --> 28:21.973 ^And they did that, so, I know General Votel 28:21.973 --> 28:26.973 ^has some feelings about this, but I think when you ask 28:27.440 --> 28:29.160 ^somebody to do somethin' and they do it, 28:29.160 --> 28:32.420 ^you kind of have to maintain 28:32.420 --> 28:34.173 ^a certain level of loyalty to them. 28:35.280 --> 28:38.910 ^But at the same time, you know, they're not all Kurds. 28:38.910 --> 28:41.190 ^I mean, some percentage of the STF are Arabs, 28:41.190 --> 28:42.023 ^they live there. 28:42.070 --> 28:43.800 ^I mean, there are Syrian people living in 28:43.800 --> 28:45.313 ^what we know as Syria. 28:45.690 --> 28:47.853 ^So it's much more complicated I think, 28:48.370 --> 28:49.840 ^because of the involvement of others, 28:49.840 --> 28:51.150 ^because of whether it's the Iranians, 28:51.150 --> 28:53.165 ^whether it be Hezbollah, whether it be the Russians, 28:53.165 --> 28:54.673 ^whether it be the Turks. 28:55.280 --> 28:58.623 ^And again, there's a diplomatic process. 28:59.324 --> 29:02.310 ^Going through Geneva, it would be good. 29:02.310 --> 29:05.250 ^There's no way militarily this is gonna get solved. 29:05.250 --> 29:07.400 ^It's gonna have to be a diplomatic solution. 29:07.400 --> 29:08.700 ^Where the diplomats sit down 29:08.700 --> 29:11.143 ^and they hammer out some sort of an agreement. 29:11.420 --> 29:14.020 ^That's going to take compromise on everybody's part. 29:15.430 --> 29:17.873 ^That's always challenging in that part of the world. 29:18.070 --> 29:21.083 ^But in the mean time, our forces are there. 29:21.083 --> 29:22.097 ^They know what their mission is. 29:22.097 --> 29:24.540 ^And they got the inherent right of self defense, 29:24.540 --> 29:27.470 ^and they'll do what they have to do to support those people 29:27.470 --> 29:28.743 ^that we're supporting. 29:29.180 --> 29:30.450 ^- Part of why I asked about the Kurds, 29:30.450 --> 29:32.163 ^and you said it yourself about, 29:32.377 --> 29:34.780 you know when loyalty is owed to some force. 29:34.780 --> 29:36.513 That it helps your mission. 29:37.270 --> 29:40.000 Because it relates to the future of, not just ISIS, 29:40.000 --> 29:42.083 but the counter-terrorism fight. 29:42.370 --> 29:43.470 And I'm thinking geographically. 29:43.470 --> 29:44.883 Spreading across the Neenah, 29:45.050 --> 29:47.263 to these much larger geographic areas. 29:47.550 --> 29:50.050 And, I've asked others about this, 29:50.050 --> 29:54.230 and I want to put it to you if the idea is that the US 29:54.230 --> 29:57.250 is fighting or helping local forces fight to 29:58.700 --> 30:02.023 get rid of ungoverned spaces, to create better conditions, 30:02.350 --> 30:04.253 the generic counter-terrorism mission. 30:04.480 --> 30:07.453 If it's spreading across North Africa. 30:07.760 --> 30:09.510 The US doesn't have enough drones for that. 30:09.510 --> 30:12.310 Doesn't have enough Marines, doesn't have enough troops. 30:12.330 --> 30:14.880 And so some decisions are going to have to be made. 30:14.920 --> 30:17.220 What discussions do you go through right now 30:17.220 --> 30:18.493 about that future. 30:18.750 --> 30:20.850 Not just for the Marines, start there if you will, 30:20.850 --> 30:22.493 but for the country. 30:22.743 --> 30:25.643 And how do you see this playing out in the next few years? 30:26.000 --> 30:27.623 - Well ISIS is the common enemy. 30:27.630 --> 30:29.033 ISIS is the threat, 30:29.390 --> 30:33.540 and they have a desire to harm the homeland. 30:33.540 --> 30:36.593 ^So, we have to be focused on them. 30:37.040 --> 30:39.140 ^And you're right, I mean, the world's a big place. 30:39.140 --> 30:40.890 ^And that's why part of the strategy 30:40.910 --> 30:42.860 ^that the National Defense Strategy 30:42.860 --> 30:45.653 ^is building alliances and partnerships. 30:45.850 --> 30:48.970 ^So we don't have enough capacity to do it all by ourselves, 30:48.970 --> 30:50.480 ^and nor should we want to do it by ourselves. 30:50.480 --> 30:53.210 ^I mean we want to, but we do have enough capacity 30:53.210 --> 30:56.020 ^to help other nations develop their own capabilities. 30:56.020 --> 30:57.970 ^Their own Counter-Terrorism Force. 30:57.970 --> 30:59.180 ^Their own security forces. 30:59.180 --> 31:02.100 ^And I think we're working to do that, not by ourselves 31:02.100 --> 31:03.560 ^but with other partners in the region. 31:03.560 --> 31:05.950 ^Whether it be the French, the British, the Italians, 31:05.950 --> 31:06.790 ^or anybody else. 31:06.790 --> 31:08.180 ^Or working with Nigeria, 31:08.180 --> 31:11.253 ^or working with the West African countries, or anybody else. 31:11.330 --> 31:15.063 ^So, because at the end of the day we can't stay there. 31:15.470 --> 31:16.303 ^They probably don't want us to stay there. 31:16.303 --> 31:18.260 ^We don't have the ability to stay there. 31:18.260 --> 31:19.875 ^They're going to have to develop their own capability. 31:19.875 --> 31:23.660 ^But we've got enough capacity to help them develop that. 31:23.660 --> 31:25.050 ^And that's part of the strategy. 31:25.050 --> 31:27.860 ^And then we'll have to figure out how we move those 31:27.860 --> 31:29.163 ^capabilities around. 31:29.420 --> 31:30.253 ^And you're right. 31:30.253 --> 31:34.980 ^But ISIS is a cancer and they need to be destroyed. 31:35.880 --> 31:37.080 ^- But why can't you stay there? 31:37.080 --> 31:38.663 ^Why shouldn't they, 31:38.780 --> 31:40.190 I mean the countries want Americans to stay there. 31:40.190 --> 31:44.110 - To stay there, it depends, it's a matter of relativity. 31:44.110 --> 31:45.290 I mean, we have embassies. 31:45.290 --> 31:49.043 We've got Security Cooperation Teams. 31:49.870 --> 31:52.370 ^We can train them, we can episodically visit them, 31:52.880 --> 31:54.853 ^but we don't need to like stay there. 31:55.470 --> 31:58.283 ^At some point, I mean they've gotta be able, 31:58.283 --> 32:00.677 ^again, it varies from country to country. 32:00.790 --> 32:02.490 ^Some countries are much more capable. 32:02.490 --> 32:04.073 ^They develop capability faster, 32:05.190 --> 32:07.790 ^but you know, and that's part of the tension 32:07.790 --> 32:08.910 ^that Admiral Blair mentioned, 32:08.910 --> 32:13.000 ^is that you've got capacity and you've got requirement. 32:13.000 --> 32:15.883 ^And so, you're always balancing that out. 32:16.070 --> 32:17.580 ^And that's what the Combatant Commanders do, 32:17.580 --> 32:21.090 ^and then the job of the Service Chief is to provide that 32:21.090 --> 32:24.240 ^capability to them, and then we weigh those discussions 32:24.301 --> 32:26.870 ^in the tank with the Chairmen and make recommendations 32:26.870 --> 32:27.703 ^to the Secretary. 32:27.703 --> 32:28.650 ^- Well you mentioned the NDS. 32:28.650 --> 32:30.637 ^So when you look at the NDS and the current budget 32:30.637 --> 32:33.740 and the projections ahead, is it adequate for the 32:33.740 --> 32:36.060 mission being asked of at least the Marines? 32:36.060 --> 32:38.540 And just again, thinking of across Africa, 32:38.540 --> 32:40.840 for example and the Counter-Terrorism mission. 32:42.940 --> 32:43.773 - You know, it's hard to say. 32:43.773 --> 32:45.010 I mean it's a lot of money, 32:45.040 --> 32:46.917 the current appropriation for '18 32:46.917 --> 32:50.160 and hopefully congress will see fit to approve 32:50.160 --> 32:51.473 the appropriation for '19. 32:52.340 --> 32:53.373 It's a lot of money. 32:55.460 --> 32:58.130 ^Some of it's gonna go to Operations and Maintenance, 32:58.130 --> 32:59.283 ^and things to do that. 32:59.860 --> 33:01.276 ^We're looking at certain fore-structures 33:01.276 --> 33:05.570 ^to retain a capability to advise and assist 33:05.570 --> 33:07.180 ^and build capacity in foreign countries 33:07.180 --> 33:09.393 ^that we haven't had in the past. 33:11.080 --> 33:13.160 ^So, this is not something that's going to go away. 33:13.160 --> 33:15.563 ^So is there enough money there? 33:15.670 --> 33:17.303 ^Yes, I think there is. 33:19.390 --> 33:23.780 ^I think we stated what our requirement was, 33:23.780 --> 33:26.683 ^and the congress voted us the money. 33:26.980 --> 33:29.150 ^Actually more than what we, in some cases, 33:29.150 --> 33:29.983 ^we ask for. 33:29.983 --> 33:31.760 ^And so our job now is to spend it wisely, 33:31.760 --> 33:33.544 ^and to create the capabilities that we need 33:33.544 --> 33:35.363 ^to keep America safe. 33:35.580 --> 33:37.250 ^- We'll talk a little about what's in the budget, 33:37.250 --> 33:39.293 and what your priorities are. 33:40.090 --> 33:41.604 Either this year or through your larger 33:41.604 --> 33:44.403 Marine Corps Force 2025 plans. 33:49.350 --> 33:51.280 - The fist thing was to improve our readiness, 33:51.280 --> 33:54.383 and whereas a down payment on that last year in FY17. 33:54.970 --> 33:56.960 So we're working to improve our readiness, 33:56.960 --> 33:58.510 ^particularly with our aviation. 33:59.350 --> 34:02.070 ^This budget allows us to accelerate our modernization, 34:02.070 --> 34:03.450 ^particularly in aviation. 34:03.450 --> 34:04.950 ^So we're in the process of replacing 34:04.950 --> 34:06.600 ^every model type series aircraft. 34:07.373 --> 34:09.540 ^We've got a ground vehicle strategy 34:09.540 --> 34:11.073 ^that's currently involving. 34:11.696 --> 34:13.890 ^And the number of Marines will go up 34:13.910 --> 34:17.330 ^particularly to provide us a capacity to do more 34:17.330 --> 34:20.463 ^cyber and information operations in electronic warfare. 34:20.920 --> 34:22.959 ^So that budget is more than adequate for that, 34:22.959 --> 34:26.310 ^and I'm confident that we'll be able to show 34:26.310 --> 34:27.270 ^that by spending this 34:27.270 --> 34:29.420 ^we achieved this increase in our readiness. 34:30.370 --> 34:34.430 ^So, there are still capacities that we think if you look 34:34.430 --> 34:37.130 ^at the future fight, if you try to project or envision 34:37.130 --> 34:39.433 ^what the future is going to bring, 34:39.950 --> 34:42.530 ^the Marine Operational Concept posits a question 34:42.530 --> 34:46.000 ^or actually the problem is that we're currently, 34:46.000 --> 34:46.940 ^and that was two years ago, 34:46.940 --> 34:48.140 ^not organized, trained, and equipped 34:48.140 --> 34:50.323 ^to fight a peer adversary in 2025. 34:50.960 --> 34:53.740 ^I think we're making progress toward being able to do that 34:53.740 --> 34:55.710 ^but there's still certain capability areas 34:55.710 --> 34:57.280 ^where there'd be Information Operations, 34:57.280 --> 34:58.980 ^which includes electronic warfare, 34:59.000 --> 35:01.023 ^long range precision fires, 35:02.640 --> 35:07.053 ^protective maneuver, air defense. 35:08.570 --> 35:12.353 ^We struggle today with the ability to engage. 35:12.927 --> 35:14.227 ^You know we haven't had a, 35:14.270 --> 35:15.710 ^you think about enemy air attack, 35:15.710 --> 35:17.880 ^you think about jets and bombers and stuff. 35:17.880 --> 35:20.150 ^I mean, I think the real future enemy air attack 35:20.150 --> 35:22.003 ^is going to be swarming drones. 35:22.370 --> 35:23.203 ^- [Kevin] Hmm. 35:23.203 --> 35:24.450 ^- Because it's cheap and it's easy, 35:24.450 --> 35:25.867 ^and we know we can do it. 35:25.940 --> 35:29.980 ^And our ability right now to take that on 35:29.980 --> 35:31.320 ^is something we're working on 35:31.320 --> 35:33.020 ^and we're going as fast as we can. 35:34.140 --> 35:35.277 ^- [Kevin] Well why is that a Marine mission? 35:35.277 --> 35:36.110 ^Would that-- 35:36.110 --> 35:37.418 ^- Well that's not a Marine mission, it's every mission. 35:37.418 --> 35:38.251 ^- [Kevin] Right. 35:38.251 --> 35:39.130 ^- I think every force on the ground, 35:39.130 --> 35:40.523 ^or every force at sea, 35:40.580 --> 35:42.704 ^or any bases are potentially under the 35:42.704 --> 35:46.863 ^could be under attack of drones. 35:47.470 --> 35:49.450 ^I mean, you're going to see drones, 35:49.450 --> 35:51.290 ^you know they're going to fly in airspace. 35:51.290 --> 35:52.750 ^They're gonna be flying all over the place, 35:52.750 --> 35:54.960 ^and they're very inexpensive. 35:54.960 --> 35:59.145 ^Their autonomy and their ability to fly a planned route 35:59.145 --> 36:01.483 ^and if they start to be weaponized, 36:04.174 --> 36:06.724 ^they're something we're going to have to deal with. 36:07.010 --> 36:09.760 ^And it's here now, and we're working on it, 36:09.760 --> 36:12.600 ^but we've got to come up with some better solutions. 36:12.600 --> 36:15.340 ^Part of it's a policy thing here in the homeland 36:15.340 --> 36:19.570 ^but overseas we've seen ISIS. 36:19.570 --> 36:21.980 ^You know, you think about ISIS aviation, 36:21.980 --> 36:25.920 ^it's groups of drones and things like that. 36:25.920 --> 36:29.850 ^So, that's a different thing of air defense 36:29.850 --> 36:30.683 ^that we haven't. 36:30.683 --> 36:31.516 ^You think of air defense, 36:31.516 --> 36:32.690 ^you think theater ballistic missiles, 36:32.690 --> 36:34.090 ^and enemy bombers and all that. 36:34.090 --> 36:37.832 ^Now we're talkin' small drones that come in groups, 36:37.832 --> 36:40.663 ^and you're going to have to be able to deal with that. 36:41.680 --> 36:46.320 - So when you look at where Marines are being tasked 36:46.320 --> 36:48.670 right now, some of the places around the world 36:48.670 --> 36:51.640 we're hearing are fairly new or they were old, 36:51.640 --> 36:52.473 but they're new again. 36:52.473 --> 36:55.353 Places like Norway and out in Asia, 36:55.410 --> 36:58.533 and even news that there's going to be an increase of the, 36:58.560 --> 37:00.310 I guess the number of Marines in rotation 37:00.310 --> 37:02.313 in Australia than before. 37:05.461 --> 37:10.180 How are you planning for all these contingencies on the fly 37:10.180 --> 37:13.290 when just in the last couple years the Marine Corps has gone 37:13.290 --> 37:15.200 from being the force in Fallujah 37:15.200 --> 37:17.513 on the ground in Afghanistan. 37:17.513 --> 37:21.660 Then supposedly was high time to take a big step back 37:21.660 --> 37:23.393 and then repurpose itself. 37:23.490 --> 37:25.340 We even started hearing phrases like, 37:25.447 --> 37:26.657 "If it's every Marine a rifleman, 37:26.657 --> 37:29.517 "now it's every Marine a cyberman, or a cyber warrior." 37:29.770 --> 37:32.610 And yet, all of this seems on the turn of a dime, 37:32.610 --> 37:34.497 here we are again being asked to be ready 37:34.497 --> 37:36.193 in a place like Norway. 37:37.098 --> 37:40.630 How do you, how are you handling these shifts 37:40.630 --> 37:42.133 in the geographic landscape? 37:43.040 --> 37:45.957 - Well, you know the Marine Hymn says, 37:45.957 --> 37:47.880 "In ev'ry clime and place," right? 37:48.092 --> 37:48.925 - [Kevin] Yes it does. 37:48.925 --> 37:53.925 ^- So, we say that we're the Nation's Force in Readiness. 37:54.410 --> 37:56.090 ^Ready when the Nation's least ready. 37:56.090 --> 37:56.970 ^We're gonna be able to operate 37:56.970 --> 37:58.460 ^across the spectrum of conflict, 37:58.460 --> 38:00.513 ^which includes geography and climatology. 38:01.400 --> 38:02.270 ^We're back in Norway, 38:02.270 --> 38:04.090 ^because the Norwegians offer us an opportunity. 38:04.090 --> 38:05.550 ^We have a long history with Norway. 38:05.550 --> 38:08.010 ^We still have equipment set up there. 38:08.010 --> 38:10.713 ^And we needed to get back in the cold weather business. 38:11.100 --> 38:13.550 ^And if you want to go do cold weather you need to go 38:13.550 --> 38:15.400 ^with the people that are the experts. 38:15.490 --> 38:18.650 ^And they're the experts, and our rural Marine partners 38:20.860 --> 38:23.300 ^train up there, and they're very good in cold weather. 38:23.300 --> 38:26.163 ^So we had an opportunity to go back and we took it. 38:26.320 --> 38:27.783 ^It's a small number of Marines. 38:27.783 --> 38:31.763 ^The number of Marines in the Pacific has been, 38:31.790 --> 38:34.370 ^you forget, the number of Marines in the Pacific were set, 38:34.370 --> 38:37.160 ^and then when we went to Desert Shield, or not that, 38:37.160 --> 38:39.233 ^to OIF and then OEF. 38:39.470 --> 38:40.590 ^You know, there were years, and years, and years, 38:40.590 --> 38:43.093 ^there were very few Marines in the Pacific. 38:43.280 --> 38:45.883 ^We're just back to the status quo we were before. 38:46.744 --> 38:48.990 ^There's been an agreement with Australia to provide a 38:48.990 --> 38:51.880 ^force down there six months out of the year, 38:51.880 --> 38:55.453 ^and the aspiration was to achieve a certain number. 38:55.840 --> 38:58.763 ^And we're incrementally working our way to that point. 38:59.240 --> 39:04.240 ^So, we still have enough capacity to do what we need to do 39:04.410 --> 39:05.960 ^with the Navy as part of 39:05.960 --> 39:08.883 ^Amphibious Ready Groups and Marine Expeditionary Units. 39:09.280 --> 39:11.380 ^And we're able to meet the COCOM requirements. 39:11.380 --> 39:14.053 ^So, the DEPTEMPO's high. 39:14.137 --> 39:16.290 ^I wish it were a little bit better, 39:16.290 --> 39:18.180 ^not because I don't want Marines to deploy 39:18.180 --> 39:22.370 ^because when 62% of your force is 25 years old or younger 39:22.370 --> 39:23.913 ^they want to go and do stuff. 39:24.500 --> 39:27.233 ^They didn't join to sit home on their seabag. 39:28.140 --> 39:31.053 ^But we've got a career force and some of them, 39:31.310 --> 39:32.250 ^it would be good. 39:32.250 --> 39:33.810 ^Back when I was a younger Officer, 39:33.810 --> 39:36.363 ^it was 18 months home for six months deployed. 39:37.060 --> 39:40.423 ^We've been closer to 12 months home for six months deployed, 39:40.710 --> 39:43.453 ^and that decreases your time to get ready. 39:43.550 --> 39:45.270 ^Decreases the time to learn your trade, 39:45.270 --> 39:46.550 ^to learn your business, 39:46.550 --> 39:50.070 ^and we would like to get out to closer to 18 months. 39:50.070 --> 39:51.943 ^Some units are there, some are not. 39:53.940 --> 39:56.810 ^But the one way to do that is, you got two ways. 39:56.810 --> 39:59.873 ^Make the force bigger, or you decrease the requirements. 40:00.050 --> 40:02.467 ^So, we're trying to figure out a way we can cover down 40:02.467 --> 40:04.190 ^what we need to cover down. 40:04.190 --> 40:07.020 ^Take advantage of being aboard ship a little bit more, 40:07.020 --> 40:10.093 ^and work with the Navy to get more maritime base force 40:10.093 --> 40:14.440 ^packages out there, and get out of land based positions. 40:14.440 --> 40:18.410 ^But right now, 186,000 plus or minus Marines 40:18.410 --> 40:21.180 ^is where we're going to be and we want to make 40:21.180 --> 40:23.680 ^those Marines the best and capable Marines we can. 40:23.680 --> 40:25.550 ^- [Kevin] For FY19, is that the number? 40:25.550 --> 40:26.383 ^- Yeah. 40:26.383 --> 40:27.216 ^- That's right. 40:27.216 --> 40:30.083 So, I wanna open floor to questions from the audience. 40:30.320 --> 40:31.490 I know we have a few here, 40:31.490 --> 40:34.980 so I'll start right in the middle with a familiar face, 40:34.980 --> 40:35.813 Otto? 40:37.780 --> 40:38.960 - [Otto] Good afternoon General. 40:38.960 --> 40:40.550 We had a Defense Writers Group Breakfast this morning 40:40.550 --> 40:43.857 with General Goldfein and he told us that you spent 40:43.857 --> 40:45.613 the day yesterday with him. 40:45.720 --> 40:47.753 Air Force Marine talks. 40:48.260 --> 40:51.060 And we're all familiar with the Marine Corps, Army, 40:51.060 --> 40:53.943 and of course Marine Corps, Navy Board. 40:54.220 --> 40:56.760 But I was a little surprised at your getting together 40:56.760 --> 40:57.823 with the Air Force. 40:57.900 --> 41:01.150 What was the discussion there and how often do you meet 41:01.150 --> 41:04.483 with your Air Force counterparts these days? 41:05.890 --> 41:08.100 - Well, the meeting we had yesterday with the Air Force 41:08.100 --> 41:10.443 was the first time we'd met since 2011. 41:11.530 --> 41:13.640 ^So one of the first things we decided is that we're not 41:13.640 --> 41:15.890 ^gonna wait seven more years to do this again. 41:16.670 --> 41:19.830 ^In fact, we're probably going to come up with 41:19.830 --> 41:23.090 ^some sort of a staff level Board Quarterly, 41:23.090 --> 41:25.143 ^where we'll meet and talk about some of the common things 41:25.143 --> 41:27.023 ^that we discussed yesterday. 41:27.300 --> 41:31.940 ^And obviously the F-35 is one thing where we have a common 41:32.810 --> 41:35.700 ^focus on the price point of that airplane, 41:35.700 --> 41:38.700 ^sustainability of that airplane, logistics of that airplane. 41:38.870 --> 41:40.440 ^And we kind of went from there. 41:40.440 --> 41:43.713 ^So we talked everything from space, to cyber, 41:43.920 --> 41:47.083 ^to close air support, to command and control, 41:47.810 --> 41:51.233 ^to security of bases and stations. 41:51.760 --> 41:53.863 ^So it was a really good day. 41:54.010 --> 41:56.780 ^I think a lot of times you sit down with somebody 41:56.980 --> 41:59.284 ^that you might think we don't have a lot in common 41:59.284 --> 42:02.520 ^with the Air Force, but you know we've filled the time 42:02.520 --> 42:04.733 ^and we could've spent more time there. 42:05.230 --> 42:08.102 ^And so we're going to get together on a more regular basis 42:08.102 --> 42:11.350 ^to try to address some of these things to include 42:11.620 --> 42:14.810 ^air defense and we talked about 42:15.190 --> 42:17.323 ^defense against unmanned aircraft. 42:17.860 --> 42:18.950 ^So it was a great day 42:19.240 --> 42:21.873 ^and General Goldfein's a great partner. 42:22.000 --> 42:23.461 ^And the air staffs, 42:23.461 --> 42:26.240 ^we'll continue to develop that relationship. 42:26.240 --> 42:28.609 ^And I mean I think that's the same for all the services. 42:28.609 --> 42:32.090 ^We're in this together. 42:32.090 --> 42:33.860 ^The Joint Force is the Joint Force. 42:33.860 --> 42:36.040 ^And it's not gonna be the Army, the Navy, 42:36.040 --> 42:37.710 ^the Air Force, the Marine Corps, the Coast Guard 42:37.710 --> 42:40.310 ^it's gonna go out there singularly and be successful 42:41.033 --> 42:43.903 ^in competition or on the battlefield. 42:43.913 --> 42:47.500 ^Jointness is something we work really hard to develop 42:47.500 --> 42:49.483 ^and it's a perishable thing. 42:50.020 --> 42:53.067 ^And so I think all the Chiefs, and the Chairmen, 42:53.067 --> 42:55.070 ^and the Vice Chairmen, and even the COCOMs. 42:55.070 --> 42:56.820 ^We've all stacked hands on we're going to continue 42:56.820 --> 42:58.780 ^to work on developing our joint capability. 42:58.780 --> 43:02.153 ^- [Otto] Marines defends against the unmanned vehicles, 43:02.330 --> 43:04.720 ^Air Force wants to control the air. 43:05.233 --> 43:08.566 ^What good does that do with quorum then? 43:09.470 --> 43:11.920 ^- Well, I don't really care who shoots them down. 43:12.990 --> 43:14.403 ^I just want them to go away. 43:15.960 --> 43:17.890 ^And you know, if we have to do that. 43:17.890 --> 43:19.079 ^I mean there's a layer of defense 43:19.079 --> 43:24.079 ^and General Goldfein wants to say he doesn't want any 43:24.195 --> 43:26.980 ^soldier or Marine look up in the air and wonder 43:28.228 --> 43:30.007 ^whose aircraft that is. 43:30.007 --> 43:32.357 ^The problem is with a drone, you can't hear it. 43:33.200 --> 43:37.970 ^So, we've got, there are a number of scenarios 43:37.970 --> 43:39.170 ^that I'm not going to talk about here, 43:39.170 --> 43:41.820 ^but where we have common concern about ability of 43:41.820 --> 43:43.970 ^air space being penetrated by those things. 43:45.030 --> 43:45.863 ^- [Otto] Okay. 43:46.280 --> 43:47.830 - Right here, across the aisle. 43:50.860 --> 43:52.120 - Sir, George Nicholson with 43:52.120 --> 43:54.503 Global Special Operations Forces Foundation. 43:54.810 --> 43:57.143 Two years ago, when you spoke here, 43:57.470 --> 43:59.240 one of the first things you said was, 43:59.240 --> 44:01.040 the biggest threat the Marine Corps is looking at 44:01.040 --> 44:05.200 in the future is our dependence upon GPS and SATCOM. 44:05.200 --> 44:07.590 The next week I was with Admiral Richardson and he said 44:07.590 --> 44:10.293 exactly the same thing. 44:10.710 --> 44:13.210 I've sat in several meetings with the Air Force, 44:13.210 --> 44:14.377 and brought that up with their space people. 44:14.377 --> 44:16.287 And they said, "They don't need to worry about that, 44:16.287 --> 44:17.917 "we've got that under control." 44:18.190 --> 44:19.113 Any updates? 44:19.117 --> 44:21.253 Do you still have those same concerns? 44:24.300 --> 44:26.750 - We spent some time talking about space yesterday 44:26.750 --> 44:29.893 and its ability to support the network. 44:34.181 --> 44:38.110 ^And they made a strong case about maybe not today, 44:38.110 --> 44:41.270 ^but in the future where the risk might not be as great 44:41.270 --> 44:42.163 ^as we think. 44:42.730 --> 44:45.960 ^That said, and I, not that, 44:45.960 --> 44:50.870 ^I heard what they said, but if we had to go tonight 44:50.870 --> 44:53.173 ^I have concerns about our ability. 44:55.240 --> 44:57.203 ^Not that the network is gonna go down. 44:58.713 --> 45:01.240 ^I mean, I could envision, you know, 45:01.240 --> 45:03.220 ^we don't talk about fightin' in space 45:03.860 --> 45:06.270 ^When I say fightin' in space I'm not talking about 45:06.270 --> 45:09.313 ^human beings in space, per se. 45:10.480 --> 45:14.207 ^The old adage of, "See the battlefield." 45:15.800 --> 45:16.877 ^I learned that at Army school. 45:16.877 --> 45:18.027 ^"See the battlefield." 45:18.580 --> 45:20.390 ^So, if you want to see the battlefield, 45:20.390 --> 45:22.270 ^you gotta have the high ground, 45:22.270 --> 45:24.633 ^and the high ground today is space. 45:25.830 --> 45:30.830 ^So I have some concerns about our ability, 45:31.980 --> 45:33.680 ^not just the Marine Corps, but the Joint Force, 45:33.680 --> 45:36.080 ^to be able to do the stuff that they need to do. 45:38.582 --> 45:40.750 ^I don't think it'll all go away. 45:40.750 --> 45:42.900 ^And I think it will come back episodically, 45:43.000 --> 45:46.130 ^but if I were going to fight somebody that I knew 45:46.130 --> 45:49.480 ^had a requirement to be able to do communications 45:49.480 --> 45:54.260 ^or GPS or crypto timing or all the stuff we get outta space 45:54.563 --> 45:56.680 ^I mean that would be the first place I consider. 45:56.680 --> 45:57.513 ^It's a critical. 45:57.670 --> 45:59.240 ^That's the thing that we have to protect. 45:59.240 --> 46:00.953 ^You talk about centers of gravity. 46:01.130 --> 46:02.770 ^So I got a friendly center of gravity, 46:02.770 --> 46:04.570 ^I gotta protect Command and Control. 46:05.140 --> 46:06.853 ^I got a critical vulnerability, 46:08.000 --> 46:10.440 ^it's my command and control in the way it's set up. 46:10.440 --> 46:13.210 ^So how do you protect it, and then mitigate it if it 46:13.210 --> 46:16.473 ^gets degraded, how do you make it resilient enough? 46:16.940 --> 46:19.590 ^So we talked about that and it was a good discussion. 46:19.820 --> 46:22.538 ^And in our training we're working on that. 46:22.538 --> 46:24.190 ^And every time we go to the field. 46:24.190 --> 46:26.300 ^And part of it's simple, I mean I know the Navy 46:26.300 --> 46:31.300 ^is doing a lot of stuff where they reduce their signature, 46:32.520 --> 46:34.840 ^or eliminate it all together to the best of their ability. 46:34.840 --> 46:37.530 ^They made exercises now, we just go out there and... 46:38.680 --> 46:40.700 ^'Cause we've raised a generation of officers 46:40.700 --> 46:43.320 ^and a Force that thinks that y'all are gonna sit 46:43.320 --> 46:45.680 ^in a stationary COC and they're gonna watch 46:45.680 --> 46:48.893 ^streaming video, and gonna have big flat screen TVs. 46:49.598 --> 46:53.010 ^And as opposed to the way I grew up where I was 46:53.010 --> 46:54.890 ^underneath a poncho with a red range flashlight 46:54.890 --> 46:56.840 ^in my mouth with the rain beating down, 46:57.330 --> 46:59.700 ^listening to a PRC-77 okay? 46:59.900 --> 47:02.000 ^And somehow we managed to get from A to B. 47:03.210 --> 47:04.313 ^I wouldn't want that. 47:04.420 --> 47:05.970 ^I don't think we're going to get to that point, 47:05.970 --> 47:10.460 ^but we're working what we call the baseline COM 47:10.460 --> 47:13.503 ^that we're gonna need, what can we rely on all the time. 47:13.640 --> 47:17.393 ^And then everything above that becomes a benefit. 47:18.856 --> 47:20.607 ^- Give us a little more detail to that. 47:20.607 --> 47:23.290 I mean how are you changing what it's training 47:25.126 --> 47:25.959 in the Marines? 47:25.959 --> 47:26.800 - It's training. 47:26.800 --> 47:30.847 I think it's HF radio, certain antenna forms, 47:30.847 --> 47:34.643 certain wave forms, certain, 47:35.540 --> 47:38.013 just the ability, I mean commanders' intent. 47:38.240 --> 47:39.103 The Marine Corps operates on medieval warfare. 47:39.103 --> 47:42.190 Medieval warfare is based on explicit trust 47:42.190 --> 47:45.877 between commanders, and where the Senior Commander says, 47:45.877 --> 47:47.507 "This is the NCO that I want." 47:47.610 --> 47:51.400 And if you can achieve that, you don't necessarily 47:51.400 --> 47:54.170 need to be on the radio and giving a sitrep every 47:54.170 --> 47:56.744 30 seconds telling 'em, "Hey I'm here, I'm here, I'm here." 47:56.744 --> 48:01.453 I told you what to do, when you get there call me. 48:02.550 --> 48:07.550 And so, I think you can very easily, 48:08.080 --> 48:09.260 it's kind of like your cell phone. 48:09.260 --> 48:11.793 I mean, how many times a day do you check your phone? 48:12.330 --> 48:13.867 - [Kevin] I'm a journalist, so it's killing me. 48:13.867 --> 48:16.016 I haven't checked it as long as I've been sitting here. 48:16.016 --> 48:17.973 - Obviously you have a problem. 48:18.199 --> 48:19.603 (audience laughs) 48:19.610 --> 48:20.443 So. 48:20.443 --> 48:21.688 ^- [Kevin] There's lots of problems. 48:21.688 --> 48:24.793 ^- So you can very easily create dependency. 48:25.183 --> 48:29.330 ^And I think you know, we've got to train ourselves 48:29.330 --> 48:31.167 ^and convince ourselves and show ourselves, 48:31.167 --> 48:32.167 ^"Hey, I can do this. 48:32.167 --> 48:36.217 ^"I don't need to be transmittin' all the time." 48:37.720 --> 48:40.320 ^- [Kevin] Does the Force over rely on communications? 48:40.320 --> 48:41.153 ^And I say that. 48:41.600 --> 48:42.433 ^- Yeah, it can. 48:42.433 --> 48:43.380 ^I think we're trying to show them that they don't 48:43.380 --> 48:44.310 ^necessarily have to do it. 48:44.310 --> 48:45.600 ^I mean there's some stuff. 48:45.600 --> 48:47.220 ^I mean some nets that are more important. 48:47.220 --> 48:48.620 ^Some nets you gotta protect. 48:49.060 --> 48:51.720 ^If I'm going to do fire support, I gotta have fire support. 48:51.720 --> 48:55.830 ^I mean there's other nets I can probably accept a certain 48:55.830 --> 48:57.653 ^degradation or I can go without it. 48:58.906 --> 49:00.780 ^But you don't need to be, 49:01.063 --> 49:03.563 ^we don't have to have perfect COM, 49:03.900 --> 49:06.800 ^and you shouldn't expect to have perfect COM all the time. 49:07.636 --> 49:10.336 ^- [Kevin] That alone is an extraordinary thing to hear 49:10.479 --> 49:14.340 these days from anyone in the US military 49:14.340 --> 49:17.910 where everything seems to be, I think it's a desire 49:17.910 --> 49:20.243 every piece of hardware so exquisite. 49:20.480 --> 49:22.425 And has to be redundant, and has to have backups. 49:22.425 --> 49:23.258 - Yes. 49:23.258 --> 49:25.020 - And has to have multiple levels and layers. 49:25.020 --> 49:27.540 I mean an operator doesn't go out without 49:28.220 --> 49:29.053 - That's true. 49:29.053 --> 49:30.720 - Multiple levels of COMs and drones up ahead. 49:30.720 --> 49:33.400 And forget about big warfare and Navy ships 49:33.400 --> 49:35.860 and what you're talking about as far as shutting down 49:35.860 --> 49:39.093 entire systems and high end warfare. 49:39.800 --> 49:41.820 - Well, but if you expect that your adversary 49:41.820 --> 49:44.470 has the potential capability to do that to you 49:44.750 --> 49:45.693 and you don't train to it, 49:45.693 --> 49:50.623 I think you'd be remiss in your responsibilities. 49:51.320 --> 49:53.670 ^Secretary Mattis the other day, he had a great, 49:53.690 --> 49:57.487 ^he called it the, "Primitavization of communications." 49:57.541 --> 49:58.374 ^- [Kevin] Hmm. 49:58.374 --> 49:59.743 ^- I mean we're back to, you know, 49:59.743 --> 50:02.070 ^I know lights work. 50:02.070 --> 50:07.070 ^I got flags, I got horns, I got pyrotechnics, I got mirrors. 50:07.860 --> 50:09.183 ^I can run wire. 50:10.300 --> 50:12.250 ^I mean there's a lot of stuff I can do. 50:12.950 --> 50:17.350 ^And if you train to it, is it optimal? 50:17.350 --> 50:19.453 ^No, it's not. 50:19.890 --> 50:20.723 ^- [Kevin] But it's necessary. 50:20.723 --> 50:23.173 ^- But it's something you have to consider. 50:23.660 --> 50:25.270 ^And it makes the training problem harder, 50:25.270 --> 50:26.930 ^because now I gotta do all that, 50:26.930 --> 50:30.613 ^or at least consider all that plus all this other stuff. 50:32.080 --> 50:36.110 ^- That's the unanticipated result of high technology. 50:36.110 --> 50:37.210 Back to the audience here. 50:37.210 --> 50:39.160 The shirt in the front had his hand up. 50:41.310 --> 50:44.065 - [Dave] Name's Dave Aunstruck, retired government engineer. 50:44.065 --> 50:46.453 I'm just throwing this out there. 50:47.270 --> 50:49.893 What would it be like if for example, 50:50.060 --> 50:53.520 I'm just asking, if the Army and the Marine Corps 50:53.520 --> 50:57.373 were merged together run on Marine Corps type lines, 50:57.610 --> 51:01.767 do you see that as being an advantage to military role 51:02.800 --> 51:04.400 in American Taxpayer? 51:04.400 --> 51:05.900 I'm just throwing it out there. 51:05.900 --> 51:07.970 It seems like what the Marine Corps does, 51:07.970 --> 51:09.510 especially in Afghanistan has a lot in common 51:09.510 --> 51:10.343 with what the Army does. 51:10.343 --> 51:13.633 So I'm just wondering whether there's a advantage to 51:13.633 --> 51:17.183 somehow merging the two roles together. 51:17.200 --> 51:18.033 Thanks. 51:18.033 --> 51:19.860 - Well at least he didn't say merging the Marines 51:19.860 --> 51:20.713 into the Army. 51:21.580 --> 51:24.540 - You know, as the son of a Soldier, 51:24.540 --> 51:27.773 and a graduate of Army School, I like our Army. 51:28.620 --> 51:29.867 I like "Big Army." 51:30.420 --> 51:34.494 ^Army, I mean there's a million Soldiers in the Army, 51:34.494 --> 51:36.320 ^and the Guard, and the Reserve, and the Acura. 51:36.320 --> 51:37.547 ^I like "Big Army." 51:37.870 --> 51:39.903 ^I like big heavy junk units. 51:40.690 --> 51:41.943 ^It means so, 51:42.187 --> 51:44.453 ^I don't think. 51:44.740 --> 51:48.660 ^I think the nation has a requirement for a land force, 51:48.660 --> 51:50.333 ^a land power like the Army. 51:50.580 --> 51:53.401 ^And they have a requirement for a middle weight force 51:53.401 --> 51:55.903 ^that comes from the sea like the Marine Corps. 51:56.130 --> 51:59.200 ^So, we do more together. 51:59.200 --> 52:01.190 ^I mean we've been on the battlefield together 52:01.190 --> 52:02.733 ^since 2003. 52:03.403 --> 52:06.810 ^And many of our even Senior Officers grew up 52:07.050 --> 52:09.023 ^fighting with the Soldiers. 52:09.600 --> 52:11.223 ^So that really helps us. 52:12.070 --> 52:14.150 ^We don't always agree on everything, 52:14.150 --> 52:15.290 ^but I think when you talk, 52:15.290 --> 52:17.090 ^the Army talks about multi domain battle. 52:17.090 --> 52:17.970 ^We talk about Marine. 52:17.970 --> 52:21.093 ^It's the same thing, we see the fight the same way. 52:21.310 --> 52:24.223 ^That it's different then it was, and so, 52:25.230 --> 52:28.440 ^and we resolve those differences. 52:28.440 --> 52:32.000 ^We have a quarterly Army Marine Corps Board. 52:32.000 --> 52:35.230 ^We talk about requirements, and I think one thing 52:35.230 --> 52:37.440 ^we can't do is if we have a common requirement 52:37.440 --> 52:39.380 ^and a common thing that we want to do together. 52:39.380 --> 52:41.530 ^And we need to stay as close together 52:41.530 --> 52:43.580 ^because it saves the tax payers money 52:43.580 --> 52:46.100 ^and we can come up with a single requirement. 52:46.100 --> 52:50.950 ^But I don't, I'm very happy with the General Millie 52:50.950 --> 52:52.510 ^and the United States Army. 52:52.510 --> 52:53.667 ^And I believe he would say the same thing 52:53.667 --> 52:55.020 ^about the Marine Corps. 52:55.020 --> 52:56.130 ^- You know, these are legitimate questions. 52:56.130 --> 52:58.710 ^A few years ago there were some fairly serious 52:58.710 --> 53:01.313 OpEds being run about ending the Air Force. 53:01.700 --> 53:03.850 Now we're talking about a new Space Corps 53:03.850 --> 53:07.163 or Space Command, or some kind of whole entire service. 53:08.070 --> 53:09.270 So these questions come up. 53:09.270 --> 53:13.150 - And I think it's we should always be looking 53:13.150 --> 53:13.983 to get better we should. 53:13.983 --> 53:17.853 If there's a better way to do this, but I don't. 53:18.079 --> 53:22.430 In that case I'm, I think the United States 53:22.430 --> 53:24.580 wants an Army and they want a Marine Corps. 53:24.750 --> 53:27.773 And we have to prove that we're worthy of, 53:27.927 --> 53:29.550 and live up to the expectations 53:29.550 --> 53:30.820 and what they expect from them. 53:30.820 --> 53:32.583 - Okay, right here on the far end. 53:33.010 --> 53:35.120 - [Justin] General, Justin Kath Inside Defense. 53:35.120 --> 53:37.730 I understand you were in California last week 53:37.730 --> 53:39.483 for the technology demonstration. 53:39.583 --> 53:40.574 - I was not. 53:40.574 --> 53:41.407 I was not. 53:41.407 --> 53:42.240 I watched it. 53:42.240 --> 53:44.420 I just saw some pictures of it, but I was not present. 53:44.420 --> 53:45.294 - [Justin] Oh, you weren't. 53:45.294 --> 53:46.127 - I was not, no. 53:46.127 --> 53:48.842 It was some other short, handsome looking guy out there. 53:48.842 --> 53:51.160 (audience laughs) 53:51.160 --> 53:54.323 - [Justin] Um, okay, well I'll still throw this out there. 53:54.399 --> 53:58.380 I guess could you talk about the future technology 53:58.380 --> 54:00.950 you see as being important for the Marine Corps' 54:00.950 --> 54:01.833 future mission? 54:02.060 --> 54:06.113 Obviously, future technology being the key role of ANTACs. 54:06.970 --> 54:10.303 - Well, we're doing a lot of experimentation. 54:10.350 --> 54:12.920 And we invite vendors 54:13.230 --> 54:15.600 and people with ideas to come to certain events. 54:15.600 --> 54:18.543 ^This one was involved I think Operation Urban Terrain, 54:18.860 --> 54:22.227 ^and they brought different things and vehicles and ISR. 54:22.570 --> 54:26.510 ^And we're basically out there, and we use Marines 54:26.510 --> 54:28.123 ^as kind of our jury. 54:28.770 --> 54:30.300 ^And we let them see the technology, 54:30.300 --> 54:32.050 ^and we let them play with it, and we let them use it, 54:32.050 --> 54:33.698 ^and we go okay, what are you? 54:33.698 --> 54:35.980 ^They're pretty cut and dry. 54:35.980 --> 54:38.107 ^I mean, like "Yeah this is junk." 54:38.330 --> 54:39.916 ^Or, "You know, this actually was pretty cool, 54:39.916 --> 54:42.070 ^"and this is how I would use it." 54:42.070 --> 54:46.010 ^So, we're simply trying to do two things. 54:46.010 --> 54:49.592 ^One, see what's out there within the business world 54:49.592 --> 54:53.793 ^and what might be of use to us. 54:54.270 --> 54:56.500 ^And we're also trying to get our Marines exposed 54:56.500 --> 54:58.303 ^to what's going on in technology. 54:59.890 --> 55:02.730 ^So, and it doesn't cost us a whole lot, 55:02.730 --> 55:05.850 ^because everybody shows up and there's a lot of great 55:05.850 --> 55:07.250 ^thinking going on out there. 55:07.720 --> 55:10.573 ^And I mean, there's other areas we're still, 55:10.670 --> 55:13.453 ^we did that every time we do an amphibious exercise. 55:13.617 --> 55:16.393 ^Every training event becomes an experiment. 55:17.650 --> 55:19.900 ^And so we look forward to anybody coming 55:19.900 --> 55:23.573 ^with any ideas they have that we can take a look at. 55:23.900 --> 55:27.610 ^And we share those with the other services, 55:27.610 --> 55:30.490 ^but and so, anything specifically 55:30.560 --> 55:33.550 ^I haven't heard anything back, or got a report back, 55:33.550 --> 55:36.930 ^that there was these types of things 55:36.930 --> 55:39.267 ^that they saw, but I'm sure there'll be somethin'. 55:40.290 --> 55:41.423 - Back in the center. 55:41.740 --> 55:42.573 A hand raised. 55:44.380 --> 55:45.213 Yeah. 55:47.320 --> 55:49.187 - [Sean] Sean Snow with Marine Corps Times. 55:49.187 --> 55:50.700 The Marine Corps is beefing up 55:50.700 --> 55:51.900 its presence in Australia. 55:51.900 --> 55:53.210 I was wondering if you could explain why 55:53.210 --> 55:54.043 that decision was made, 55:54.043 --> 55:56.010 what the Marines are gonna be doing there. 55:56.010 --> 55:58.340 And because if the decision was made because of any 55:58.340 --> 56:00.670 particular threat, or any particular country in mind. 56:00.670 --> 56:01.503 Thanks. 56:03.860 --> 56:06.103 - So the decision was made for Marines, 56:06.137 --> 56:08.803 ^for Marine Response Force to go to Darwin. 56:09.420 --> 56:12.610 ^Many years ago there was a goal 56:12.610 --> 56:14.193 ^of a certain number of Marines. 56:14.740 --> 56:18.440 ^And then every year for the past, I don't know, 56:18.440 --> 56:20.850 ^five, six, seven years we've incrementally increased 56:20.850 --> 56:21.973 ^the number of Marines. 56:22.370 --> 56:27.080 ^So this year we added an Artillery Unit and increased 56:27.080 --> 56:28.230 ^the number of aircraft. 56:29.020 --> 56:34.020 ^So, it was done as part of an agreement with Australia. 56:34.730 --> 56:37.773 ^And we'll go there for six months and we're gonna train. 56:38.280 --> 56:40.920 ^So it wasn't done with any other than 56:41.310 --> 56:45.600 ^we have an agreement with them and it's that time of year, 56:45.600 --> 56:48.020 ^and from April to October we go to Darwin, 56:48.020 --> 56:49.670 ^and we go to Robinson Barracks. 56:49.670 --> 56:52.570 ^And then we use the training area down there 56:52.570 --> 56:54.408 ^and then at the end of that period 56:54.408 --> 56:56.803 ^that force will redeploy and go home. 56:57.540 --> 56:59.843 ^I mean it's nothing more complicated than that. 57:00.480 --> 57:02.013 ^- Uh, there we go, right in the front. 57:03.111 --> 57:04.810 And we're within 10 minutes. 57:04.810 --> 57:07.160 We'll try to rapid fire a couple as we wrap up. 57:08.010 --> 57:09.010 - [Asato] Thank you. 57:09.100 --> 57:12.700 I'm Asato Shinishata from the Liberty Magazine 57:12.700 --> 57:14.393 and Happy Science group in Japan. 57:14.512 --> 57:18.470 We always appreciate the existence of Marine Corps 57:18.690 --> 57:23.690 in Japan and we are, my organization has been 57:23.900 --> 57:25.610 always telling the government, 57:25.610 --> 57:28.500 Japanese Government and Media to appreciate more 57:28.690 --> 57:30.740 the existence of Marine Corps in Okinawa. 57:31.096 --> 57:36.096 My question is about the situation in the Korean Peninsula 57:37.370 --> 57:40.780 has been evolving and you once said a war 57:40.780 --> 57:43.460 in the Korean Peninsula could be really tough 57:43.530 --> 57:45.293 comparing the Game of Thrones. 57:45.450 --> 57:48.830 And could you give us an update on your current take 57:49.333 --> 57:53.783 about the prospect of Korean Peninsula, 57:54.810 --> 57:59.147 especially regarding President Trump is supposed to meet 57:59.443 --> 58:01.503 with Kim Jong Un by May. 58:01.630 --> 58:02.463 Thank you. 58:06.510 --> 58:09.740 - Well, we're in the middle of a semi-annually 58:09.740 --> 58:13.330 ^there's a training exercise with the Korean, the ROKs, 58:13.667 --> 58:15.620 ^and other UN. 58:15.620 --> 58:19.210 ^I mean the armistice in Korea was done under the auspices 58:19.210 --> 58:20.483 ^of the United Nations. 58:21.090 --> 58:22.950 ^So we're there and we're doing our training, 58:22.950 --> 58:27.950 ^but I think everybody is hopeful that these talks, 58:31.710 --> 58:36.424 ^I saw today that your Prime Minister had offered to meet 58:36.424 --> 58:40.063 ^with the ROKs. 58:40.530 --> 58:41.910 ^Or with the North Koreans, 58:41.910 --> 58:44.610 ^I saw that President Moon was planning to meet 58:44.610 --> 58:46.893 ^with Kim Jong Un. 58:47.450 --> 58:49.773 ^That Kim Jong Un was recently in China. 58:50.250 --> 58:55.123 ^So, hey nobody wants to go to war. 58:56.730 --> 58:59.993 ^I mean, that's failure. 59:01.380 --> 59:04.583 ^So I think we're all you know we'll sit there. 59:05.043 --> 59:08.250 ^Our job is to provide leverage for our diplomats. 59:08.250 --> 59:12.330 ^And the diplomats got the ball and we're all rootin' for 'em 59:12.330 --> 59:16.440 ^to come up with some sort of a solution that's gonna take 59:16.650 --> 59:18.550 ^what has been a very dangerous, 59:18.550 --> 59:20.643 ^unstable situation and fix it. 59:21.360 --> 59:23.910 ^But I appreciate your comments about the fact that, 59:24.330 --> 59:27.880 ^and that most people don't realize we are in Okinawa 59:27.880 --> 59:30.660 ^and in mainland Japan based on a treaty between 59:30.660 --> 59:34.343 ^our two countries for the defense of Japan. 59:34.870 --> 59:37.570 ^That's why we're there, but thank you for saying that. 59:38.760 --> 59:41.460 - I know a lot about the Okinawa issue as a former 59:41.460 --> 59:43.523 Stars and Stripes reporter, but um. 59:43.650 --> 59:45.840 What you just said about, "Nobody wants war." 59:45.840 --> 59:47.443 But what about limited strikes, 59:47.710 --> 59:49.763 is that something that's still discussed 59:49.763 --> 59:53.053 as it has been in the last six months, or year? 59:54.660 --> 59:57.910 - You know, I'm not gonna talk about 59:57.910 --> 59:59.460 anything that's been discussed. 01:00:01.523 --> 01:00:04.140 You know, right now we're in a place where I think 01:00:04.635 --> 01:00:07.427 Secretary Mattis has said and the Chairman has said, 01:00:07.427 --> 01:00:08.807 "Hey look, you know, 01:00:08.807 --> 01:00:10.987 "the purpose of the United States military 01:00:10.987 --> 01:00:13.497 "is to create space for our diplomats 01:00:13.497 --> 01:00:14.737 "and for the President." 01:00:15.530 --> 01:00:16.493 That's our job. 01:00:17.500 --> 01:00:18.913 So there's space now. 01:00:20.520 --> 01:00:24.853 ^So, let's all hope that they're successful. 01:00:26.224 --> 01:00:27.530 ^- Okay, the side right here. 01:00:27.530 --> 01:00:28.363 Gentleman. 01:00:33.570 --> 01:00:34.480 - [Russ] Thank you. 01:00:34.480 --> 01:00:36.140 Sir, my name is Russ Duckworth. 01:00:36.140 --> 01:00:38.070 I'm a defense consultant here in town, 01:00:38.070 --> 01:00:39.903 presently advising Estonia. 01:00:40.410 --> 01:00:43.800 And I'm retired from the United States Marine Corps. 01:00:43.800 --> 01:00:46.003 - Another handsome man. 01:00:47.300 --> 01:00:48.730 - [Russ] Thank you for coming today, 01:00:48.730 --> 01:00:51.053 and thank you for your candor. 01:00:51.260 --> 01:00:54.683 You're definitely not from the canned goods section. 01:00:55.617 --> 01:00:59.280 You don't have as much time in uniform as Winfield Scott, 01:00:59.280 --> 01:01:00.933 but you're getting close. 01:01:01.760 --> 01:01:03.963 You and I entered active duty the same year. 01:01:04.670 --> 01:01:08.570 I wonder if you would comment on how individual Marines 01:01:08.640 --> 01:01:12.053 have changed since you were a company grade officer? 01:01:12.100 --> 01:01:15.163 Not the Marine Corps, but individual Marines, 01:01:15.170 --> 01:01:17.200 for the better or for the worse. 01:01:17.200 --> 01:01:20.563 And if I could point you in a couple directions, 01:01:20.910 --> 01:01:23.003 one would be attention to detail, 01:01:23.527 --> 01:01:26.653 and another would be respect for rank, 01:01:26.816 --> 01:01:31.816 and the willingness to carry out orders without saying, 01:01:33.537 --> 01:01:35.477 "Sir, can we talk about this?" 01:01:35.780 --> 01:01:38.217 Or, "Sir, I had a better idea than yours, 01:01:38.217 --> 01:01:39.517 "so I did it differently." 01:01:39.850 --> 01:01:40.683 Thank you. 01:01:44.987 --> 01:01:48.373 ^- You know, when we came in it was the end of Vietnam, 01:01:49.240 --> 01:01:52.220 ^and the first platoon I stood in front of was 01:01:52.220 --> 01:01:55.263 ^2nd Platoon, Lima Company, 3rd Battalion, 4th Marines. 01:01:56.530 --> 01:02:00.303 ^They had just had a mutiny, two weeks before I got there. 01:02:01.290 --> 01:02:02.123 ^- [Russ] You said mutiny? 01:02:02.123 --> 01:02:02.956 ^- Mutiny. 01:02:02.956 --> 01:02:04.860 ^They had a group of Marines that refused to come out 01:02:04.860 --> 01:02:06.410 ^of the barracks in the morning. 01:02:07.050 --> 01:02:11.020 ^And as I walked down to, I was told that so when I went down 01:02:11.020 --> 01:02:13.043 ^to meet with my Platoon Sergeant. 01:02:13.780 --> 01:02:16.783 ^Sergeant, now retired, Sergeant Major Joe Houle, 01:02:17.111 --> 01:02:18.890 ^and we met and we talked. 01:02:18.890 --> 01:02:23.653 ^And I looked over the Marines in the platoon. 01:02:24.432 --> 01:02:27.123 ^About 50% high school grads. 01:02:28.980 --> 01:02:32.310 ^Three squad leaders, Sergeant Bacon, Sergeant Douglas, 01:02:32.310 --> 01:02:33.513 ^and Corporal Thomas. 01:02:34.210 --> 01:02:36.233 ^Average GT of about 69. 01:02:38.080 --> 01:02:41.400 ^They were not stupid men, they were probably just, 01:02:41.400 --> 01:02:42.663 ^they were not educated. 01:02:45.161 --> 01:02:49.490 ^But the Marines were, it was a different Marine Corps. 01:02:49.490 --> 01:02:52.113 ^It was, we didn't have any money. 01:02:53.350 --> 01:02:55.023 ^There was no air conditioning. 01:02:55.500 --> 01:02:56.743 ^The gear was old. 01:03:00.118 --> 01:03:04.020 ^A lot of, you know, still Korean War stuff, 01:03:04.782 --> 01:03:07.330 ^and we went to field every week and we trained hard, 01:03:07.330 --> 01:03:08.780 ^and we did the best we could. 01:03:10.810 --> 01:03:13.993 ^So we kind of grew up expect nothin' get less. 01:03:14.620 --> 01:03:16.370 ^That way you're never disappointed. 01:03:19.100 --> 01:03:20.920 ^And then in the '80s came back, 01:03:20.920 --> 01:03:25.920 ^and after going to Camp Pendleton 01:03:27.890 --> 01:03:29.280 ^a lot of disparate problems. 01:03:29.280 --> 01:03:32.183 ^A lot of drug problems, we weren't doing urinalysis. 01:03:33.860 --> 01:03:36.500 ^But in the middle of that, even from then, 01:03:36.500 --> 01:03:38.863 ^there were a lot of really good Marines. 01:03:39.950 --> 01:03:43.787 ^Tough Marines, tough kids, kids that grew up with nothin'. 01:03:44.860 --> 01:03:46.410 ^But there were way to many that 01:03:47.860 --> 01:03:49.410 ^they couldn't handle authority. 01:03:50.060 --> 01:03:51.310 ^They weren't disciplined, 01:03:52.050 --> 01:03:56.603 ^and we were not a combat ready Force. 01:03:57.080 --> 01:03:58.970 ^As we've gone through since that time, 01:03:58.970 --> 01:04:02.410 ^I think we've become as we've increased the requirements, 01:04:02.410 --> 01:04:03.243 ^General Wilson said, 01:04:03.243 --> 01:04:05.537 ^"I'm going to go to 75% high school grads, 01:04:05.537 --> 01:04:06.767 ^"and we're going to think of PFT, 01:04:06.767 --> 01:04:08.797 ^"and then we're going to do this." 01:04:08.980 --> 01:04:12.763 ^And then now we're up to 99.9% high school grads. 01:04:13.580 --> 01:04:18.263 ^The physical standards are much, much, much, much higher. 01:04:18.820 --> 01:04:19.740 ^Are they different? 01:04:19.740 --> 01:04:21.590 ^Are the young men and women different? 01:04:21.590 --> 01:04:22.423 ^Yeah, they ask. 01:04:22.423 --> 01:04:24.703 ^Do they ask more questions? 01:04:25.030 --> 01:04:27.190 ^Sure, but I would assure you, 01:04:27.190 --> 01:04:30.210 ^if I took you out to a training range 01:04:30.210 --> 01:04:31.970 ^and you watched 'em run range 400 01:04:31.970 --> 01:04:36.053 ^or you watched an infantry unit you would be amazed. 01:04:36.830 --> 01:04:39.003 ^At their fitness, their discipline. 01:04:41.130 --> 01:04:43.560 ^I don't see a lot of people sittin' around 01:04:43.560 --> 01:04:44.803 ^arguing about stuff. 01:04:45.870 --> 01:04:47.520 ^I mean, it's just very different. 01:04:48.290 --> 01:04:49.453 ^Can we get better? 01:04:49.610 --> 01:04:50.443 ^Yes. 01:04:51.350 --> 01:04:55.420 ^Do we still go to Boot Camp and young men and women 01:04:55.420 --> 01:04:57.500 ^at Paris Island and San Diego, do they run, 01:04:57.500 --> 01:05:00.323 ^do they get stressed, and do they get tested, 01:05:00.340 --> 01:05:03.283 ^do they earn the title Marine? 01:05:03.743 --> 01:05:06.903 ^Do they earn the right to have this EGA on their collar? 01:05:07.120 --> 01:05:08.623 ^Absolutely, no question. 01:05:09.530 --> 01:05:12.488 ^So, yeah we can always get better. 01:05:12.488 --> 01:05:15.773 ^But I wouldn't trade today's Marine Corps for anything. 01:05:16.740 --> 01:05:17.690 ^- [Russ] Thank you. 01:05:18.468 --> 01:05:20.147 ^- You know, on the future of that Force, 01:05:20.147 --> 01:05:21.910 one thing we haven't talked about is women 01:05:21.910 --> 01:05:25.540 and the progress in the last year and a half or so, 01:05:25.540 --> 01:05:28.333 two years into infantry and officer level. 01:05:28.710 --> 01:05:31.035 What's the state now and what are you hearing from the 01:05:31.035 --> 01:05:33.200 different women's groups or veteran's groups 01:05:33.200 --> 01:05:35.103 about that progress? 01:05:37.150 --> 01:05:38.570 - You know, it depends on who you talk to. 01:05:38.570 --> 01:05:41.230 I think since the decision was made to... 01:05:41.600 --> 01:05:42.570 There were two things that happened. 01:05:42.570 --> 01:05:44.600 You gotta remember, there was the assignment of women 01:05:44.600 --> 01:05:46.539 to previously restricted units. 01:05:46.539 --> 01:05:47.372 - Mmhmm. 01:05:47.372 --> 01:05:48.480 - And there were assigning women 01:05:48.480 --> 01:05:50.443 ^to previously restricted MOSs. 01:05:51.790 --> 01:05:56.640 ^So on the first one, I mean there's close to 900 women 01:05:56.866 --> 01:05:58.713 ^in the three divisions. 01:05:59.900 --> 01:06:01.400 ^They're Marines, do their job. 01:06:01.800 --> 01:06:05.463 ^The number of women in ground combat MOSs is smaller. 01:06:06.050 --> 01:06:09.650 ^There are some that say that the progress isn't fast enough. 01:06:09.650 --> 01:06:11.183 ^That we have no quota. 01:06:11.580 --> 01:06:15.084 ^I mean, if you are a Marine and you meet the standard 01:06:15.084 --> 01:06:18.263 ^and you wanna compete for that MOS, 01:06:18.500 --> 01:06:19.570 ^and you make the standard 01:06:19.570 --> 01:06:21.300 ^then you get assigned to that unit. 01:06:21.300 --> 01:06:22.600 ^Same thing for an Officer. 01:06:22.730 --> 01:06:27.470 ^So, the numbers as we expected, I mean it's only been 01:06:27.470 --> 01:06:30.373 ^it's not even been two years, are small. 01:06:31.600 --> 01:06:32.763 ^It's gonna take time. 01:06:33.270 --> 01:06:36.163 ^And so I don't check on it. 01:06:36.480 --> 01:06:38.943 ^I mean there are some units I know, 01:06:38.965 --> 01:06:43.965 ^there are only right now three infantry battalions that have 01:06:44.361 --> 01:06:49.361 ^ground combat arms females, but you know when I talk. 01:06:50.010 --> 01:06:51.240 ^I mean they're like every other Marine. 01:06:51.240 --> 01:06:52.690 ^Some of them are really good, 01:06:53.040 --> 01:06:56.410 ^most of them are in the middle, and then some of them, 01:06:56.410 --> 01:06:58.763 ^like men, some of them have a hard time. 01:06:59.240 --> 01:07:04.240 ^So, I mean it's not anything I really worry about. 01:07:05.730 --> 01:07:06.563 ^- Has it, 01:07:06.910 --> 01:07:10.710 what effect has it had on recruiting or women standing up 01:07:10.710 --> 01:07:12.410 or wanting to come into the Corps? 01:07:13.950 --> 01:07:15.810 - You know we've made our numbers. 01:07:15.810 --> 01:07:17.960 We've been fortunate that our recruiters work 01:07:17.960 --> 01:07:19.360 really, really, really hard. 01:07:20.697 --> 01:07:25.697 I don't, I haven't seen where our goal was to try to get 01:07:25.700 --> 01:07:27.900 10% of the Force to be women. 01:07:27.900 --> 01:07:29.623 I think we're closin' on nine. 01:07:34.160 --> 01:07:35.363 I thought we would go. 01:07:35.449 --> 01:07:38.470 ^We've marketed our advertising, we've done some things 01:07:38.470 --> 01:07:39.653 ^to recruit women. 01:07:40.650 --> 01:07:42.930 ^We're doing a lot better with women officers 01:07:42.930 --> 01:07:44.230 ^than we are with enlisted. 01:07:45.030 --> 01:07:48.360 ^I mean the number of female officers at OCS this last time 01:07:48.360 --> 01:07:52.063 ^I think was like 13-14%. 01:07:52.390 --> 01:07:57.143 ^So, I think we're going to go probably faster there. 01:07:58.570 --> 01:08:00.513 ^But, I haven't you know, it. 01:08:00.690 --> 01:08:05.240 ^I can tell you the fact is that for a recruiter to find 01:08:05.240 --> 01:08:10.240 ^a qualified and willing applicant that's a woman or a man, 01:08:13.360 --> 01:08:18.041 ^it takes about twice the number of contacts to find, 01:08:18.041 --> 01:08:20.653 ^to get a female as it does to take a man. 01:08:21.699 --> 01:08:22.802 ^- [Kevin] Yeah? 01:08:22.802 --> 01:08:23.635 ^- Yeah. 01:08:23.635 --> 01:08:25.700 ^So, I mean that's just, so they're out there workin' it. 01:08:25.700 --> 01:08:27.920 ^And I mean, 01:08:27.920 --> 01:08:30.153 ^the women we have in the Marine Corps are not. 01:08:32.810 --> 01:08:34.051 ^Marine Duckworth over here, 01:08:34.051 --> 01:08:36.423 ^they're different than what he remembers. 01:08:37.370 --> 01:08:42.370 ^They're very, very capable and so I mean, they're Marines. 01:08:42.960 --> 01:08:43.793 ^Do their job. 01:08:45.230 --> 01:08:46.790 ^- Alright, we're within the last two minutes. 01:08:46.790 --> 01:08:49.763 In the far corner we gotta persistent hand. 01:08:49.870 --> 01:08:51.470 That might be our last question. 01:08:53.650 --> 01:08:56.770 - [Ben] Hi, Ben Berliner with Defense Publication, 01:08:56.770 --> 01:08:57.923 Warrior Maven. 01:08:58.240 --> 01:09:01.240 Could you speak on the creation of the cyberspace 01:09:01.240 --> 01:09:04.750 occupational field and the importance of fostering 01:09:04.750 --> 01:09:06.953 cyber readiness within the Marine Corps. 01:09:09.730 --> 01:09:14.730 - So, when the CYBERCOM became a separate Combat and Command 01:09:16.350 --> 01:09:17.290 or when they were going through 01:09:17.290 --> 01:09:19.513 the process of making it such, 01:09:19.870 --> 01:09:23.980 I think we all realized this would have been 01:09:24.070 --> 01:09:27.480 ^seven years ago, eight years ago that this was going 01:09:27.480 --> 01:09:30.230 ^to be an area where we needed to grow the Marine Corps. 01:09:30.570 --> 01:09:33.563 ^All the services were directed to create a component. 01:09:33.820 --> 01:09:35.850 ^All the services were told their component 01:09:35.850 --> 01:09:38.670 ^was going to support a certain functional 01:09:38.670 --> 01:09:40.513 ^or geographical Combat and Command. 01:09:41.070 --> 01:09:44.893 ^That number, initial number was way low. 01:09:45.710 --> 01:09:49.264 ^And so as we formed this force and we developed this force 01:09:49.264 --> 01:09:53.023 ^the numbers have gone up and we've gotten other taskings. 01:09:53.920 --> 01:09:57.770 ^So I think we realized that the same manpower model 01:09:57.770 --> 01:10:01.143 ^that we used for other MOSs was not gonna work, 01:10:01.450 --> 01:10:04.810 ^because in order to be qualified to do this you had to 01:10:04.810 --> 01:10:09.810 ^go through certain level of training and it took time. 01:10:09.950 --> 01:10:14.590 ^And it wasn't something that a very junior 18-19 year old 01:10:14.590 --> 01:10:17.160 ^Marine out of high school was going to be able to do. 01:10:17.160 --> 01:10:19.863 ^And you had to have a older, more seasoned person. 01:10:20.060 --> 01:10:22.640 ^And we had our radio battalions 01:10:22.840 --> 01:10:25.123 ^that we use as kind of the base for this. 01:10:25.650 --> 01:10:27.690 ^And then we realize if you spend all this time, 01:10:27.690 --> 01:10:30.323 ^it's kind of the SOCOM model, I spent all this time. 01:10:30.750 --> 01:10:32.960 ^I've gotten somebody who's a little more experienced. 01:10:32.960 --> 01:10:35.010 ^I spent all this time, money, and effort, 01:10:35.290 --> 01:10:36.270 ^and I put 'em in there. 01:10:36.270 --> 01:10:38.010 ^And then to pull them out in three years 01:10:38.010 --> 01:10:40.510 ^to have them go do something else, 01:10:40.510 --> 01:10:43.223 ^just wasn't a cost effective way. 01:10:43.530 --> 01:10:47.453 ^And so, in discussions we said look, 01:10:48.260 --> 01:10:49.440 ^it's like going to MARSOC, 01:10:49.440 --> 01:10:50.440 ^once you're in, you're in. 01:10:50.440 --> 01:10:51.273 ^We're done. 01:10:52.710 --> 01:10:55.993 ^And talking to the Marines that are in this. 01:10:56.070 --> 01:10:58.840 ^That's the one thing we can give them. 01:10:58.840 --> 01:11:01.653 ^I can't pay them what they're worth. 01:11:02.940 --> 01:11:04.740 ^And I mean, we can't compete with industry. 01:11:04.740 --> 01:11:05.573 ^We can't compete with you. 01:11:05.573 --> 01:11:10.287 ^I mean these are really, really smart capable Marines. 01:11:10.970 --> 01:11:13.720 ^But the only thing I could give them that they asked is 01:11:13.780 --> 01:11:15.777 ^that might make them stay is if they, 01:11:15.777 --> 01:11:17.793 ^"Hey look, I really like what I'm doing. 01:11:18.077 --> 01:11:20.277 ^"I really feel like I'm making a difference. 01:11:20.487 --> 01:11:22.987 ^"Just let me do this." 01:11:23.538 --> 01:11:28.127 ^And then our answer was, "Okay, go do it." 01:11:28.247 --> 01:11:30.457 ^"I'll leave you alone, unless you want to leave, 01:11:30.457 --> 01:11:32.137 ^"if you want to go be a Drill Instructor, 01:11:32.137 --> 01:11:34.437 ^"you want to be a Recruiter, you need a break, 01:11:34.487 --> 01:11:37.507 ^"or you want to do something different fine, but otherwise." 01:11:37.810 --> 01:11:39.923 ^So that was the idea behind the MOS. 01:11:40.100 --> 01:11:43.893 ^So once you get in, and you make all the quals, 01:11:45.307 --> 01:11:49.453 ^you're in, and you can go do your job. 01:11:49.880 --> 01:11:51.930 ^And then we just gotta figure out how to, 01:11:52.370 --> 01:11:57.370 ^figure out a way to pay 'em or promote 'em 01:11:57.570 --> 01:12:00.450 ^to a senior enough and this is not PFC, 01:12:00.450 --> 01:12:01.610 ^Lance Corporal business. 01:12:01.610 --> 01:12:05.563 ^This is Sergeant, Staff Sergeant, Warrant Officer, 01:12:06.220 --> 01:12:08.883 ^Limited Duty Officer stuff. 01:12:09.790 --> 01:12:13.373 ^And so that's kind of was the design behind it. 01:12:13.850 --> 01:12:14.683 ^And we'll have to continue. 01:12:14.683 --> 01:12:17.240 ^It's going to take us a while to get to the numbers. 01:12:18.090 --> 01:12:21.060 ^I mean and we're even on the officer side. 01:12:21.060 --> 01:12:24.840 ^Just like you sign up to, and in the Army, the Navy, 01:12:24.840 --> 01:12:27.093 ^the Air Force, the Marine Corps to be a pilot. 01:12:27.587 --> 01:12:28.580 ^You say, "I wanna be a pilot." 01:12:28.580 --> 01:12:30.483 ^You take the test, you go to school, 01:12:30.760 --> 01:12:32.560 ^and then you get to the point where you get your wings 01:12:32.560 --> 01:12:34.193 ^and then now we start the clock. 01:12:34.610 --> 01:12:36.783 ^Okay, and now you owe us eight. 01:12:38.920 --> 01:12:40.360 ^Clock doesn't start 'till you get your wings. 01:12:40.360 --> 01:12:41.960 ^It's gonna be the same thing with CYBER. 01:12:41.960 --> 01:12:43.373 ^Hey I wanna go do CYBER. 01:12:43.560 --> 01:12:46.320 ^Okay, you got a CYBER guarantee. 01:12:46.320 --> 01:12:47.720 ^You go through the training. 01:12:48.160 --> 01:12:51.253 ^You get your equivalent of your CYBER quals. 01:12:53.260 --> 01:12:54.713 ^Now we start the clock. 01:12:55.920 --> 01:12:59.290 ^'Cause we need those folks 01:13:01.540 --> 01:13:02.820 ^and we're gonna put forth 01:13:02.820 --> 01:13:06.980 ^the effort to train 'em and the expenditure to train 'em 01:13:06.980 --> 01:13:08.880 ^we need to get a return on investment. 01:13:10.300 --> 01:13:11.410 ^- General, we're past our time. 01:13:11.410 --> 01:13:16.410 So I'll give you the Commander's discretion of how long 01:13:16.780 --> 01:13:18.540 you want to talk to wrap us up. 01:13:18.540 --> 01:13:20.518 But I'll lead you on one path to say, 01:13:20.518 --> 01:13:22.870 thank you for doing this, for coming onstage, 01:13:22.870 --> 01:13:24.370 for coming before the cameras. 01:13:24.430 --> 01:13:26.330 You have a captive audience in this room 01:13:26.330 --> 01:13:28.683 and through these cameras and in this town. 01:13:28.780 --> 01:13:30.220 When you talk to Congress, 01:13:30.220 --> 01:13:33.460 when you talk to the public, what do you want from them? 01:13:33.460 --> 01:13:36.623 What does the Marine Corps need for the future going ahead? 01:13:41.650 --> 01:13:42.653 ^- I mean there's, 01:13:43.540 --> 01:13:46.173 ^I've been doin' this a while as was mentioned, 01:13:46.800 --> 01:13:51.800 ^and I've seen great changes and I think we're, 01:13:52.610 --> 01:13:54.350 ^you know we have things we need to work on 01:13:54.350 --> 01:13:55.900 ^things we need to get better on 01:13:56.070 --> 01:13:57.970 ^and I think the American people should 01:13:57.970 --> 01:13:59.850 ^have a high expectation of their Force, 01:13:59.850 --> 01:14:02.083 ^but that Force comes from the Nation. 01:14:02.500 --> 01:14:07.030 ^I mean, we need young men and women, sons and daughters, 01:14:07.030 --> 01:14:10.610 ^and grandsons and granddaughters, and nieces and nephews 01:14:10.620 --> 01:14:12.780 ^still be willing to stick their hand up in the air 01:14:12.780 --> 01:14:13.980 ^and serve their country. 01:14:14.280 --> 01:14:18.020 ^Because if we get good people, the rest of the stuff 01:14:18.020 --> 01:14:19.270 ^will kind of sort itself out. 01:14:19.270 --> 01:14:21.800 ^I mean that's the same about any organization. 01:14:21.800 --> 01:14:24.200 ^Starts with the people and ends with the people. 01:14:24.811 --> 01:14:27.710 ^But you know, we're a volunteer force. 01:14:27.710 --> 01:14:29.900 ^Actually more accurate, we're all recruited force. 01:14:29.900 --> 01:14:30.923 ^We're expensive. 01:14:31.540 --> 01:14:34.773 ^And so, and I know it's a lot of money, 01:14:35.550 --> 01:14:39.063 ^but we're in a peer competition. 01:14:39.620 --> 01:14:42.230 ^There are those out there that would like to 01:14:42.830 --> 01:14:44.210 ^be able to impose their will 01:14:44.210 --> 01:14:47.240 ^or at least get their interest advantage 01:14:47.240 --> 01:14:48.570 ^over those of the United States. 01:14:48.570 --> 01:14:51.020 ^And part of the way you keep that from happening is you 01:14:51.020 --> 01:14:54.053 ^have a capable and ready military. 01:14:54.700 --> 01:14:59.700 ^And so, all I can tell you is that whatever resources we get 01:14:59.907 --> 01:15:04.340 ^you're going to get the best Marine Corps that we can create 01:15:04.990 --> 01:15:06.780 ^with the best people we can recruit 01:15:06.780 --> 01:15:08.653 ^from the citizenry of this Nation. 01:15:09.320 --> 01:15:10.700 ^I mean, this isn't my Marine Corps, 01:15:10.700 --> 01:15:11.660 ^it's not your Marine Corps, 01:15:11.660 --> 01:15:12.560 ^it's not his Marine Corps. 01:15:12.560 --> 01:15:13.660 ^It's our Marine Corps. 01:15:14.670 --> 01:15:15.757 ^I had a guy tell me one day, 01:15:15.757 --> 01:15:17.420 ^"Don't ever say, 'My Marines.'" 01:15:18.450 --> 01:15:21.400 ^Says, "They're not yours they belong to the United States." 01:15:22.340 --> 01:15:24.563 ^He's right, they're your Marines. 01:15:25.920 --> 01:15:26.753 ^Our Marines. 01:15:27.500 --> 01:15:30.303 ^Not mine, the only thing is mine is if we screw up. 01:15:30.574 --> 01:15:33.376 ^(audience laughs) 01:15:33.376 --> 01:15:36.447 ^And I've had a couple of those, 01:15:37.534 --> 01:15:38.643 ^but that's mine. 01:15:41.220 --> 01:15:43.670 ^But you ask me, that's what I tell the Sergeants. 01:15:44.570 --> 01:15:47.409 ^Okay, if we screw up that's mine. 01:15:47.409 --> 01:15:49.453 ^I advocate for you, 01:15:50.330 --> 01:15:51.600 ^and I'd rather advocate 01:15:51.640 --> 01:15:54.783 ^about all the great stuff you're doin', so help me out. 01:15:56.090 --> 01:15:57.480 ^Help me out to the best of your ability. 01:15:57.480 --> 01:15:58.740 ^But I appreciate the opportunity. 01:15:58.740 --> 01:15:59.573 ^Thanks. 01:15:59.776 --> 01:16:00.609 - Thank you. 01:16:00.609 --> 01:16:01.820 Thank you to the Atlantic Council. 01:16:01.820 --> 01:16:03.240 Thank you to the Marine Corps for lending us 01:16:03.240 --> 01:16:04.783 Commandant General Miller. 01:16:05.291 --> 01:16:06.241 Thank you everybody. 01:16:06.241 --> 01:16:08.324 - Thanks. - Thank you sir.