[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1993, Book I)]
[March 12, 1993]
[Pages 283-285]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Radio Address to the Armed Forces
March 12, 1993

    Good afternoon. I'm coming to you from aboard the United States ship 
Theodore Roosevelt, which left yesterday from Norfolk, Virginia, on a 6-
month mission. What I've seen on this ship today only increases my pride 
not only in the sailors and marines I met but also in every soldier, 
every sailor, every airman, every marine who serves our Nation, from 
Rhein-Main Air Force Base in Germany, where Americans are leaving to 
airdrop lifesaving supplies into Bosnia, to Somalia, where our Armed 
Forces have served with great distinction and made every American proud.
    I'm honored to join you on Armed Forces Radio. I've had many 
blessings this year: the privilege of meeting Americans all across our 
Nation, the opportunity to hear about their lives and their dreams for 
our future, and of course, the opportunity to become the President of 
the United States. But there is no greater honor than actually serving 
as America's Commander in Chief.
    Your work is often dangerous, even when times are quiet. Your day at 
the office can be 6 months or longer. And it's not for the money, it's 
always for the country. Because America's Armed Forces are more than the 
backbone of our security, you're the shining model of our best values: 
dedication and responsibility and the willingness of you and your loved 
ones to bear a tremendous level of sacrifice. You commit your daily 
energies and even your lives to benefit your fellow Americans.
    Our armed services stand as one of history's great successes. Every 
color, every background, every region of our society is represented in 
America's Armed Forces. The American military pioneered our Nation's 
progress toward integration and equal opportunity. It's America's most 
effective education and training system. It's constantly adapted to 
change and always rising to the challenge of change. You, and all who 
wear

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America's uniforms, are what make the United States a true superpower. 
It is your skill, your professionalism, your courage, and your 
dedication to country and service that constitutes the muscle, the 
sinew, and the soul of our strength. And today I salute you.
    I want to say a special word about the Navy since I'm on board this 
fine ship today. It means a lot to a Commander in Chief to have a ready 
fleet. When word of a crisis breaks out in Washington, it's no accident 
that the first question is: Where is the nearest carrier? This ship's 
namesake, President Theodore Roosevelt, once said, ``The Navy of the 
United States is the right arm of the United States and is emphatically 
the peacemaker.'' Theodore Roosevelt was the first American ever to win 
the Nobel Peace Prize, in part with the help of the United States Navy.
    We have a great stake, you and I, in maintaining a strong American 
defense and in working hard even at the end of the cold war. The 
Theodore Roosevelt played an important part in the end of the cold war. 
In 1988, it was here that an American Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of 
Staff first welcomed his Soviet counterpart to visit an American 
aircraft carrier. That was when my friend Admiral William Crowe and 
Marshal Sergey Akhromeyev stepped aboard this ship to meet the crew and 
watch flight operations just as I have done today. It was a key 
milestone on the path to the end of the cold war.
    Less than 5 years later, the world has changed, faster than anyone 
could have possibly guessed. The cold war is over. The Soviet Union no 
longer exists. The Warsaw Pact is gone. The specter of Soviet tanks 
rolling westward across the northern German plains no longer haunts us. 
But the world remains a dangerous and increasingly an uncertain place. 
Saddam Hussein confirmed that. The tragic violence in Bosnia reminds us 
of that every day. The proliferation of nuclear and other weapons of 
mass destruction is unfortunately a growing, not a receding, menace. And 
human suffering, such as that in Somalia, may not threaten our shores 
but still requires us to act.
    These challenges are new in many ways, but we dare not overlook 
their significance. Blinders never provide security. A changed security 
environment demands that we change our security arrangement. Yes, we are 
reducing the defense budget because of the end of the cold war, but 
we're not downsizing for its own sake, we're trying to rightsize our 
security for security's sake. And as we change, we must keep a few core 
ideas in mind: Our military first must be exceptionally mobile, with 
first-rate sealift, airlift, and ability to project power. Our military 
must be agile, with an emphasis on maneuver, on speed, and on 
technological superiority. Our firepower must be precise so that we can 
minimize the exposure to harm for men and women who wear our uniform and 
reduce civilian casualties. Our military must be flexible so that we can 
operate with diverse coalition partners in different parts of the world. 
Our forces must be smart with the intelligence and communications we 
need for complex threats. And above all, our military must be ever-
ready, given the unpredictability of new threats.
    None of these goals are possible without a quality force. The people 
on this ship and all of you who are listening to me exemplify that 
quality. It is your skills, your experience, your training, and your 
dedication that will get the job done for America and guarantee that our 
vital interests can be protected.
    While all of you carry out your mission so far from home, we back 
home will be engaged in many debates on defense policy. I will tell you 
that there are changes which lie ahead. Defense cuts are, and have been 
for the last several years, a fact of life, an inescapable consequence 
of the new world you've worked so hard to create. As you watch the news 
or read newspapers, you will hear us talk of new roles and missions and 
you'll see news about bases and budget cuts. But as we reduce defense 
spending, we must not leave the men and women who won the cold war out 
in the cold. As these bases close, as close some of them must, we must 
not close our eyes and our hearts to the need for new investments and a 
need to create new jobs in communities with old bases.
    Defense spending has been declining since 1986, but there's been no 
real plan about what to do on it, no real plan for military personnel 
mustered out, no real plan for civilian workers who have lost their jobs 
or for the communities who have been hurt or for the companies who have 
been devastated. We can't repeal the laws of change, but we do have a 
choice: We can be buffeted by change, or we can act boldly to use this 
change to make our country stronger and safer and smarter. That's why 
it's so important to make the investments we need in de-


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fense conversion, in education and training and new jobs in new 
industries. I want to help ensure that those of you who choose to leave 
the military in the years to come return to a nation of jobs and growth 
and opportunity.
    As you follow the news of all these changes, I ask you to remember 
this: I am immensely proud of who you are and what you're doing. And as 
these changes proceed I pledge that as long as I am your President, you 
and the other men and women in uniform will continue to be the best 
trained, the best prepared, the best equipped fighting force in the 
world. There is no single decision I take more seriously than those 
involving the use of force. As I weigh crises that confront America 
around the world, you will be in my mind and in my heart.
    This is, on balance, a very hopeful time. But still, it is full of 
challenges. We can be glad that your mission is not darkly framed by the 
cold war's confrontation with a nuclear adversary. But many new duties 
and dangers are taking the place of that single stark threat, some of 
them yet unknown. There is no sonar, no radar that can enable us to 
fathom all the changes in terrain over which we are about to set sail.
    Napoleon had a standing order to his corps commanders to, quote, 
``March to the sound of the gun.'' He meant that when the shooting 
starts on a battlefield, it is the soldier's obligation to move into the 
fight. Today, there are many different security challenges into which we 
must all move. And at times, you who serve our Nation in uniform may be 
called upon to answer not only the sound of guns but also the call of 
distress, or a summons to keep the peace in a troubled part of the 
world, or even the cry of starving children. The cause may be more 
diverse, but our values must remain unchanged, our purposes clear. And 
your commitment to serve remains the linchpin in every new and 
continuing effort.
    I know that for some of you listening to me today, this is a 
difficult time. You have left your family, your friends, your home. I 
hope you understand that your work is vitally important to your fellow 
Americans and to the President and to this very new and very hopeful 
world we are trying to nourish and to build. The American people have 
great faith in what you do. Their faith is well placed, and I thank you 
for your service.

Note: The President spoke at 3:03 p.m. from the U.S.S. Theodore 
Roosevelt.