After 50 years , the all volunteer
force remains the best model for the US
military . And that's why we celebrate
it has delivered for us operationally
and societally , it was the right
decision for the US military and the
nation at the time . And over the last
50 years in times of conflict and in
times of peace , it has continued to be
the right decision . Our force the
finest in the world and made up
entirely of volunteers delivers across
the battle space . It reinforces
American ideals of personal liberty and
freedom and it offers Americans who
have the desire and ability to serve
training , career , mobility and
financial benefits in addition to
community connection and a common
purpose . But as so many of you in this
audience have studied or observed the
success and endurance of our all
volunteer force was not a foregone
conclusion . I think we can acknowledge
that maintaining an all volunteer force
comes with its own set of challenges .
Some of these challenges were clear at
the outset the foremost being without
the draft , can we ensure a broad cross
section of American society will serve
in the military before ending the draft ,
the Nixon administration established
the Gates Commission to develop a
comprehensive plan for ending
conscription and sending volunteers .
The commission assembled industry and
nonprofit leaders , academics and
university presidents , policy makers
and former defense professionals and
even a Georgetown law student .
Although the head of the commission was
initially skeptical in the final report ,
the commission unanimously agreed that
we could indeed maintain our military
strength through volunteers at the time .
In fact , there was little opposition
in the Department of Defense or in
Congress to this conclusion . Three
years later , Defense Secretary Melvin
Laird dispatched a press release
informing the service secretaries that
quote , the armed forces henceforth
will depend exclusively on volunteer
soldiers , sailors , airmen , and
marines . Before succinctly declaring
use of the draft has ended . Since
that time , more than 11 million young
adults have joined active duty service .
And today , more than 1.5 million men
and women serve in the uniform across
the total force and they have proved
the highest quality military military
force in the world . And yet even with
that rich history and the amazing
talent bench of our nation we face
today . Some of the greatest recruiting
challenges we've known . There is no
one factor driving this dynamic . We've
experienced a global pandemic that shut
down many schools creating the least
opportunity for recruiter contact in
the A VFS history . The veteran
population has gone from 18% of
American adults in 1980 to less than 7%
in 2022 . Further reducing Americans
familiarity with the military . This
means fewer Americans have direct ties
to a family member , friend or neighbor
who has served and without those direct
ties , it's harder to observe the
military way of life up close . And we
have the hottest job market and
corresponding lowest unemployment rate
in nearly 54 years . Moreover , the
challenges we face in recruiting for
the military also seem to be part of a
broader drop in public interest among
today's youth in the past several years ,
professions like firefighting , nursing ,
teaching and applications to
prestigious government programs such as
the Peace Corps and AmeriCorps have all
experienced a decline . A recent Gallup
poll even shows that there is a
widespread dip in volunteerism that
predates the pandemic . And this dip
holds true for young adults even as
they report the most interest in
community engagement in 50 years .
Public service and volunteerism are not
only life changing activities , they
can be life saving . So what's going on
why this disconnect ? There are likely
many causes that go beyond the scope of
this gathering . But one of the most
striking reasons that young adults say
they don't volunteer is highly relevant .
It's because no one asked them to .
Today's younger generations have so
many choices . So many career options
they can pursue . Because a career in
public service is a matter of a choice
among many , it's important to
communicate the benefits of public
service , especially military service
to our youth . And the maddeningly
ironic reality is that even as
recruiting is hard today , the US
military's retention numbers are
outstanding with every service
exceeding 100% of their goals in
2022 . Think about that . The all
volunteer force is proving its value
proposition to those who choose it . It
creates long term opportunities for
military personnel while in uniform and
thereafter and in virtually every
career field , the responsibility ,
leadership and skills developed while
in service to our nation reap life long
benefits for individuals , their
families , their communities and
society at large . It is in our
national interest to ensure that
younger generations consider public
service as a career option . And it's
also in their interest . In 1975 the
University of Michigan began a
continuing study of American youth
which asked high school seniors to
weigh what life values are important to
them . You can probably take a few
guesses as to what they found most
important back then , finding steady
work , being successful in their line
of work , being able to give their
Children better opportunities than they
had themselves , finding purpose and
having strong friendships . These were
all at the top of their list , timeless
values values that align with the
career in public service . Military
service , not only offers pay education
and health benefits and opportunity to
travel and experience adventure that
generations have prized across the
decades . It also reflects values that
have increased in importance to
American youth . Since 1976 . Those
values include making a contribution to
society which has risen in importance
by 17% and being a leader in the
community which has risen in importance
by 28% . Take , for instance , one of
my colleagues Frank , an army major who
recently graduated from George , she's
mccourt School of Public Policy with a
master's in policy management . Frank
tells me influential mentors during his
young adulthood , inspired him to serve
their pride , their commitment to
public and community service and the
constant care with which they tended to
the community . These attributes
resonated strongly with Frank who
wanted to take part in something bigger
than himself and to do good in the
world . They motivated him to drive to
a recruiter's office to learn about
becoming an officer and eventually to
commission as a second lieutenant .
That's the sense of connectedness .
Today's youth also craves and that
military service and public service can
provide for the health of our all
volunteer force and the health of our
democracy and civil society . We must
create a renewed call to public service .
We must make this ask a persistent one
coming from many different directions
and of every generation and that strong
sense of civic duty will not only
propel the success of our military
force , it will also attract our future
civilian leaders and improve the health
of our civil military relations . The
United States has a proud history of
healthy civil military relations . It
has seen its challenges to be sure ,
but friction is natural and our
system's safeguards have been tested
and held . We are a nation of laws and
of checks and balances . Congress ,
federal statutes and our courts , the
professionalism of our armed forces ,
the will of the people . These are all
guard rails to ensure that we as a
nation maintain civilian control of the
armed forces . But of course , we
cannot take this health for granted .
That's why Secretary Austin has
prioritized promoting healthy civil
military relations . I have spent a
considerable amount of my career at dod
and from my perspective , the
professionalism of our internal
department interactions across civilian
and military lines , the best I have
seen . But this isn't just about the
department's internal dynamics . Every
citizen has a role to play in ensuring
healthy civil military relations like
democracy itself . We all bear a
responsibility in upholding and tending
to it . It's important fundamental even
that we continue to develop mutual
understanding and trust between
civilians and those who serve . And
here's another reason why this
maintenance is so important . What we
do matters beyond our borders because
our civil military relations model
demonstrates America's commitment to
its founding principles and serves as a
model for militaries around the world .
Several days ago , we marked the one
year anniversary of Russia's latest
invasion of Ukraine , which provides an
opportunity to reflect on the stark
contrast between how we and Russia
treat our service members . Russia has
resorted to conscription and is
treating its people as canon fodder .
Our force . On the other hand , is
professional , voluntary , well
equipped and thoughtfully employed .
That's also vital to good civil
military relations . We must continue
to build bridges and pathways across
the civil military divide . It's
important that we maintain a deep sense
of trust and mutual respect ,
institutionally , but also at a human
to human level by getting to know
service members as individuals and as
members of our communities . It is
important that we demystify our armed
forces . Most service members don't
want to be glorified or singled out for
special treatment , but they do want to
feel understood and like Frank , they
do want to live a life of service and
they need to be bolstered by good pay
and benefits , education and career
opportunities , world class training
and wo world class work environments .
Now , I am hardly the first person to
raise these issues . I'm not even the
first senior dod official to raise
these issues . And I can assure you at
the defense department , we are pulling
every lever to ensure that we maintain
the fiercest and finest force in the
world . But we have to understand the
challenge America faces is bigger than
just the future of the all volunteer
force . As important as that is , it is
a crisis of civics . So it's critical
that we foster a widespread commitment
to public service service is about
family and community and collective
responsibility . The truth is we don't
need every American to serve in uniform
or work in national security . But we
cannot afford a future of disconnection .
A future without the firefighters ,
nurses , teachers , public servants or
service members , we need to advance
the common good . We should all
consider how we're going to leave the
world a better place than we found it .
So that's my charge to you and I need
your help . We must amplify the
importance of service and its
relationship to the health of our
democracy . And I am confident that
this renewed call will be answered . If
it is heard . As I close , then I want
to note that in in addition to the 50
th anniversary of the All Volunteer
Force , as I know , you all know , this
year marks the 75th anniversary of the
racial integration of the armed forces .
With that came the promise of an
integrated force and full equality that
we could be stronger by drawing on the
talents of qualified Americans of every
race . Today . I am proud to help
lead a defense department that
continues to expand opportunity to
qualified Americans regardless of race
or gender or identity , reaching from
sea to shining sea . We are proud of
the steps we've taken to welcome all
Americans who are qualified and capable
of serving . As this community of
scholars knows to be most effective for
our democracy . The US military must
reflect the nation that it is called to
defend . That idea has always met with
resistance from 1948 when President
Trump Truman , excuse me , signed the
executive order to end segregation in
the armed services to ending . Don't
ask , don't tell to allowing women to
serve in combat roles . Yet we know for
a fact that each of these steps has
only made our strong military stronger
and more effective . And would anyone
seriously question the dominance of the
all volunteer force that we have built ?
I think not . So , thank you again for
this timely event . I look forward to
continuing the conversation with Peter
over the fireside chat .
So , so thank you . I , I wanna pull on
a couple of the threads that you left
out . Uh You dangled in front of us .
Uh One is that when the shift from
conscription to the All Volunteer Force
was being contemplated , the designers
worried that the military would lose
its connection uh to American society .
And I don't think they anticipated that
the military could get as small as it's
gotten today so that those connections
just by sheer demographics are harder
to maintain . So talk to us a little
bit about whether you see that as a
problem and what the dod can do to
maintain the military's connection to
the rest of society even if they're not
going to be joining the military . Sure ,
I do think it's a challenge . There's
no doubt about it , as you said , just
demographically and you know , that ,
that plays out in , in , in all kinds
of ways . Um So it does take much more
effort to bring the civilian and
military closer together that happens
on both sides . You know , on the
military side , there's a lot of
community engagement that happens
installation to installation .
Certainly the efforts that we undertake
to connect to society through major
events . You can think sporting events ,
other , other uh things like that ,
more ability to bring us civil society
to , to our bases . We have programs of
course , that try to um make sure we
have exposure , the ability to reach
into um colleges and other uh places
where , where youth are forming
opinions of what their next steps are .
So that's on the military side , I
think on the civilian side , this is
the part of the question is what uh is
the responsibility for civilians to get
to know their military ? And I think
there is more opportunity , as I said
there , I also think that the to the
extent that we have a better exposure
to public service generally , there are ,
there are absolutely unique aspects of
military service , but there is a
commonality to public service and to
the extent that we have more
individuals engaged in public service .
I think that also builds uh more
commonality in community with military
service . So it seems to me the , the
anniversary , as you mentioned , the
50th the 75th that's an opportunity for
a country wide reflection and not just
amongst the tribe of folks who are
already watching it . Uh Do you think
there's more that the administration
can do to remind the people about their
military and what it took to build it
and what it will take to maintain it ?
I do . And I think , as I said ,
Secretary Austin is very focused on
this call to service . Um And I think
you'll see a lot in this in this year ,
2023 of us putting making these points
very clearly . First , we're very proud
of this military , incredibly robust
and ready military . Um As I said ,
fiercest and finest in the world . Um
And we need to be talking about that .
We need to talk about the quality of
the force , the things we're doing to
maintain the quality of that force and
how proud the nation should be of that
force . And I do think you'll hear much
more of that . I welcome you all doing
the same . Yeah , I think something
like that at say Duke University just
to pick a place at random that would be
really helpful . A number of people
though , look at the present situation ,
look at the challenges that the all
volunteer forces had in recruiting .
Look at the cha geopolitical challenges
we face , which is very different from
the ones we faced in the last 20 years .
And they say no , we need to go back to
a draft . Uh , what do you think about
that proposal ? Yeah , I mean , I was
talking to you a little , uh ,
backstage . I , I , um , I don't think
you should ever callously dismiss ideas .
Let me say that . But I think , as I
said in my remarks that the All
Volunteer Force has more than proved
its worth . It's , it's the , it's the
right model . It's a model that we're
gonna have to work hard to maintain for
the reasons we just talked about , but
it provides so many benefits to the
service members as well as to , uh ,
you know , operationally on the
battlefield . Um that , you know ,
there's , there's no doubt in my mind
that that's the direction we're in the
right direction and we should keep
heading there . We got to make it
stronger . So I thought you were , your
remarks were very careful scrupulously ,
uh nonpartisan . Uh and yet in our
polarized political environment , I
think some people would , could be
triggered by just saying the word
diversity or inclusion or something
like that . So talk about the challenge
of doing this kind of work of building
and maintaining the armed forces in a
highly charged partisan uh environment .
That is our present day . It's very
difficult , I think for anyone leading
an institution and , and you know , the
military , probably more than any , but
not again alone among uh uh workplaces
where you're trying to , uh , you know ,
kind of reach a goal in our case it's
defend the nation . Um , and do so , um ,
in a way that , uh , can build unity ,
builds teams , um , that's what we're
all about when you're in the fox
proverbial or real fox hole . Uh , you
need to be able to look to your left
and your right and rely on those people
no matter what they look like , no
matter what their background is , no
matter what their accent is . And
that's what we're all about . How do we
build readiness and make sure we can
deliver on the battlefield . And , um ,
in order to tap the talent we need ,
you know , you just , just look at the
incredible demographic advantage . It's
an asymmetry for the United States .
Such a huge advantage to us to tap into
every last , you know , um , a bit that
we have . And so that's what we're
gonna do . Any smart and lawyers would
do that is doing that and we need to be
competitive in that , in that uh fight
for talent . So we make no apologies .
I make no apologies for the fact that
defense department is trying to reach
the best quality Americans that we can
and bring them into the force . And we
recognize that to do that , it's going
to be a very diverse force and our job
is to bring them , understand their ,
their backgrounds and needs and how we
bring that together . Let me ask you ,
uh , a , a question about military
service . You benefited from being able
to be in government and then time out
of government reflect on it . You come
back and you serve at different
leadership positions during that same
20 year period . A military officer
didn't have that chance , except maybe
if they had one year fellowship ,
you're in it until you leave and then
you're gone for , for good . What do
you think about more flexible in and
outer experiences ? And , and is the
department looking at those kinds of
options ? I think it's a model . We
need to do much more of , we do have
some authorities there . Space Force
actually is one of the components
that's actively uh building in parallel
um uh entry models . And uh
um we , we need to really see how that
uh takes off . Sorry , that's probably
a Space force plan , see how that goes .
Um And then borrow from it to expand it
across the forest , I think , you know ,
we're just gonna have to prove the
model . Um But there's no doubt in my
mind . Yes . Right . There's no doubt
in my mind , we have to move more in
that direction and we can , yeah , we
spent a lot of time today talking about
public confidence in the military and
the pros and cons of it . But also the
concerns that maybe again , as a
function of this polarized environment ,
public confidence might not be as high
today as it was say , three years ago .
Uh Is that something that you all pay
attention to , uh , do you worry about
it ? What can you do about it ? Sure .
Of course , we worry about it . I think
the trust in institutions overall is ,
is obviously , uh , I'm , I'm telling
the crowd that knows this very well way
down . Um , we are in a relatively good
position among institutions but as part
of that overall trend , trust in the
military goes down as well . Look , I
think it's good for it to not be put on
a pedestal . It's an institution , it's
an institution that needs to be well
led , intended to and not considered
infallible in some way . So that that
part is good to have a healthy , you
know , civilian respect for the
military as an institution . Um But it
is important also when times of crisis
come to trust your military to
understand that it will be alit , it's
going to be ready , it can execute and
it will follow regardless of the ,
the anything that is legal provided
from political leadership . So um
that's where I think we want to be .
And I do think that's really challenged
in a environment in which the military
is weaponized in a political sense . So
that's , that's something we , we , we
work really hard every day to stay as a
political and focused on our mission as
we can . And do you think the
department's interested enough to say ,
to buy copies of books that might be
coming out on this topic in the in the .
Don't answer that . Um Let , let me ask
you a question about um about
Congress . So you are confirmed .
So you answer to Congress uh and it's a
new environment in , in Congress . Uh
What is your expectation say for
the , the support for funding the
military at the level that needs to be
funded . We have very strong support ,
bipartisan support um for our defense
planning and , and the budgets that go
with it really robust outreach and
routine interaction with members of
Congress Secretary and I just met with
what's called the big eight , the
chairs and rankings of the four major
committees that deal with defense on
the hill just this morning . That's not
unusual for us to be in regular
dialogue . That dialogue is really
important in order to um be able to
build out that trust and confidence
that you've created . In this case , on
your question , a defense budget that
really reflects the needs of the
military . You can explain why you're
asking for what you're asking that can
answer the hard questions that you're
happy to go into detail with them in
the right environment rather than say ,
you know , that's classified . You
don't , you don't need to know that we
don't do that . We get into a dialogue
with them that's part of civilian
control too . Um And really respecting
the role , the fundamental
constitutional role , article , one
role of Congress is really important to
how we approach civil military
relations . And it's important to how
we are then are able to actually
execute , of course , particularly
given Congress's a central role in
funding . So I'm gonna ask some
questions about civilian control in a
moment . But first , I wanna one more
societal level uh context at the time
that the all volunteer force was being
created actually because it was , it
was created . The reason had to do with
uh the disappointment in the way the
war in Vietnam went and the sense that
we needed to go in a different
direction . The end of Afghanistan has
been compared to the end of the war in
Vietnam in different ways and the
challenges that might face in
internally , in the building rebuilding ,
re centering on military professionals ,
etcetera . Talk , tell us a little bit
about how you are thinking about that
part of the job reorienting the
military to the the current threats and
processing the lessons learned from the
last war . So Chinese are facing a
challenge . We're very , very clear
that we think the PR C is developing
out the kind of a suite of military
capabilities and intent that really
threaten us interests . And that's the
focal point has been the focal point
for our strategy both officially
codified fuel in our national defense
strategy from 2022 . But operating so
from the time we came in in this
administration and pulling from the
prior administration . So that does
absolutely focus my day every day to
make sure we're putting together the
concepts and capabilities we need for
the ability to create stability to make
sure we can deter threats . We're not
looking for conflicts . What we're
looking to do is make sure we compete
effectively to deter threats . And
again , pr C is the pacing challenge
that is very different than the decade
or so that I was also present for much
of during the global war on terror and
including um the wars in Iraq and in
Afghanistan . So really shifting the
force to where we think , you know , we
need to be ready in order to create
stability . That's our focus . But just
picking up again on the the theme of
lessons learned from the uh from
Afghanistan and how that that shapes
the profession . Do you , do you see it
working its way through the the
building in the same way that the
lessons learned from the Vietnam
experience worked its way through the
building in the seventies ? Yeah , I
don't , I don't think I have the
parallel in mind that you have . If you ,
if your question is as a matter of
professional military education and
learning and doctrine development ,
there will be as there is in any era ,
a review again of that full global war
on terror . However , you want to call
you call that period , Iraq ,
Afghanistan and other , you know ,
counter terrorism related fights ,
nation building counter insurgency .
Absolutely . I think we are a learning
institution . Um It's one of the great
things about the military . Um and
folks work hard to make sure that
lessons are not only learned but are
learned from and put into employment .
So I do expect that . Ok , so now let
me shift focus to civilian control .
That part of your day to day job . 24 7
is uh to assist Secretary Austin being
the civilian in civilian control .
You're do , you've been doing that
though for much of your political uh
your career at lower levels . So what
do you now know as deputy that you did
not know as under or more junior ? What
are , what are the things that you see
now from your current perch that were
harder to see ? Yeah , I would say
that's the , this interesting
combination of uh having run transition
for the defense department um coming
into this administration . It's that an
institution that I found so healthy and
it is healthy and there are incredible
people all through it that there's
fragility in that , that institutions
um you know , have to be nurtured and
we cannot take for granted every from
civilian control to more fund mentally
um kind of the the health of our public
institutions . That is probably the
number one thing that I took away . I
know . Uh my dear friend , Alice friend
is here , doctor friend came with me to
the Pentagon , she was there before I
got there . Um uh Day one in this
administration . And I think she would
probably agree that fragility was very
clear . Um It's , it's going to take a
lot to make sure these institutions can
withstand political wins , especially
when they're targeted at the military
personnel , when they're targeted at
civil servants . It's just really hard
to continue to attract and retain
talent , um , and keep people believing
that they're contributing to mission .
I'm really proud of what we've been
able to do to , to get everybody's kind
of uh frame of reference back there .
But that's something that I wouldn't
have seen before , took it for granted
before . And are there other lessons
learned that you brought with you from
your previous experience ? You said ,
OK , we did it this way . I don't want
to do it that way this time or I want
to redo that play because that worked .
Yeah , I would say my , my entire
career has been about lessons learned
to apply now and they're really about
incentives and how you align
organizational incentives to achieve
goals . It's about making sure that um
you know , uh a process which is , you
know , often um is um
really , you know , fair , transparent ,
efficient , effective uh folks under
understand how their voices are heard .
Obviously , this plays out in civil
military relations . Everyone can think
their favorite examples where the
voices heard . Did they have an ability
to air in the principles I know from
the , from the letter um that was um
signed all of that becomes really
important . And that is what I have
learned over the years . I really have
seen it all in terms of how folks , you
know , either invest in the institution
to build it up and make sure it's
stronger and where they're just trying
to get something done fast . And that
inevitably those um roots of change
never , never take and I would like
change to take . So I'm attending to
the roots , you mentioned the letter I
wanted to ask you about that when you
saw that come out in September , what
was your reaction to it ? And uh if you
were editing it , would you make
changes to it ? No , I thought , I
thought it was excellent . It might ,
I'm sorry to say that I feel like I
should critique it . No , I thought it
was excellent . I , I think what
strikes me more than anything very much
on the same theme is that um you know ,
it's , it , it's so self evident if you
took yourself out of the context and
said , why would , why would a group of
senior leaders on a bipartisan basis
think they had to sit down and , you
know , recapitulate the constitution
and things we take for granted , you
know , the old standards . Um I , I
think it was um a , a great reminder
again that there is this a political um
history and set of uh constitutional
tenets that form the basis of why
we do what we do and they are worth
protecting and defending and that is
what we should focus on . It's a good
reminder . And when you , when it came
out , did you think this is alarmist ?
This is going to scare people or ? I
don't recall . I , I , no , I don't
want you to have a negative reaction .
No , I , I , no , I didn't have any
kind of negative reaction like that . I
thought it was good to have a
reaffirmation . So this will sound like
special . I feel like maybe I should be
asking you how did you feel when it
came out ? It feel like maybe some
therapy might , I felt gratified that
it came out as what I felt . But um and
I know you think I've done enough
special pleading already , but I
actually think that that is uh a useful
uh Touchstone for confirmations and
nominations . So I'm , I'm hoping that
the Senate will pick up on that . And
we ask future deputy secretaries ,
future Cocos and et cetera . Do you
agree with this ? Is this your
understanding of civil military
relations ? And if not , you know , how
would you change it ? That would spark
a inter branch conversation about
civilian control that may not be fully
uh as rich as it otherwise could be .
And so , yeah , I , I most people may
not know that we have these advanced
policy questions when you're up for a
confirmation and they um there has
always , there has long been a standard
set for the Senate Armed Services
Committee of what I would call civilian
control related questions . Um , and
those are really important to their
affirmations for one to say . Yes , I
agree with this . Yeah . And so yes , I
think the set that you're putting , uh ,
uh , that were put forward in that , um ,
a particular article are perfectly
viable set to , to , uh , propose . So ,
what was different ? Four years a a
after . So you , you served , you saw
the Obama administration up close ,
then you were out for four years . You
came back , I was OK , but not just for
eight years , not just in terms of your
change in elevation , but you saw um
what , what is different about the
building ? Well , as I said , I think
what was really striking was just
fragility um and trying to get things
um you know , into a regular order to
use a uh a term . Um Again , that ,
that is in that article , probably
something people don't recognize that
they need until they don't have it . We
heard loud and clear over the course ,
particularly of the first year , how
much that was welcomed from both the
military and civilians who were in the
Pentagon that was lacking , it wasn't
lacking the entirety of the prior
administration . I don't mean that ,
but it was certainly lacking when we
came into the uh um at this beginning
of the Biden administration . So , uh
again , just sort of making sure that
there's a system of governance that's
focused on goals and priorities and
moving the ball forward in a way that
is fair , transparent um and effective .
That's I think the biggest thing that I
noticed needed to be done . I think
we've done a good job of that . What
about the joint staff ? How was that
different or was it ? Did you when
you're interacting with the joint staff
said ? Oh yeah , I remember this . This
is exactly the same . Was there any
change in interactions at that level ?
Yeah . No , I wouldn't say
categorically . We , we have excellent
uh relationships uh between uh OS D if
that's what you mean in the joint staff .
Uh I don't mean to sound obnoxious but
I'm above the joint staff . So they ,
they treat me very well , I think is
how I would put it . Um But I , yes , I
think Os D and the joint staff work
very closely together . And um uh we've
seen , I think a very positive trend .
I think anyone who has been around that ,
that I speak to on the Os D side and on
the joint staff side tend to say the
same thing . And as I said in my
remarks , it's pretty strong , it's the
strongest I've seen . So I'm about to
turn to the uh audience . So if you
wanna get questions , get in , get in
line . But my last question to you , uh
is you're gonna be spending a lot of
time in front of Congress . Probably
you and the , the team , uh , and
they'll be asking you for a lot of
things , a lot of answers to questions .
But if , and you'll be asking them for
a lot of money . But aside from money ,
what are , are , do you have the
authorities that the building needs ?
Do you think you have the legislation
that you think the building needs to do
all of the tasks you've outlined for us
today ? The number one thing we need is
on time appropriations . You can't
be working in a competition against
another major power and lose months of
every year . Um , and years over the
last decade in total , uh without
having uh uh appropriations . And we
don't , can't do new starts when we
don't have appropriations . We have
lots of challenges moving forward on
big ideas on modernization . So that's ,
that's the number one thing we need .
Uh , we need , we need the
appropriations bill . Um , the other
kinds of authorities . Yes . Every year
we put forward authorities that would
help us , but I wouldn't say any of
those . Uh , you know , we , we aren't
sort of crippled in any way , um with
on time appropriations and in strong
partnership with Congress . And they
have given us a lot of authorities
honestly , oftentimes it's on our side
to make sure we're using the full
authorities that we have . Um But yeah ,
they're , they're a little tweaks . We
can move forward on there . They're in
personnel policy . We just talked about
some areas where if we can demonstrate
good use of the authorities , we have ,
we might want to go for some others .
Um And that would be I think personnel
policy , it actually be high up on my
list . On the acquisition side , we
have pretty good authorities . There
are some um standard , this not law but
standard ways of interacting between
appropriation cycles that uh it would
be , it would be great if we had more
flexibility from Congress on how we ,
how we acted in between appropriation
cycles , so we can move forward ,
promising new technologies and
capabilities . And you said you had
very fruitful meetings with the gang of
eight . That was , was , are you
optimistic that you're gonna get on
time appropriations and the , the
things you need or are you moving into
this year ? Looking at the challenges
across the river and thinking ? Hm ,
maybe not this year . Yeah , I , I I'm
always optimistic . I don't think I
would still be in public service after
30 years if I didn't fundamentally
believe that this nation has um great
um opportunity and great promise . And
that includes our ability to work
within Washington to get done , the
American people's work done . So I'm
optimistic . Let's go here for the
first question . Thank you so much ,
madam Deputy Secretary . Um Thank you
so much for your remark . My name is
Brian . I'm from Taiwan and I'm a
junior here at the School of Foreign
Service . Uh Today's topic is about the
50 year anniversary of the All
Volunteer Force . But if I may please ,
I want to ask you a question about us
and Taiwan military relation . So to
the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act US arms
sales to Taiwan has long been confined
to defensive natures . On the one hand ,
this was intended to not provoke China .
And on the other hand , this is because
Taiwan still had the potential to
assault China back then . And this
nature of arms so prevented this
however fast forward 40 years to 2020
23 . Right now , Taiwan has already
lost its ability and will to assault
China while China is growing more
aggressive against Taiwan . Moreover ,
possessing only defensive weapons as we
have seen in the Ukrainian case , fails
to effectively deter enemies from
waging a war and in the case of a war
fails to quickly and swiftly push the
enemy out . On the other hand ,
countries like Israel with effective
offensive weapons were able to deter
wars , can we do offensive weapon
question ? Great question . Thank you .
Thank you . First of all , a fine essay .
Uh So , so it's uh uh well , well put
together um the United States is
committed to the Taiwan Relations Act .
We are absolutely committed to
assisting Taiwan in self defense . I
disagree with the premise of your
question entirely . Um I think the
first of all , that there is much more
that uh , Taiwan can do alongside
partners like the United States to
strengthen self defense . Those are not
just systems , those are um ,
improvements that are already under way
or talked about in Taiwan with regard
to the improvements of their own
military . Talk about
professionalization and the advantages
of making sure you have longer
conscription cycles and other things of
that sort . I'll just also add that
Taiwan does have partners and friends
to count on and its ability to deter
aggression against it is not , it's a
loan to bear . Um And that's why the
United States works so hard to make
clear as I said , that we are a force
for stability . We're not looking for
conflict , but we do believe that the
state of affairs across the Taiwan
strait should be maintained peacefully .
Let me sneak in my own Taiwan question
on the back of that many uh folks
outside who are opposed to the efforts
in Ukraine say we shouldn't focus on
Ukraine , we should focus on Taiwan
that it's a distraction . Uh And we're
sending weapons to Ukraine that are
needed in Taiwan . So they try to put
the two theaters against each other .
That's not the Biden administration for
you . Explain what , what that argument
is missing if you would . Sure there's
a couple of different elements . Let me
start with the um kind of the concrete
part which is we are not trading off
arms , for instance , that are in the
foreign military sales process for
Taiwan . We're not giving those away or
selling them somehow using our
authorities from Congress for Ukraine
two totally different processes . The
presidential draw down authority that
we've been using . Um for the kinds of
systems that folks are familiar with .
In the Taiwan case , those are coming
out of us , stocks , older systems
coming out of us , stocks Taiwan um
that those are purchases for new
systems . So that's sort of the most
concrete version . Um Here's the bigger
strategic issue . What the Ukraine
crisis has demonstrated is that a
country that is willing to defend
itself , that can bring the will and
the capability can really attract
substantial international support if
it's , there's an aggressor against it .
And that is a big takeaway for Russia .
It's a big takeaway for Taiwan . It's a
big takeaway for the PR C . They are
seeing incredible economic effects on
Russia that worries them . They are
seeing the unity of not just Europe but
an international community in support
of Ukraine that worries them . And
they're seeing that the United States
is actually galvanizing its industrial
base and thinking about how that
industrial base can perform , not only
in support of the Ukraine crisis , but
in future conflicts , Doctor Grove ,
ma'am , Doctor Brian Groves , I'm a
colonel at Army Forces command . I
spent my last couple of years prior to
that on the joint staff . So I'm glad
that you felt we treated you ? Well ,
I'm glad you did too . Yes , ma'am . So
yesterday , the national military
strategy was delivered to congressional
leaders . I had the privilege of
helping lead that team during my time
there . And so I'm interested in your
perspective on the role that
authoritative documents uh largely in
this case with the N Ds and the N MS
that are congressionally mandated play
in their interaction with each other
and in uh the hills oversight of
dod and anything that you might want to
share about that . Sure . So I think
the , the rich history in the and , and
even the incentives that drive strong
alignment and codification , you know ,
through multi layered , whether it's
strategy , documents , planning ,
documents , et cetera , that's really
healthy inside the military institution .
It helps to make sure that commanders
intent and guidance is pushed down all
the way through the system . Um And is
a continual opportunity to reinforce
the tie of the goals to the actions
that are happening at lower levels .
I'll just add a secondary piece to that ,
which is when you're at the lower
levels . Um It's always good to
understand how you fit into the system
because as I said , part of what is
such a great um uh you know , uh
proposition in the military or in , for
civilians in , in public service is how
am I , you know , how am I contributing
to mission today and that sort of
cascading of documents and
formalization of ties really always
helps orient folks to where they fit in
the system and how it connects to
bigger national level goals . So that's
my view . And II , I think Congress has
been able to codify that including the
N MS um over the years to help , you
know , regardless of what
administration is , help kind of create
that discipline . Good afternoon madam
secretary , my name is Major Sharon
Sparrow . Um One key element mentioned
here but emphasized in previous
discussions regarding the A VF is the
increasing importance of women and
immigrants and the role that they'll
play for our future forces . However ,
there still remains barriers to our
retention and meaningful employment .
Despite fairly good retention numbers ,
retention of women remains very low .
I'm confident that should you ask any
minority military member , how to
remove these barriers ? They would have
an answer but their recommendations
often get stuck in the frozen middle .
How do we raise the real concerns of
our underrepresented groups to catapult
action ? Yeah , I mean , I just want to
validate the again the premise in this
case , which is that the retention
rates are lower uh for women and for
minorities um in the armed forces . Um
So we know again , I said retention
overall is quite high . It's something
to lean into , which is , you know ,
once we have folks in the force , we do
a better job uh retaining them . So we
wanna make sure we can have that same
quality of retention and advancement ,
of course , is part of the issue ,
which is the disproportion in our
advancement . And so retention is
always going to be challenged when
that's the case . So I think one of the
first , first and most obvious things I
would say is we need people above the
frozen middle . And so that's where you
see , you know , right now we have
several of our combatant commanders are
female , we have the VCO is female .
Um Those sort of senior , uh they're
not just role models , they're decision
makers . Um They're not just in the
room or at the table , they're the head
of the table . That makes a huge
difference . I can tell you first hand
representation matters . And so I think
making sure we have in this case ,
women , but uh a , a force that is
representative all the way through its
ranks is one of the best things we can
do to make sure that we understand the
barriers and we can remove them .
There's lots of other efforts under way .
Of course , throughout the department ,
as I said , I think the goal always in
the defense department is to think
about readiness . And you know , how
you build a holistic view of readiness
is making sure you're looking out for
your teammates . We have a massive
effort under way , for instance , on
countering sexual assault and sexual
harassment that affects people of all
genders , but it certainly affects
women more than others . Um I think
that's a big piece of our retention
story as well . Can I ask you to apply
that question to the civilian side of
dod ? Uh What changes have you seen
over your career ? Uh , in terms of
opportunities for women and also the
experience of women serving in national
security posts like Dod ? Yeah , I
think in dod , we , you know , it's
selfishly . I think we do pretty well .
It's something we're constantly looking
at , certainly for the political
appointees , but also for the senior
career , I was a senior . Uh I was a
career , excuse me before I became a
political appointee . So I'm , I'm ,
I'm particularly attuned to that and ,
and I don't have the numbers at my
fingertips , but they're , but they're
relatively good , I think across the
national security community , it
continues to be a challenge . So it's
something to watch overall . Ok .
Thank you , madam , deputy secretary .
Um My name is Christian . I'm a first
year uh masters student here and
teaching assistant with the uh security
studies program at Georgetown . Um
acquisition uh and budgets have been
talked about a little tagen today . Um
uh Obviously , uh it's important to
innovation and the small business
strategy was just released , I believe
last month . Um But pertaining to civil
military relations , are there any
changes that you would recommend um in
terms of the distribution of
responsibilities between Os D and the
military services when it comes to
acquisition budget or , you know ,
innovation writ large , whether it's
like bureaucratic structure or um
agency of the individuals involved . Um
I , I would not to , to really the
question you're asking , I would not uh
currently uh recommend reversing the
last round of major acquisition reforms .
Um I , we can make it work . I think
one of the biggest um how do I put this
for folks who have not lived in an
organization or institution ? Um I
think it is common to underestimate how
incredibly disruptive it is to
constantly change statute slash
organizational structure or wiring
diagrams . Um I'm not interested in
that right now , I'm interested in
getting after how we modernize as
quickly as humanly possible . And that
basically means work with the system we
have and start moving it , get the
right people in the right job , remove
barriers . Um work with Congress where
necessary , you know , to build the
trust , to get the next level of effort
going . But right now , I think it's
working just fine , having the services
have more acquisition authority than
they had say a decade ago , not saying
that's what I would have recommended .
But I , I think the system that we have
today we can work with and that's where
our focus should be making it work . Hi ,
Doctor Hicks . My name is Samuel Chan .
I'm a freshman at George Washington
University . Thank you very much for
your talk . Um Funny enough , I'm also
a Taiwanese and I think the , the last
two people have kind of asked the
questions I kind of wanted to ask . So
I just wanted to talk to you about the
planning , programming , budgeting and
executing part of Congress P PB E um in
regards to modernization , I suppose
being going in that direction . Um I've
done a lot of readings on like the ,
the Valley of Death when it comes to
how a lot of our modernization programs
kind of fall through because , you know ,
the the the constant two year cycle .
Um I'm not quite sure your exact um
role when it comes to like planning in
depth on budgeting . But if you can
make any policy recommendations for
either Congress or for os D on how we
could better avoid that value of death ,
how would you go about it ? Thank you .
Sure . Absolutely . Um First of all ,
you said P PB and value of death . So
I'm so I'm so happy , this was all
worth it just for that . Um uh My happy
place . Uh So there are many challenges
and there , because there are many
valleys of death , there are many
points of transition within the defense
enterprise in order to get a capability
from , let's say , at its , you know ,
basic research and an engineering stage
all the way to field and capability and
it changes hands many times over , it
actually relates in some ways to the ,
to the Brier question . Um So my goal
is really to identify which of those
valleys of death are most um
impacting , negatively impacting the
ability of the war fighter to get the
capabilities that she or he needs . Um
and going after re removing those
barriers . So some of the places that
we are focused on are what's called
transition , which is probably the most
directly relevant . How do you make
sure that you can transition
capabilities in any one of those , you
know , break points ? Um And there are
things we need from Congress to do that .
Congress on the authorizing side has
created some transition funds that help
us work between appropriation cycles .
Um The appropriators uh don't like
appro those , they don't like those
kinds of funds because they're not , uh
there's a lot of flexibility in those .
So we work hard . We were given some
appropriations for instance , recently ,
we're working hard to prove that we are
using them um appropriately . And
that's the kind of thing that we try to
do to sort of then be able to scale
that . Um So that's a transition we're
looking at security processes . Um So
that can be security clearances for
contractors , making sure that the
security security of facilities is
easier so that uh building out a system
isn't left only to those major prime
contractors who can absorb the
transaction cost . But that say a small
business could still be competitive ,
um if can help them get a secure
facility . That's another example , our
training , our acquisition workforce in
the latest approaches . So we have lots
of different authorities . Other
transactional authority is an example
that many folks on the hill have tended
to be ok with , we have these middle
tier acquisition processes that we
pursue also authorized by Congress ,
but they're still a little suspect of
how we use them . So making sure we use
all those authorities really
effectively means we have to train our
acquisition workforce to know how to
use them . And so those are just some
examples . Uh bottom line , there is no
silver bullet . It's not a wiring
diagram . It's not a new authority . It
is making , looking at the system at a
systems level and making sure you
understand where the where the in a not
analysis way where the hard areas are
and working those hard areas to make
sure we can get the war fighter , what
she or he needs . And his question was
another one that maybe you could take
30 seconds and answer . He said , I
don't know what the deputy Secretary
does . Folks might not know uh outside
might not know what the deputy
secretary does . So can you just give
us the 32nd version of what your job is ?
As I think the 32nd version is that I
am essentially the coo but back to the
advanced policy questions . One of the
things Congress says is do you intend
to follow the uh uh normal um division
of labor between the secretary and the
Deputy Secretary of Defense and the
answer , they ask both Secretary Austin
as a nominee , they asked me as a
nominee and the answer we , of course
both gave is yes . Uh which is the
secretary generally speaking , is
focused up and out . He's looking ,
he's , you know , working with allies
and partners , he's working closely
with the White House , um , in the
interagency process , um , et cetera .
I am very much focused uh down and in ,
as we would say , the uh chief
operating officer of the organization
trying to make sure his priorities um
are um executed and implemented
throughout the department . Great . And
last question in the back there . Hello
madam secretary . Um um my name is
Gabriel Beltran . I am um originally I
was born in Colombia , but I joined the
army and I just got out like around two
months ago . I , I am in the security
studies program in the first semester .
Um as , as , as , as you were saying ,
uh I've seen the , the , the diversity
in the military , right ? And the open
doors that the military have for
minorities such as me , as you can tell
by my accent . And so , uh while I was
in the military , um I , I learned so
many things and , and it was uh such a
great opportunity . However , uh one of
the things that I always wanted to uh
dig a little , a little bit deeper on
was the mental health of soldiers Right .
Um I'm also a survivor spouse and I
have seen how I have seen the effects
on , on , on the mental health of
soldiers , right ? And I also saw so
many times how difficult is for senior
leaders to realize about the
challenges on this . So I , I believe
that uh our , our military force is as
strong as their people , right ? And um
I wanted to ask you so on your , on ,
on your level , on a senior level ,
what are the changes , changes that you
have seen that improve , uh , the
system , um , that senior leader have
to address the mental health issues and
soldiers ? Thank you . Yeah . No ,
thank you . Uh , so glad you raised the
topic . Um , we have , of course in the
nation , a mental health crisis . I , I
think everyone is well aware that we ,
uh , don't have enough providers across
the nation . We have um , uh ,
burgeoning and , you know , interest in
mental health , which is fantastic , um ,
that we are increasingly normalizing
the view that health is health is
health and mental health is part of
health . Um , and that's true in Dod as
well . And that's a , that's a sea
change , that's a cultural change . Um ,
it takes leaders and we do have leaders
in uniform who are good about , you
know , tweeting or writing or otherwise
indicating , hey , I'm , I'm off to my
mental health appointment now . Uh ,
that becomes very important . Same on
suicide prevention where folks talk we
are willing to talk about um suicidal
ideation and the way they over , you
know , have overcome suicidal ideation ,
things of that sort , what we have
found really works well are small group
interactions . That's true basically of
any training . Um And so we're
increasingly using that couple other
tools that we're doing . I mentioned
before that we have put a substantial
investment into countering sexual
assault and sexual harassment . We have
built something called the prevention
workforce . We are hiring thousands of
prevention workforce members . And uh
while the core of the purpose behind
them was to counter sexual assault ,
sexual harassment , they're really
gonna be focused on uh self harm and
harm issues , behavioral issues that
are intersectional . Um And so that is
mental health being one of those . So
we think that major hiring of
prevention workforce , some of which
will inevitably going to have to be re
skilling for the reasons I pointed out
in terms of the mental health provider
crisis . I think that's going to be
really important . Last thing I'll just
mention because we have a lot under way .
Um is uh uh tele mental
health . Um We have greatly expanded
the provision of telehealth for
behavioral uh specialists and mental
health appointments . That's
particularly important , important for
those who are in remote locations . Um
Alaska would be a good example of that
and we have increased over the last
year , something like 60,000 plus
appointment availability and we're
continuing to expand that through the
Defense Health Agency . So thank you
for what you do down and in and on
behalf of the Georgetown Security
Studies Program and , and the America
and the World Consortium . Thank you
for coming out once in a while and
talking to your people . Thank you .
Appreciate it . Thank you .