[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 31, Number 49 (Monday, December 11, 1995)]
[Pages 2116-2117]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Interview With Joe Garvey of the Armed Forces Network in Baumholder

December 2, 1995

    Mr. Garvey. The first question, Mr. President. You have spent the 
entire day talking to soldiers, shaking soldiers' hands. You've been 
briefed by the Task Force Eagle commanders. You've talked to spouses. 
What is the one thing that you'll walk away with here today?
    The President. An immense feeling of gratitude that our country has 
people who are this well-trained, this highly motivated, this patriotic, 
and this good working for us. You know, these people have volunteered to 
serve their country, to go anywhere and do anything that their country 
needs. And they are an exceptional group of people, and their families 
are exceptional people.
    Now, because of the training they've had in Germany, they believe 
that the training probably will be harder than the mission, and of 
course, we all hope it will be. So I think every American should feel an 
immense

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sense of pride and gratitude that people like the men and women of the 
1st Armored Division are out there serving our country.
    Mr. Garvey. Changing gears just a little bit, has having a U.S. 
forward-deployed force in Europe been an advantage for the planning and 
potential and ultimate execution of this Bosnia mission?
    The President. Absolutely. It's been a huge advantage. For one 
thing, we are here, obviously part of the unified NATO Command, but we 
can do our planning not just through General Joulwan and the NATO 
Command Headquarters but right down through the Americans that are 
expected to do it and have it here in close proximity. It's made a big 
difference, and the training has made a huge difference.
    We've been able, as you know, to recreate the conditions that our 
people will face in Bosnia here in Germany. We're fairly close by; we 
can get the same sort of topography, the same kind of weather 
conditions, and I think that that has made a huge difference.
    I'm not sure we have ever sent a group of our men and women in 
uniform into a situation where they were better prepared in advance in 
almost on-site training. Neither of those things would have been nearly 
as good had we not had a forward deployment in Germany.
    Mr. Garvey. I know you're a busy man. I have nothing else to ask 
you, Mr. President, unless you have something yourself you would like to 
add.
    The President. Well, the only other thing I would like to add is 
that I think it's important for the American people to understand that 
with our volunteer Army now, it's more and more of a family place. It's 
more and more a place full of exceptional people with good values and 
deep ties, either to their spouses and children who are with them while 
they're in the service or to their parents back home.
    And so when we make a decision, when I make a decision, like the 
decision to deploy our troops to carry out the peace mission in Bosnia, 
it's a family decision, it affects families, and I am very mindful of 
that. And one of the things that I really appreciate is the extent to 
which caring for the families, thinking about their needs, making sure 
that they're treated in the proper way is a big part of the mission now. 
And I think that's something that we have gotten better at and something 
I hope we will continue to get better at, because if we're going to have 
a volunteer Army, we want the very best people in it and we want people 
to be able to succeed in uniform but also in their family roles. And 
that is very, very important to me--especially at Christmastime I guess 
I'm thinking a lot about it, but all year long we have to be better and 
better and better at that, because this is a family commitment as well 
as an American commitment.
    Mr. Garvey. Thank you. I appreciate your time.
    The President. Thank you.

Note: The interview began at 4:40 p.m. at the Rheinlander Club.