    [Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 37, Number 21 (Monday, May 28, 2001)]
    [Pages 804-808]
    [Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    <R04>
    Commencement Address at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis,
    Maryland

    May 25, 2001

        Thank you very much. Thank you, all. Secretary England, thank you
    very much. For those of you who don't know this, he was sworn-in at noon
    yesterday, just to be here as the Secretary of the Navy. I'm proud to
    have this good man serving our country.
        Admiral Clark, thank you very much. General Jones, Admiral Ryan,
    members of the board of visitors, Members of the United States Congress,
    distinguished faculty, distinguished guests, family, and friends, and
    most of all, graduating midshipmen of the class of 2001.
        It is a tremendous honor for me to stand before the future of the
    United States Navy and the United States Marine Corps. You'll always
    remember this commencement day, a day of excitement, pomp, circumstance;
    tears of joy and relief when the speaker finally stops speaking.
    [Laughter] When I accepted the invitation to speak here, I asked Admiral
    Clark, fine man that he is, if he had any thoughts on what I should talk
    about. He said, ``Mr. President, you should talk about 20 minutes.''
    [Laughter] So we'll see how I do.
        I bring with me a small graduation present. In keeping with long-
    standing tradition, I hereby absolve all midshipmen who are on
    restriction for minor conduct offenses.

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    [Laughter] It seems a lot of you are cheering. [Laughter] I leave it to
    Admiral Ryan to define exactly what ``minor'' means. [Laughter]
        Your class has so much to be proud of. You've endured the physical
    shakedown of your plebe summer and the academic shock of your plebe
    year. You've endured sea trials and the trial of the Herndon climb.
    You've slept in rooms adorned with brass plaques that remind you of
    predecessors whose chests were adorned with Medals of Honor. You've
    worshipped in a chapel engraved with the words, ``Non Sibi, Sed
    Patriae''--Not for self, but for country. You've studied in buildings
    named after giants: Nimitz, Sampson, Mahan, and Michelson. And just in
    case the studying wasn't enough, some of you gave the left-handed salute
    to Tecumseh, the ``god of 2.0.'' [Laughter] They didn't have that statue
    where I went to school. [Laughter] I wish they had. [Laughter]
        No one made you come here. No one made you stay, and no one made you
    to subject yourself to a code of honor and a life of discipline, but you
    did. And your President and your country are so very grateful and proud
    that you have chosen to serve.
        We all know that you did not arrive at this day by yourselves. You
    had a lot of help. And at the top of this list must go your parents, and
    I'd like to congratulate them, as well. The class of 2001, you launch
    yourself into what we all hope will be fair winds and following seas.
    It's a good time to reflect for a moment on the things that change and
    the things that never change.
        Today I'm going to talk about the changing world you're entering and
    the enduring values you'll bring to it. Presenting the ``butter bars''
    to the class of 2001 will be four flag officers from the Naval Academy
    class of 1951, Admirals Burkhalter, Dunn, McKee, and Metcalf. We're so
    honored to have them here, as well as a true modern day hero, and your
    former Superintendent, Admiral Bill Lawrence.
        The class of '51 and the class of '01 are separated by 50 years, but
    you have much in common. You exhibit the same patriotism, the same
    professionalism, and the same drive. And let's not forget, both classes
    beat Army.
        Half a century ago, the class of '51 ventured into a world where the
    very existence of our Nation seemed to hang in the balance. Thanks in
    part to their service and sacrifice, the values of democratic freedom
    prevailed throughout some 40 winters of a cold war.
        Today, you inherit a world that is safer and more peaceful, a world
    the class of '51 helped to make possible. You're the custodians of their
    legacy, the next link in the long, unbroken chain that is Annapolis past
    and present. The world you're entering today is different from the one
    they entered in five decades ago. But it's still dangerous. It still
    requires America to have a forward strategy for freedom. The Navy-Marine
    Corps team you're about to join as new officers will be an integral part
    of that strategy.
        Today, nearly one-third of our naval forces are forward-deployed
    overseas. The U.S.S. Constellation carrier battle group and its 10,000
    sailors are plying the waters of the Persian Gulf, enforcing the no-fly
    zone over southern Iraq. Another 3,800 sailors and marines stand guard
    nearby with the Boxer amphibious ready group, deterring any mischief
    Saddam might contemplate. The U.S.S. Enterprise is in the Mediterranean,
    along with the Kearsarge amphibious ready group. They're supporting NATO
    efforts to maintain peace in the Balkans and deterring those who would
    break the peace. And in the Pacific, the U.S.S. Kitty Hawk is on call,
    ready, if needed, to defend America's interests.
        These forces are America's insurance policy in a world of change and
    challenge. They give comfort to our allies and pause to our enemies and
    adversaries. America today has the finest Navy and Marine Corps the
    world has ever seen. And with your help, I am committing to ensuring
    that we have the world's finest Navy and Marine Corps tomorrow and every
    day after.
        To do so, we must build forces that draw upon the revolutionary
    advances in the technology of war that will allow us to keep the peace
    by redefining war on our terms. I'm committed to building a future force
    that is defined less by size and more by mobility and swiftness, one
    that is easier to deploy and sustain, one that relies more heavily on
    stealth, precision weaponry, and information technologies.

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        Fifteen years from now, as many of you approach the point of
    command, a President may stand here and describe a far different range
    of deployments than the one I just gave. He--or she--may speak of Aegis
    destroyers protecting entire continents from the threat of ballistic
    missile attack; modified Trident submarines carrying hundreds of next-
    generation smart conventional cruise missiles; agile Marine task forces
    ready to deploy with far greater speed, operational reach, and precision
    than ever before; and global command and control systems providing near
    total battle space awareness in real time to on-the-scene commanders.
        Building tomorrow's force is not going to be easy. Changing the
    direction of our military is like changing the course of a mighty ship;
    all the more reason for more research and development and all the more
    reason to get started right away. Yet, building a 21st century military
    will require more than new weapons. It will also require a renewed
    spirit of innovation in our officer corps. We cannot transform our
    military using old weapons and old plans. Nor can we do it with an old
    bureaucratic mindset that frustrates the creativity and entrepreneurship
    that a 21st century military will need.
        The world around us is made smaller every day by the powers of
    science and technology. These forces of change are transforming every
    field, from business and communications to health and culture. As the
    newest officers in our military, your leadership challenge is to embrace
    those forces, so that you might shape them and harness them to build the
    security of our country. Only by accepting this challenge will you be
    able to see over the horizon and to develop the new concepts and
    applications that our Navy will need in the decades to come.
        It is this spirit of innovation that, in the late twenties, allowed
    a visionary like Admiral Marc Mitscher to truly understand the potential
    power of putting an airplane on a ship. He and other great pioneers
    perfected in less than 20 years the doctrine, technology, and tactics of
    naval aviation that would win the war in the Pacific.
        That same decade, the spirit of innovation allowed a smart marine
    major named Pete Ellis to understand that such a war would require the
    ability to land men and heavy equipment from a ship. So he spent the
    better part of his career developing the doctrine of amphibious warfare.
    The marines at Iwo Jima and Inchon were thankful he did.
        The same spirit led Admiral Hyman
    Rickover, in the fifties, to the insight that the nuclear genie could be
    bottled to allow our submarines to stay underwater for months at a time.
    It led Admiral ``Red'' Raborn to understand how to put a nuclear missile
    on a submarine. And it led Arleigh Burke, the father of the modern Navy,
    to have the foresight to put these two men and their ideas together to
    create the third and most invulnerable leg of our cold war nuclear
    triad.
        Creativity and imaginative thinking are the great competitive
    advantages of America and America's military. Today I call upon you to
    seize and to join this tradition of creativity and innovation. Our
    national and military leaders owe you a culture that supports innovation
    and a system that rewards it.
        Officers willing to think big thoughts and look at problems with a
    fresh eye are sometimes wrong. New ideas don't always work. If you pick
    up this mantle, some of your ideas may fail. But we need to give you
    this freedom, and we will. It is from your failures that we will learn
    and acquire the knowledge that will make successful innovation possible.
    As President, I am committed to fostering a military culture where
    intelligent risktaking and forward thinking are rewarded, not dreaded.
    And I'm committed to ensuring that visionary leaders who take risks are
    recognized and promoted.
        The Navy of the future will require innovation and entrepreneurial
    leadership. It will require safeguarding naval traditions of
    accountability and responsibility. And as it always has, it will require
    men and women, who live and breathe, the values that have made America
    and her military great.
        You know by now that life in the Navy and Marine Corps is not
    glamorous. You will endure long hours of routine, punctuated--at times
    without warning--by moments of danger, where the stakes for your crew
    and your country could not be higher. Annapolis has prepared you well
    for this life. It has strengthened your bodies and sharpened your minds.
    Most importantly, it has fortified

    [[Page 807]]

    your character with timeless values, honor, courage, and commitment.
    Through 4 years, your class has sat through many a lecture about the
    meaning of these values. You don't need another lecture today. But I do
    urge you to reflect upon their importance. Reminders of their relevance
    surround us.
        Last month when our EP-3 crew came home from Hainan Island in China,
    millions of Americans had the opportunity to hear their story on
    television. From officers and crew, including Lieutenant John Comerford,
    Annapolis class of 1997, America learned firsthand about the skill and
    courage it took to land their wounded plane. We also saw a glimpse of
    the fortitude that allowed the crew to maintain its unity and spirit.
        What Americans couldn't know from those television appearances was
    that these men and women of uncommon valor are, in fact, quite common in
    today's Navy. What looked extraordinary to America is nothing out of the
    ordinary among those who wear the uniform. And our Navy and Marine Corps
    is filled with people, both officers and enlisted, who have the courage,
    maturity, and judgment they displayed. I'm sure the admirals from the
    class of 1951 who joined us today could tell you quite explicitly how
    the Navy's core values have served them throughout their illustrious
    careers.
        But there are many others from the class of '51 whose stories are
    lessor known, such as retired Lieutenant Colonel Bill Holmberg. One year
    and a handful of days after graduation, Second Lieutenant Bill Holmberg
    found himself on the Korean Peninsula, faced with the daunting task: to
    infiltrate his platoon deep behind enemy lines in an area swarming with
    patrol, to rout a tenacious enemy, to seize and hold their position. And
    that's what he did, and that's what his platoon did. Along the way they
    came under heavy fire and engaged in fierce hand-to-hand combat. Despite
    severe wounds, Lieutenant Holmberg refused to be evacuated and continued
    to deliver orders and direct the offensive until the mission was
    accomplished.
        And that's why he wears the Navy Cross. And today, his deeds, and
    the deeds of other heroes from that class, echo down through the ages to
    you. You can't dictate the values that make a hero. You can't buy them,
    but you can foster them. And you can give a class like yours a sense of
    confidence and teamwork that will carry you through the toughest moments
    in a life of service to a cause greater than all of us.
        Today you leave here knowing in your heart a great truth that some
    in life never discover, that values are important. You understand that
    life cannot be lived with casual commitments and shallow creeds. You
    understand that no one can be neutral between right and wrong, tyranny
    and freedom, cynicism and honor. And you know that the greatest
    victories are sometimes won on the private battlefields of conscience.
    Over time, your weapons and methods must change, but your values will
    not. And because of this, you contribute not just to the military might
    of our country but to its meaning and conscience and soul. You will not
    only be the defenders of America but an example to America, and we're
    deeply grateful.
        Finally, as you go about your great work, remember that you're not
    only officers but ambassadors from the land of freedom. Your work will
    take you far from our shores. And for many people, you will be,
    literally, the face of America, the first and, perhaps, only American
    they will ever meet.
        Remember that your very diversity of regional, racial, and religious
    heritage is, itself, a rebuke to those who hate the ideals you have
    pledged to defend. Remember that America has always been committed to
    enlarging the circle of human freedom, not reaching for the crown of
    empire.
        And as you wear your Nation's uniform, remember also to wear the
    humility of true greatness. As your class helps America chart its new
    course in this new century, these values--honor, courage, commitment,
    and humility--must be both your anchor and your compass. You are part of
    the long, blue line of service and sacrifice committed to defending the
    highest aspirations of the human heart.
        The best days of our Navy and our Nation are yet to come, and you,
    by the grace of God, will help us reach the next shore.
        Thank you, and God bless.

    Note: The President spoke at 10:20 a.m. in the Stadium. In his remarks,
    he referred to Gordon R. England, Secretary of the Navy; Adm. Vern

    [[Page 808]]

    Clark, USN, Chief of Naval Operations, and Vice Adm. John R. Ryan, USN,
    Superintendent, U.S. Naval Academy; Gen. James L. Jones, USMC,
    Commandant, Marine Corps; Vice Adm. Edward A. Burkhalter, Jr., USN
    (Ret.); Vice Adm. Robert F. Dunn, USN (Ret.); Adm. Kinnaird R. McKee,
    USN (Ret.); Vice Adm. Joseph Metcalf III, USN (Ret.); and President
    Saddam Hussein of Iraq.