[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 11]
[Senate]
[Pages 15310-15313]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




 RECOGNIZING GENERAL ERIC SHINSEKI ON HIS RETIREMENT AS ARMY CHIEF OF 
                                 STAFF

  Mr. INOUYE. Madam President, on June 11, 2003, I had the honor and 
privilege of attending the retirement ceremony at Fort Myer, VA, for 
GEN Eric Shinseki, who served with distinction during his 4 years as 
Army Chief of Staff. A native of Hawaii who rose through the ranks 
while devoting 38 years of his life to defending our Nation, General 
Shinseki ended his career as the highest ranking Asian-American in the 
history of the United States military.
  His farewell speech was a message of thanks, a reminder of the need 
for shared values, and an underscoring of the importance of inspired 
leadership and the dangers of arrogance.
  I ask that General Shinseki's speech, as well as the remarks that 
Acting Secretary of the Army Les Brownlee made during General 
Shinseki's retirement ceremony, be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the speech was printed in the Record, as 
follows:

  Speech by General Eric K. Shinseki, 34th Chief of Staff of the U.S. 
  Army, at his Retirement Ceremony, at Fort Myer, VA, on June 11, 2003

       Secretary Brownlee, thank you for the generosity of your 
     remarks, and for hosting today's ceremony. You lead the Army 
     through a difficult period; best wishes in the execution of 
     your important duties.
       Secretary and Mrs. Norm Mineta, Transportation, thank you 
     for being here.
       We have received tremendous support from the defense 
     oversight committees: Senate Armed Services Committee--
     Senators Warner and Levin; Senate Appropriations Committee 
     for defense--Senators Stevens and Inouye; House Armed 
     Services Committee--Congressmen Hunter and Skelton; 
     Congressman Bill Young, Chairman of the House Appropriations 
     Committee; and Congressmen Lewis and Murtha, House 
     Appropriations Committee for Defense. Thank you all and your 
     dedicated staffs, Sid Ashworth, Valerie Baldwin, John 
     Bonsall, Dan Cox, and former Staff Director Steve Cortese, 
     for your support of the Army, its initiatives for the future, 
     and its soldiers.
       Let me also acknowledge the leadership of the Senate and 
     House Army Caucuses: Senators Inhofe and Akaka, Congressmen 
     McHugh and Edwards. We truly appreciate the tremendous 
     support you provide for the Army's initiatives.
       We are fortunate to have some members of Congress with us 
     today: Senators Dan Inouye, Daniel Akaka, Jack Reed, and 
     former Senator Max Cleland; Congressmen Jerry Lewis, Ike 
     Skelton, Gene Taylor, Neil Abercrombie, Rodney Frelinghuysen, 
     Sylvestre Reyes, Charles Taylor, Chet Edwards, Eni 
     Faleomavaega. Patty and I are honored that you could join us. 
     Thank you.
       Sincere thanks to the members of Congress who paid kind 
     tributes to my service in recent days: Congressmen Lewis, 
     McHugh, Edwards, and Skelton. I deeply appreciate the 
     graciousness of your remarks.
       Senator Dan Inouye, special thanks to you, sir, for your 
     friendship and mentoring. I am indebted to you for 
     introducing me at my Senate confirmation hearing. Your words 
     then and your support over the last four years have been 
     humbling. Thank you for your patriotism and your leadership.
       Deputy Secretary England--Homeland Security, Secretary and 
     Mrs. Jim Roche--Air Force, General Al Haig, thank you for 
     honoring us with your presence. General Barry McCaffrey and 
     Jill, thank you for honoring us as well.
       Secretary Togo West, 16th Secretary of the Army, Secretary 
     Tom and Susan White, 18th Secretary of the Army, thanks for 
     your unwavering support of soldiers and the Army, for your 
     friendship, and for being here today. When they call the roll 
     of principled, loyal, tough guys, you will be at the top of 
     the list.
       General Dick Myers, our Chairman, his wife, Mary Jo, and 
     Lynne Pace, wife of our Vice Chairman, fellow members of the 
     Joint Chiefs of Staff and your ladies: Vern and Connie Clark, 
     CNO; John and Ellen Jumper, CSAF; Mike and Silke Hagee, 
     Commandant, Marine Corps; Tom and Nancy Collins, Commandant, 
     Coast Guard. To the Joint Chiefs, you have my respect and 
     admiration for the

[[Page 15311]]

     experience you bring to deliberations, the responsibilities 
     you bear for the nation, and the care you engender for 
     people.
       Former Army Chiefs of Staff, General and Mrs. Reimer, 
     General and Mrs. Sullivan, General and Mrs. Vuono; members of 
     our outstanding Army Secretariat, including Joe Reeder and 
     Mike Walker; former undersecretaries of the Army; our Vice 
     Chief of Staff, Jack Keane and his wife, Terry, who have 
     worked tirelessly for four years on behalf of soldiers and 
     the Army, thank you both for your dedication and support.
       Counterpart Army Chiefs who have traveled long distances to 
     be here today: General and Mrs. Gert Gudera, old friends from 
     Germany since our service together in Bosnia; General Edward 
     Pietrzyk, Poland; General and Mrs. Hillier, Canada; General 
     Canelo-Franco, Paraguay; General Morozov, Russia; General 
     Marekovic, Croatia. Patty and I are deeply honored by your 
     presence.
       Other fellow U.S. general and flag officers, serving and 
     retired, active and reserve components, and your spouses, 
     especially the retired four stars who are here today, thank 
     you all for your support and your leadership. The Army is in 
     good hands and it keeps rolling along. Let me particularly 
     acknowledge the serving four-stars: Jim Ellis, Charlie 
     Holland, Larry and Jean Ellis, Paul and Dede Kern, Leon and 
     Judy Laporte, B.B. Bell, Tom and Toni Hill, Kevin and Carol 
     Byrnes; and those recently retired from active duty, John and 
     Ceil Abrams, Buck and Maryanne Kernan, Jay and Cherie 
     Hendrix, Tom and Sandy Schwartz, John and Jan Coburn. Let me 
     also acknowledge the important service and presence of the 
     Joint and Army Staffs and the Army's general officers in 
     command who provide strong, steady, and enduring leadership.
       Sergeant Major of the Army Jack and Gloria Tilley, the Army 
     could not have asked for two more enthusiastic proponents for 
     soldiers and families. To you and the MACOM Sergeants Major 
     who have gathered here today, thanks for your wise counsel 
     and friendship. We are indebted to all of you for your 
     leadership and your care and concern for soldiers.
       Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy and Mrs. Scott, 
     former SMAs Hall, Kidd, and Bainbridge and your ladies, 
     civilian aides to the Secretary of the Army.
       My beloved family, some 70-strong, has journeyed great 
     distances to be here. Grandma Shinseki, who turns 92 this 
     year, has chosen not to travel, and my sister, Yvonne, has 
     remained at home with her. But just about everyone else is 
     here--my older brother, Paul, and his family, then Patty and 
     our children--Lori, Ken, and their spouses who have made 
     Patty and me grandparents five times over. Many others from 
     Patty's and my wonderful family are gathered in strength--
     uncles, aunts, sisters, brothers, cousins, nephews and 
     nieces--wonderful people who live simple lives in proud and 
     vocal support of this Chief. God bless you all.
       So many other dear friends and associates--too numerous to 
     name but whose journeys have brought them miles, years, and 
     memories to be here today. Kauai High School classmates, 
     classmates from Hunterdon Central High School, where I spent 
     a defining year of my life as an exchange student in New 
     Jersey; the men and women of the distinguished West Point 
     Class of 1965, representatives from industry and the 
     nonprofits who have done so much for the Army and soldiers, 
     especially Frances Hesselbein of the Leader to Leader 
     Institute, members of our superb, professional media--Joe 
     Galloway, Thom Shanker, Dick Cooper, Dave Moniz, Greg Jaffe, 
     Ann Roosevelt, Joe Burlas, and others--who have helped to 
     tell our soldiers' stories, the international representatives 
     of the attache corps, our wonderful Army Arlington Ladies, 
     who represent the Chief of Staff at each and every Army 
     funeral in Arlington to honor our soldiers when they are laid 
     to rest, thank you.
       Youngsters from my front office and the Quarters 1 staffs, 
     John Gingrich and members of my staff group; my XOs, Joe 
     Riojas and Tom Bostick; and Lil Cowell, the steady hand in 
     the office of the CSA for four Chiefs, who quietly retired 
     last week; CW5 Dan Logan; SGM Bruce Cline and Team CSA; SFC 
     John Turk and the Admin Section; Major Pedro Almeida, the 
     last in a series of world-class aides; Linda Jacobs and the 
     heroes of protocol, all kept the office of the Chief well-
     represented through sheer hard work and dedication, making my 
     life and Patty's most rewarding. Thank you all.
       Teri and Karen Maude and the Brian Birdwells, survivors of 
     11 September 2001, among the many hurt and scarred that day; 
     spouses of the generals who ran the ground war in Iraqi 
     Freedom; Carmen McKiernan, Kimberly Webster, Dee Thurman, and 
     Bea Christianson, thank you for coming today and for your 
     generosity, grace, and courage. Other distinguished guests, 
     ladies and gentlemen.
       My name is Shinseki, and I am a soldier--an American 
     soldier, who was born in the midst of World War II, began his 
     service in Vietnam 37 years ago, and retires today in the 
     midst of war in Afghanistan and Iraq. The strategic 
     environment remains dangerous and we, in the military, serve 
     our nation by providing the very best capabilities to restore 
     order in a troubled world. Soldiering is an honorable 
     profession, and I am privileged to have served every day for 
     the past 38 years as a soldier.
       The Good Book tells us, to everything there is a season and 
     a time to every purpose. Today is a time for thank yous, and 
     our purpose is to say farewell. As we speak, more than 
     370,000 soldiers are deployed and forward stationed in 120 
     countries. Their missions range from combat to peacekeeping 
     to rebuilding nations to humanitarian assistance to disaster 
     relief--and a host of other missions in between. And as busy 
     as they are, there have been no dropped balls--none, on any 
     mission. They are trained, disciplined, focused, and well-
     led. The soldiers arrayed before us represent the 
     magnificence of that Army. Their parade formation stretches 
     not only from left to right across this field, but also 
     backwards in history to a time before the republic was 
     formed. Precision counts in this profession, and no one does 
     it any better than the Old Guard and Pershing's Own. Please 
     join me in thanking the soldiers on parade today and on duty 
     here, behind the stars and around the world.
       Thanks also to former bosses, mentors, friends, and fellow 
     soldiers who trained me as a soldier, and grew me as a 
     leader--some of them are here today. General Fred Franks, who 
     more than anyone else has been coach and mentor in all the 
     years I served as a general officer. Generals Butch Saint, Ed 
     Burba, Rich Cardillo, Tom Tait, who fought to keep me on 
     active duty after a service-disqualifying injury, Dick Davis, 
     Colonel Greynolds, my hospital bunkmate Bill Hale, and 
     Sergeant Ernie Kingcade, noncommissioned officer, who, while 
     under way by ship to Vietnam, provided me the only officer 
     basic course I would receive before going into battle--and I 
     could not have had a better education. Ernie, it has been a 
     long journey, and the example you set has been with me for 38 
     years. Thanks for that early model of what noncommissioned 
     officers were supposed to be. I have never expected less, and 
     it has made all the difference.
       To the men of '65--strength and drive. Thirty-Eight years 
     since we stepped off together as soldiers. You have been role 
     models, friends, associates, and fellow soldiers for these 
     many years. Your notes in the days following 11 September and 
     during the height of Iraqi Freedom were of great comfort--
     wonderful reminders of all that we had been through together. 
     Thanks for standing my last formation with me. It's been my 
     distinct honor to have been associated with you and with what 
     we've accomplished as a class. Your presence is most 
     appreciated.
       To Patty, my wife of 38 years, you taught me the meaning of 
     selflessness, of elegance, of courage, and of a bright spirit 
     undiminished by time or adversity. You have seen me at my 
     worst and stuck with me--and you've seen me at my best and 
     chuckled in disbelief. Throughout it all, your patience, your 
     balance, your encouragement, and your love and support have 
     sustained me. You stood beside my hospital bed for days. 
     Helped me learn to walk a second time, enabled me to regain 
     confidence and a sense of direction, helped me reestablish a 
     professional career, moved our children and our household 31 
     times, and always, always provided great strength when it was 
     needed most. You could have been and done anything you chose; 
     yet you chose to be a soldier's wife. The profound grace of 
     that decision has blessed me immeasurably. Thank you for 38 
     wonderful years in a profession I loved nearly as much as 
     you.
       Lastly, I want to thank the men who have served in this 
     position, those who saw the Army through some dark days 
     following Vietnam. It was a daunting and enormous task, but 
     they, with others who are present today, did it. They gave us 
     back an NCO Corps, and they gave us back an Army that fights: 
     Generals Creighton Abrams, Fred Weyand, Bernie Rogers, Shy 
     Meyer, John Wickham, Carl Vuono, Gordon Sullivan, and Denny 
     Reimer.
       These leaders rose to their enormous task because they 
     understood the important distinction between command and 
     effective leadership. They taught us that command is about 
     authority, about an appointment to position--a set of orders 
     granting title. Effective leadership is different. It must be 
     learned and practiced in order for it to rise to the level of 
     art. It has to do with values internalized and the 
     willingness to sacrifice or subordinate all other concerns--
     advancement, personal well-being, safety--for others. So 
     these men of iron invested tremendous time, energy, and 
     intellect in leader development--to ensure that those who are 
     privileged to be selected for command approach their duties 
     with a sense of reverence, trust, and the willingness to 
     sacrifice all, if necessary, for those they lead. You must 
     love those you lead before you can be an effective leader. 
     You can certainly command without that sense of commitment, 
     but you cannot lead without it; and without leadership, 
     command is a hollow experience--a vacuum often filled with 
     mistrust and arrogance.
       Our mentors understood that mistrust and arrogance are 
     antithetical to inspired and inspiring leadership, breeding 
     discontent, fostering malcontents, and confusing intent 
     within the force. And so our mentors worked to reestablish 
     that most important of virtues

[[Page 15312]]

     in our army--trust--the foundation upon which we have built 
     our reputation as an army. We owe them all a tremendous debt 
     of gratitude for the magnificent Army we have today, and the 
     legacy of trust and honor they sustained.
       This week, we celebrate the Army's 228th birthday--228 
     years. The Army's long history is, in so many ways, also the 
     history of our nation, a history including 10 wars and all 
     the years of restless peace in between. In those years, 
     soldiers have been both servant and savior to the nation. 
     Today, our nation is once again at war. The current war 
     brings me full circle to where I began my journey as a 
     soldier--the lessons I learned in Vietnam are always with me. 
     They involve changes in the way many of my generation learned 
     to train, to lead, to fight, and to always offer our best 
     military judgment to our superiors. These were hard-learned 
     lessons. Lessons about loyalty, about taking care of the 
     people who sacrifice the most for the good of the nation, 
     about uncompromising readiness that is achieved only through 
     tough, realistic training, about the necessity for inspired 
     and inspiring leadership, about the agility and versatility 
     demanded by a dynamic, strategic environment, and most 
     importantly that the Army must do two things well each and 
     every day--train soldiers and grow them into leaders, leaders 
     who can unequivocally and without hesitation answer the 
     critical question asked of any war fighter. ``Can you fight? 
     Can you fight?''
       That question and those lessons are enduring ones for the 
     profession of arms. Four years ago, with these lessons in 
     mind, with the results of our comprehensive Army transition 
     assessment in hand, and with our eyes always on the dynamic 
     strategic environment, we decided to undertake fundamental 
     and comprehensive change. Those initiatives informed the Army 
     vision, a vision that consists of three imperatives. People. 
     Readiness. Transformation.
       Secretary Brownlee, thank you for so well capturing the 
     Army's progress toward achieving that vision, a result of 
     hard work by so many people. I'll only reinforce that 
     transformation has never been about just one thing--the 
     future combat system or the objective force--and the Army 
     vision has never been about one person. The Army vision and 
     transformation are about comprehensive change at the very 
     heart of our institution, of our culture: doctrine, 
     organization, training, leader development, materiel, and 
     soldiers. This is the message we have consistently reiterated 
     to all who are listening.
       In these last months, the performance of soldiers and Army 
     families has spoken loudly, clearly, and eloquently--since 11 
     September, we have been enormously successful operationally. 
     In Afghanistan, as members of a combined, joint team, 
     soldiers banished the Taliban and Al Qaeda in weeks. In Iraq, 
     they fought with speed and agility to As-Samawah, An-Najaf, 
     Al-Hillah, Karbala, and Baghdad, unseating a dictator, 
     freeing an oppressed people, defeating a persistent enemy in 
     spite of the harsh, unforgiving environment. Our soldiers 
     demonstrated unprecedented agility and flexibility: JSOTF 
     West--special operators fighting with armor and conventional 
     artillery, JSOTF North--the 173rd ABN BDE--1,000 paratroopers 
     make a night jump and fight alongside TF 1-63 Armor--1st ID, 
     and TF 2-14 INF and a field artillery battery from the 10th 
     Mountain; the 82nd ABN DIV Task organized with 2nd ACR(-), TF 
     1-41 (MECH) from Fort Riley, and a brigade of the 101st Air 
     Assault Division; the 101st(-) fighting with TF 2-70 Armor of 
     the 1st AD. With the greatest of agility, versatility, and 
     courage, they fought to victory, demonstrating once again 
     that all our magnificent moments as an Army are delivered by 
     our people. They won the fights, and they are now facing and 
     overcoming tremendous challenges to ensure the Afghan and 
     Iraqi people have the opportunity to rebuild their societies 
     and create governments characterized by democracy, 
     prosperity, peace, and hope rather than barbarity, 
     instability, and pervasive fear. Just as impressively, 
     soldiers have simultaneously allowed our nation to fulfill 
     commitments in other important regions--the Sinai, the 
     Balkans, the Philippines, and Korea to name but a few. And 
     had the situation in Korea gone hot, we'd have been there, 
     too. With deeds, not words, they have unequivocally answered 
     the question, ``Can you fight?'' They do not flinch. They do 
     not waiver. Our Army fights and wins.
       Those successes are enabled by our great young leaders--
     noncommissioned officers, lieutenants and captains, battalion 
     and brigade commanders--who understand both what a privilege 
     it is to lead soldiers, and the tremendous responsibility 
     that accompanies that privilege. They love their units and 
     the soldiers who fill them--that is the essence of 
     leadership.
       Leadership is essential in any profession, but effective 
     leadership is paramount in the profession of arms--for those 
     who wear the uniform and those who do not. We, in the Army, 
     have been blessed with tremendous civilian leadership, most 
     notably in the service of Secretary Tom White, who we 
     farewelled last month. We understand that leadership is not 
     an exclusive function of uniformed service. So when some 
     suggest that we, in the Army, don't understand the importance 
     of civilian control of the military, well, that's just not 
     helpful. And it isn't true. The Army has always understood 
     the primacy of civilian control. We reinforce that principle 
     to those with whom we train all around the world. So to muddy 
     the waters when important issues are at stake, issues of life 
     and death, is a disservice to all of those in and out of 
     uniform who serve and lead so well.
       Our Army's soldiers and leaders have earned our country's 
     highest admiration and our citizens' broad support. But even 
     as we congratulate our soldiers when we welcome them home 
     from battle, we must beware of the tendency some may have to 
     draw the wrong conclusions, the wrong lessons from recent 
     operations, remembering all the while that no lesson is 
     learned until it changes behavior. We must always maintain 
     our focus on readiness. We must ensure that the Army has the 
     capabilities to match the strategic environment in which we 
     operate, a force sized correctly to meet the strategy set 
     forth in the documents that guide us--our national security 
     and national military strategies. Beware the 12-division 
     strategy for a 10-division army. Our soldiers and families 
     bear the risk and the hardship of carrying a mission load 
     that exceeds what force capabilities we can sustain, so we 
     must alleviate risk and hardship by our willingness to 
     resource the mission requirement. And we must remember that 
     decisive victory often has less to do with the plan than it 
     does with years invested in the training of soldiers and the 
     growing of leaders. Our nation has seen war too many times to 
     believe that victory on the battlefield is due primarily to 
     the brilliance of a plan--as opposed to leadership, tactical 
     and technical proficiency, sheer grit and determination of 
     the men and women who do the fighting and the bleeding.
       Throughout my career, it has been an honor to serve with 
     leaders who understand and are committed to uphold those 
     obligations and duties to soldiers. Today, we find that kind 
     of dedicated and caring leadership at every level in our 
     Army. We are an institution that lives our values. Loyalty. 
     Duty. Respect. Selfless service. Honor. Integrity. Personal 
     courage. Army values--the bedrock on which our institution is 
     built.
       Those values are demonstrated outside our ranks as well as 
     within, shared by Army families, as well as soldiers. In 
     these last months, at the toughest times of greatest sadness 
     and hardship, I have again and again been reminded that Army 
     families and spouses are the most generous people I know.
       As I was on the first day of my tenure four years ago, I am 
     humbled to stand here on my last day as the 34th Chief of 
     Staff of the United States Army. I thank the President for 
     his confidence and trust in allowing me the opportunity to 
     serve the nation, and this Army that has been my family for 
     38 years. To soldiers past and present with whom I have 
     served, you have my deep and abiding respect and my profound 
     thanks.
       There is a magnificent Army out there--full of pride, 
     discipline, spirit, values, commitment, and passion. General 
     Creighton Abrams reminded us that ``soldiering is an affair 
     of the heart,'' and it's never been better to be a soldier. 
     We are a magnificent Army, and the nation knows it, and 
     honors our profession. Soldiers represent what's best about 
     our Army and our nation. Noble by sacrifice, magnificent by 
     performance, and respected by all, they make us better than 
     we ever expected to be. And for 38 years now, soldiers have 
     never allowed me to have a bad day.
       My name is Shinseki, and I'm a soldier. God bless all of 
     you and your families. God bless our soldiers and our 
     magnificent Army, and God bless our great nation. Thank you, 
     and goodbye.
                                  ____


Speech by the Honorable Les Brownlee, Acting Secretary of the Army, at 
the Retirement Ceremony for General Eric K. Shinseki at Fort Myer, VA, 
                            on June 11, 2003

       Welcome everyone, and thanks for joining the Army family 
     for this special retirement ceremony in which we are honoring 
     a great American soldier, General Ric Shinseki, and his wife, 
     Patty.
       Secretary and Mrs. Mineta, Senator Inouye, Senator Akaka, 
     Senator Reed, Senator Cleland, Congressman Skelton, 
     Congressman Lewis, Congressman Faleomavaega, Congressman Gene 
     Taylor, Congressman Abercrombie, Congressman Charles Taylor, 
     Congressman Frelinghuysen, and Congressman Reyes.
       Secretary Gordon England, General Alexander Haig, former 
     Secretary of the Army Togo West, General and Mrs. Barry 
     McCaffrey, Secretary of the Air Force and Mrs. Roche, Jim and 
     Diane, former Secretary of the Army and Mrs. White, Tom and 
     Susan.
       The members of our Joint Chiefs of Staff, beginning with 
     our Chairman, General Dick Meyers, and his wife, Mary Jo; the 
     wife of our Vice Chairman, Mrs. Lynne Pace; Chief of Naval 
     Operations, Admiral Vern Clark, and Mrs. Clark; Commandant of 
     the Marine Corps, General Mike Hagee, and Mrs. Hagee; the 
     Commandant of the Coast Guard, Admiral Thomas Collins, and 
     Mrs. Collins; our distinguished former Chiefs of Staff, 
     General Vuono, General Sullivan, and General

[[Page 15313]]

     Reimer; the Vice Chief of Staff, General Jack Keane, and his 
     wife Terry.
       Our distinguished counterpart Chiefs of Staff from Canada, 
     Germany, Croatia, Poland, and Russia. And our great Sergeant 
     Major of the Army, the master of the one-armed pushup, Jack 
     Tilley, and his wife, Gloria.
       Senior Army leaders from the Secretariat and the Army 
     Staff, our civilian aides to the Secretary of the Army, other 
     distinguished general officers. Three generations of the 
     Shinseki family. Soldiers, family members, and friends of the 
     Army.
       Welcome.
       To Colonel Laufenberg and the Old Guard, and to Colonel 
     Lamb and the Army Band, ``Pershing's Own,'' you are 
     tremendous representatives of all of our soldiers defending 
     freedom around the globe.
       Thank you for your professionalism, and your willingness to 
     serve your country. Let's give them a round of applause.
       It has been my distinct privilege to serve with and around 
     Ric Shinseki for the last four decades--from the jungles of 
     Vietnam, through the Cold War, on Capitol Hill, and more 
     recently, in the halls of the Pentagon.
       In all of those environments, he has epitomized the quiet 
     professional. And, being the genuinely humble and modest man 
     that he is, Ric Shinseki will never take personal credit for 
     the enormous impact that he has had on our Army.
       In organizing these comments for today, I thought back to 
     remarks General Shinseki made in July 2000 at the Hall of 
     Heroes induction ceremony for 22 Medal of Honor recipients of 
     Asian and Pacific Island heritage. He said then:
       ``Whenever I attend a function of one of these units . . . 
     I am always struck by this same kind of reticence, this 
     unwillingness ever to bring attention upon oneself. In fact, 
     it usually takes a friend to tell the story of another 
     friend, which is why sometimes even family members of those 
     veterans have never heard those stories. They are unaware of 
     the fact that someone they've known only as a father or 
     husband or uncle or a brother is, to many others, a hero of 
     magnificent proportions.''
       Well, I think he has summed up how all of us feel about Ric 
     Shinseki. He is that quiet warrior, reluctant to speak for 
     himself, always deflecting the spotlight to those around him 
     and, most importantly, to the soldiers he has served so well 
     and so faithfully.
       General Shinseki has always said that the Army vision 
     cannot be linked to one man, that it must be embraced by the 
     entire Army.
       But on this day of his retirement after 38 years of 
     faithful and honorable service, it is fitting that we 
     recognize his personal contributions to our nation and our 
     Army.
       Ric Shinseki saw a need to transform the Army and he had 
     the courage, perseverance and intelligence to make it happen.
       When war came, as he knew and predicted it would, he 
     ensured that our great soldiers could fight--and that they 
     had what they needed to guarantee victory for our nation.
       Simply stated, the Chief looked to the future, and 
     conceived a vision for what our Army must be able to do to 
     protect our nation in the 21st century.
       He translated that vision into an ambitious, yet doable, 
     plan of action--revolving around people, readiness, and 
     transformation.
       He went out and got the resources and implemented his plan 
     with tremendous intellect, courage, and sheer force of will, 
     irrevocably changing our Army for the better.
       All of this took tremendous courage on the Chief's part, at 
     a time when the word ``transformation'' was relatively 
     unknown.
       There are some leaders who might have been able to 
     accomplish one or maybe two of the above, but I know of no 
     one else who could have accomplished it all.
       While his strategic leadership skills were essential to the 
     Army's successes, equally important have been the Chief's 
     strength of character and love of our soldiers.
       Many of you already know the story of the formative years 
     of General Ric Shinseki's life.
       He was born during World War II, when many Americans of 
     Japanese ancestry were interned and labeled ``enemy aliens,'' 
     even as their young men etched a legacy of heroism that 
     remains unrivaled in the annals of our Army's history.
       He grew up among these heroes, indeed was appointed to West 
     Point by one of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team's Medal of 
     Honor recipients, Senator Daniel Inouye, who we are honored 
     to have with us here today.
       After graduation from the academy in 1965, Ric served twice 
     in Vietnam, both times seriously wounded. His second wound 
     was so severe, and his recovery so difficult, that the 
     doctors wanted to put him out of the military.
       He could have easily accepted the honor and accolades 
     justly due a wounded warrior forced from service before his 
     time, but he did not.
       His love of soldiers--soldiers who had carried him out of 
     combat on their backs--twice--and his love of our Army--was 
     so deep that he persevered.
       The iron will and depth of character that the Chief 
     developed through the long, painful months of recovery 
     steeled an already proven warrior. His willingness to fight 
     on behalf of the Army has had as much to do with our Army's 
     accomplishments as his skills as a strategic leader.
       As we all know, transformation has grabbed many headlines, 
     but the Chief's contributions to the warfighting readiness of 
     the entire Army set the conditions for the successes our 
     soldiers have delivered in Afghanistan and Iraq and elsewhere 
     around the globe.
       As he said in 1999, he didn't know when or where it would 
     occur, but he knew the Army would fight during his tenure as 
     the Chief. This motivated his focus on preparing for that 
     moment. Nothing escaped his scrutiny, from filling combat 
     units to 100-percent ensuring we had sufficient spare tank 
     engines. The victories in Kabul and Baghdad were accomplished 
     by our soldiers, but those soldiers were supported by an 
     institution that had been keenly focused by the Chief on 
     preparing them for battle. And one thing is certain: No army 
     in history was equal to the Army that this Chief of Staff 
     prepared for battle in Iraq. No Army was ever better 
     equipped, trained, or motivated. All of us are proud of that 
     Army, and about what they accomplished, and continue to 
     accomplish today.
       But, Ric, you will always enjoy a special pride--because 
     this was truly your Army--molded and sculpted as a reflection 
     of your leadership and your character.
       As an Army, we also owe an enormous debt of gratitude to 
     Patty Shinseki, who epitomizes all that is good and wonderful 
     about Army spouses. Her genuine concern for others, her 
     energy, and her grace under fire are remarkable.
       She has known the fear of a wife whose husband goes to 
     combat and returns wounded--twice.
       She has moved over 30 times in 38 years, raised a wonderful 
     family in the process, and has served as the senior 
     leadership's greatest ambassador to Army families and so many 
     other constituencies.
       Patty and Ric Shinseki are a remarkable team. When Ric set 
     his sights on improving the well-being of our Army, Patty 
     turned a laser-like focus on these issues. The result was: 
     spouse orientation and leadership programs, Army Family Team 
     Building, and the Army Spouse Employment Summit, to name but 
     a few.
       In an Army in which over half of our soldiers are married, 
     these measures enable us to retain soldiers and their 
     families despite the many sacrifices they make on behalf of 
     the nation.
       Patty, thank you so much for all you have done for our 
     soldiers, their families, for our communities, and the Army. 
     We will deeply miss you.
       Once again, I'd like to paraphrase from General Shinseki's 
     own words: ``It has been said, `Poor is the nation that has 
     no heroes, but beggared is the nation that has and forgets 
     them.' The man we honor today answered his nation's call to 
     duty, and in doing so, honored his heritage and his 
     country.''
       In short, he is a soldier.
       Ric, thank you for a lifetime of service and sacrifice, for 
     your vision, your courage, your steadfastness, and for all 
     you have done for our soldiers who are the Army. We will be 
     forever in your debt.
       May God always bless you and Patty and your family, our 
     magnificent soldiers, our Army and this great nation. Thank 
     you.

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