[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.

[[Page 805]]

[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.

[[Page 806]]

    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.