[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 127 (Tuesday, September 16, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1791-E1793]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   A SPEECH BY ADMIRAL JAMES O. ELLIS

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. IKE SKELTON

                              of missouri

                    in the house of representatives

                      Tuesday, September 16, 2003

  Mr. SKELTON. Mr. Speaker, on August 15, at the annual Military Order 
of World Wars and International Officers Ball, Admiral James O. Ellis, 
Jr., Commander of the United States Strategic Command, provided us with 
words that should be shared with all. I extend his remarks for fellow 
Members of Congress. I know that we can benefit from his words as we 
face international challenges.

       Congressman Skelton, a true friend and colleague in shared 
     service to our nation over nearly three decades, Major 
     General Shirkey, Brigadier General Hirai and fellow officers, 
     active, retired, American and allied, Jim and Pat Snyder, who 
     created this marvelous venue, veterans and members of the 
     Military Order of the World Wars, other distinguished guests, 
     ladies and gentlemen. It's truly a pleasure to be with you 
     this evening. I cannot begin to tell you how much I have been 
     looking forward to tonight, with its camaraderie and 
     conversation and its symbolism and spirit. I suppose I am the 
     senior Naval Officer for a thousand miles in any direction, 
     and if my being honored with this opportunity tells you 
     nothing else, it tells you how far we really have come in 
     joint and combined operations.
       Congressman Skelton, thank you for your far too generous 
     introduction. Your kind words actually remind this wonderful 
     audience of two basic facts about me. The first is that I am 
     old and the second is that I can't hold a job!
       In all seriousness, I cannot tell you how delighted I am to 
     have a small part in this great evening. This room is filled 
     with a military presence that, literally, spans a wealth of 
     experience and a world of potential.
       The real guests of honor this evening are, of course, the 
     military members from the seventy-two countries, resplendent 
     in the cloth of their nations, who join their American 
     colleagues in a year of personal promise and professional 
     opportunity.
       But it is also a particular honor to be in the company of 
     veterans from what is now referred to as America's greatest 
     generation but who would only protest they were merely doing 
     their duty.
       It is also appropriate that we remember the thousands of 
     military professionals who have passed through the doors of 
     Bell Hall en route to prominence in the spotlight of history 
     or, more often, to the unlit corners of the globe and the 
     ironically brighter glow of heroism in all its forms known 
     only to the colleagues with whom they served. In a very real 
     sense, they, and all of you, have brought us to this place 
     and time in history.
       It is also appropriate to recognize our hosts this evening. 
     The Military Order of World Wars has always been active in 
     work to support men and women in uniform. Through a long and 
     storied history of over eighty years, the Order has stood 
     tall. Among many other achievements, the Order successfully 
     revived the dormant Purple Heart award for service members 
     injured in combat and successfully lobbied Congress for 
     creation of the nation's annual Armed Forces Day observance.
       I'd like to particularly thank the Greater Kansas City 
     Chapter of this fine organization for making tonight's event 
     an annual tradition over the past 14 years. Jim and Pat 
     Snyder have worked very hard to make this night a success, 
     and I particularly want to thank them.
       They are in good company, as part Kansas City chapter 
     alumni include former Presidents and Army veterans Harry 
     Truman and Dwight Eisenhower.
       The world has changed a great deal since these two gathered 
     in this group. Foes have become friends, prosperity and 
     democracy have spread underneath an international security 
     umbrella and alliances and coalitions that no one would have 
     dreamed of a decade and a half ago have become reality. There 
     is cause for optimism, even in the face of today's stark 
     realities. As Secretary Colin Powell's fourth law says: ``It 
     CAN be done!''
       Last March, Japan's Prime Minister Koizumi said ``I am 
     convinced that the time will come when many countries keenly 
     realize the necessity of international collaboration for 
     world peace, stability and prosperity.'' I would add only 
     that the time is now and the obligations are ours, together.
       A few years ago, I was privileged to command NATO's Allied 
     Forces in Southern Europe during a significant period of 
     Balkan conflict. Then, as now, I saw the value of strong 
     alliances of like-minded nations that could, in time of 
     crisis, find a way to both debate and act to resolve issues 
     of international security and humanitarian crisis. It is 
     possible to accommodate legitimate national concerns and 
     still deal swiftly, as we must, with dictators and despots. 
     The old saying is that ``much is asked of those to whom much 
     is given.'' We, all of us in this room, have been given much. 
     Now is our time to show an understanding of the obligations 
     that come with all those wonderful opportunities.
       Every nation--large and small--must contribute to the 
     common good, as the Bible says, ``each according to his 
     means.''
       Consider the words of Estonian foreign minister, Thomas 
     Hendrik. Speaking about NATO in October 2001, he said, ``The 
     organization as a whole can only benefit from the fact that 
     the alliance includes members whose national security is 
     greatly dependent on the existence of a strong, prestigious, 
     and vital defensive union. The members and the candidate 
     states who make up this alliance, including Estonia, are not 
     just consumers of security, but also very important producers 
     of security''.
       In other words, we're all in this together. The basics 
     remain the same.
       The challenges we collectively face are not all military or 
     political. There are opportunities to share in a host of 
     common interests in trade, technology assistance, culture, 
     education and athletic exchange. But none of

[[Page E1792]]

     these will be possible without collective security. Ronald 
     Reagan once said, ``There are simple answers, there are just 
     no easy answers.'' And the security challenges have never 
     been more difficult as a thousand snakes have replaced a 
     single dragon.
       One of the security opportunities that works best is what 
     we are seeing here tonight--the faces of military men and 
     women from many nations, brought together in common interest 
     to learn, share and grow, both personally and professionally. 
     The goal is to share strengths and different perspectives; to 
     appreciate and enjoy different backgrounds and cultures, not 
     to eliminate them. A bit of humor will often help.
       Some years ago I was posted in Bahrain as Captain of the 
     U.S. Navy regional flagship. One day a Royal Navy frigate 
     Captain paid a call and asked if I had heard the new joke 
     making the rounds of the UK Admiralty. A straight man to the 
     end, I replied, ``No.'' He said it was about the two American 
     Naval officers whose ship was sunk, leaving them stranded on 
     a small desert island--a mound of sand, a palm tree and just 
     the clothes on their backs. Within two days, he said, they 
     were working nights. . . . You can make a lot of telling 
     points with humor!
       Young men and women of 72 nations are participating in the 
     Army Command Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, this 
     year. I have been privileged to grow old in the service of my 
     country, service that has allowed me to personally visit 37 
     of the 72 nations represented here tonight and to serve with 
     half again as many of your professional military forces. Even 
     tonight, I cannot gaze on your uniform splendor without 
     beginning a flashback recall of 34 years that included the 
     skies over Vietnam, a decade in the Arabian Gulf, from Japan 
     to the Taiwan Straits and from Italy into Macedonia, Albania 
     and even a parachute jump into Kosovo. We shared dangers, 
     opportunities, challenges, commitment and the occasional 
     toast. I learned and laughed with friends from many nations, 
     some of whom I can never forget and others whom I only dimly 
     remember. But I treasure each experience as well as the 
     friendship that remain to this day. And I envy each of you, 
     because your excitement is here and now.
       The American writer Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, ``The 
     only way to have a friend is to be one.'' The flags 
     decorating this hotel ballroom represent the nations who are 
     now friends and partners with the United States. We truly 
     value your views and experience in this newly globalized 
     world. Whether you come from India or Indiana, from 
     Kazakhstan or Kansas, your participation enriches all of us.
       Earlier, I mentioned the presence in this room of vast 
     military tradition and experience. Another presence in this 
     room is a spirit of teamwork.
       I see it reflected in the faces of men and women from other 
     nations who stand with us today. Together, we are the best 
     hope for a civilized world as we face an ever-changing field 
     of security challenges.
       Teamwork is the mortar for the operational bricks of our 
     military superstructure. There is an old proverb from the 
     Czech Republic--``Do not protect yourself by a fence, but 
     rather by your friends.'' The nations of our alliances must 
     stand together against those who would threaten the peace and 
     security of our world. We must not hide in the shadows behind 
     ever-taller barriers but rather stride confidently into the 
     sunlight, unafraid in the company of our friends. This is our 
     time to make a stand. This is our time to make a 
     difference.
       One of the most encouraging developments I've seen over my 
     30-plus years of service is the growing strength of the 
     alliances and coalition partnerships I've mentioned.
       Immediately after the September 11th terrorist attacks in 
     New York City and Washington, DC there were many world 
     leaders and ordinary citizens from many nations who expressed 
     their anger at the craven acts, and support for the United 
     States in confronting what we now know is a global scourge. 
     One of them was British Prime Minister Tony Blair who said, 
     ``This is not a battle between the United States of America 
     and terrorism, but between the free and democratic world and 
     terrorism.''
       Blair said his soldiers would stand shoulder to shoulder 
     with Americans and would not rest until evil is driven from 
     our world. He and many others have remained true to that 
     commitment.
       Just a few weeks ago, Congressman Skelton was speaking at 
     the Truman Library as it opened a new exhibit on the Korean 
     War. He talked about the coalition fighting the war against 
     global terrorism and said, ``What they are doing today will 
     set the stage for the next 50 years.''
       I agree. And you all are the leaders of today and tomorrow 
     who will get it done.
       The best of friends, I believe, are those who have 
     demonstrated a resilience and resolve born of their own 
     challenges well and truly met. Those who, perhaps in a decade 
     or generation or over a long and storied history have shown 
     they, as a people, have what is necessary to weather any 
     crisis and pass any test that confronts us.
       That's why we look to those of you from other nations who 
     are here tonight. The Greek warrior Thucydides said, ``We 
     secure our friends not by accepting favors, but by doing 
     them.''
       It is my expectation that all of you embarking on this 
     course of study will be challenged. It must be so if you are 
     to learn. But think of the opportunities this year will bring 
     and savor every moment.
       It reminds me of a story about a little girl who had been 
     eagerly looking forward to her very first day of school. That 
     evening, when her father came in from work, he called his 
     daughter to him and asked her what she thought of school. She 
     looked at her father and said, very seriously, ``I think I 
     may have started something I can't finish.'' She was right.
       The serious business of learning more about others, about 
     this world in which we live, and about our profession of arms 
     is a process we never finish. Congressman Skelton is a strong 
     proponent of lifelong education, both formal and informal. 
     Indeed, I received a letter from him just last month in which 
     he enclosed an abbreviated fifty-volume reading list he 
     personally recommended. This is a man who practices what he 
     preaches! He believes, as do I, in the truth of the old 
     maxim, ``If you want a new idea, read an old book!''
       When you graduate from Army Command and General Staff 
     College, I encourage you to view your education as just the 
     beginning or, hopefully, a continuation of what for each of 
     you is a life-long effort to expand your horizons to include 
     new ideas and, in so doing, deepen your understanding and 
     appreciation of the world around you.
       My background is Navy, and, as such I am arguably not the 
     most credible spokesman in support of Professional Military 
     Education. Perhaps as a result of our deployment mentality, 
     the U.S. Navy has come late to understand its value. I am 
     embarrassed to admit in front of Congressman Skelton that, 
     despite participating in a dozen Joint Task Forces, four 
     combined operations in crisis and conflict and now leading a 
     major Joint Combatant Command, I am not a graduate of ANY 
     professional military courses.
       I am embarrassed, but it is true. I once noted that having 
     me speak in favor of PME is about the same as making me the 
     spokesman for the Hair Club For Men. But that is why the 
     self-taught, home-schooled, on-the-job-trained warrior envies 
     you the opportunity that this year offers.
       The value of a Professional Military Education is 
     inestimable in today's world. It accelerates your 
     professional life, allowing you to walk in the shoes of 
     hundreds of others, to learn from their successes and 
     their failures and to create the incredibly valuable 
     capability to think. It also provides a time to consider 
     what it means to be a professional soldier, Sailor, 
     airman, Marine or Coastguardsman. The core values of 
     integrity, service beyond self, and excellence in all we 
     do are not only on-duty military values, they are lifetime 
     values.
       Every one of you will gain skills as warriors, and at the 
     same time you will enrich your lives by participating in the 
     curriculum at Leavenworth. Those of you from other lands will 
     enrich the American lives you touch.
       And when the time comes to return home or to your 
     respective services, I hope you will take with you a renewed 
     confidence in your own abilities to help shape a different 
     world. For your efforts will define, in ways large and small, 
     our future. In the affairs of nations, no outcome is pre-
     destined. Your presence here is the result of clear vision, 
     decisive choice, and unwavering commitment. The future of 
     individual nations and our alliances will be the result not 
     of inevitability, but of sustained collective effort.
       It's effort we must continue to make every day, every week, 
     every year, in defense of our shared freedom.
       In 1999, as his nation was joining the NATO alliance, 
     Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said, ``Finding one 
     another is a promising beginning, staying together is a 
     process, and working together is a success.''
       So, tonight I challenge those of you from around the world 
     to work together for our shared success.
       Someone once said that a successful marriage is a sixty-
     sixty proposition. In that light I encourage each of you to 
     strive to put more than what you think is your fair share 
     into this upcoming year; that will, ironically ensure you get 
     out far more than you put in. Encourage one another to gain a 
     deeper understanding of your part of our world and ensure 
     that when your time together is ended, you can leave with the 
     regret that characterizes good friends parting and not the 
     regret of tasks left undone or words left unsaid.
       I would close by reminding you of something that you 
     already know, but which you must never forget, in the words 
     of a leader from another time and another crisis. You may not 
     know it, but my Navy family harbors a dark secret. It 
     concerns my son, who, despite the efforts of his mother and 
     me to raise him properly and set him on the right path, is a 
     graduate of West Point. He would be embarrassed to hear me 
     speak of it, but, in all seriousness, he knows how proud we 
     are of him, now in command of Bravo Company, Second Ranger 
     Battalion. He has recently returned from Afghanistan where 
     for six months he shared dirt, danger and duty with UK Paras, 
     Italian Carabinieri and soldiers, new friends from a dozen 
     other nations.
       In the four years that his mother and I journeyed up the 
     Hudson to that storied Point, I came to appreciate the words 
     of a distinguished graduate of that school who, in a moving 
     speech nearly four decades ago described the role of a 
     military in a democratic society and also described a world 
     whose concerns have not changed so much in the decades since. 
     Perhaps the more things change, the more they stay the same.

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       General Douglas MacArthur said: ``And throughout all this 
     welter of change and development, your mission remains fixed, 
     determined, inviolable. It is to win our wars. Everything 
     else in your professional careers is but a corollary to this 
     vital dedication . . . You are the ones who are trained to 
     fight.
       ``Let civilian voices argue the merits or demerits of our 
     processes of government; whether our strength is being sapped 
     by deficit financing indulged in too long; by Federal 
     paternalism grown too mighty; by power groups grown too 
     arrogant; by politics grown too corrupt; by morals grown too 
     low; by taxes grown too high.
       ``These great national problems are not for your 
     professional participation or military solution. Your 
     guidepost stands out like a tenfold beacon in the night: 
     duty, honor, country. You are the leaven which binds together 
     the entire fabric of our national system of defense. From 
     your ranks come the great Captains who hold the nation's 
     destiny in their hands the moment the war tocsin sound.''
       He may have been Army, but I can't improve upon that! Thank 
     you and have a good night.

                          ____________________