“Why We Serve” Ceremony hosted by LTG Bruce Crawford. The ceremony is to remind us of why we took the oath of military/Civilian service, receive encouraging words from keynote speaker, and culminate with a reaffirmation of the Oath of Office
Transcript
Ladies and gentlemen, please stand for the arrival of the official party and remain standing for the presentation of the colors, the singing of the national anthem, and the invocation. (upbeat Army music) (faint orders being given) (faint orders being given) O say can you see by the dawn’s early light What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight O’er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming And the rockets’ red glare the bombs bursting in air Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave
Ladies and gentlemen, remain standing for the invocation provided by the Fort Belvoir chaplain, Chaplain Hart.
Join me in prayer. Our gracious Lord, it is good for us to take time to reflect on the purpose on what we do and why we do it. And today Lord, we reflect on the call to service to our nation. We are grateful for the men and women who have answered this sacred call and given sacrificially of their time for the benefit of our nation. We are grateful for them and their families as they have protected the rights of our citizens and continued to watch over them. We ask that you would answer their call as they continue to protect our country against all enemies, both foreign and domestic. Lord, we ask your blessings upon them and ask that we would remember this call and renew our affirmation of oath that we would live by the spirit we’ve been called to. We are grateful for this time in this service, we ask your blessings on our nation and on our community and on our soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines. Father, we ask this in your humble and precious name, amen.
Please be seated. (rustling) (door creaking) I walked through a county courthouse square On a park bench an old man was sitting there I said, your old courthouse is kinda run down He said, naw, it’ll do for our little town I said, your old flagpole has leaned a little bit And that’s a ragged old flag you got hanging on it He said, have a seat, and I sat down Is this the first time you’ve been to our little town I said, I think it is He said, I don’t like to brag But we’re kinda proud of that ragged old flag You see, we got a little hole in that flag there When Washington took it across the Delaware And it got powder-burned the night Francis Scott Key Sat watching it writing say can you see And it got a bad rip in New Orleans With Packingham and Jackson tuggin’ at its seams And it almost fell at the Alamo Beside the Texas flag, but she waved on though She got cut with a sword at Chancellorsville And she got cut again at Shiloh Hill There was Robert E. Lee, Beauregard, and Bragg And the south wind blew hard on that ragged old flag On Flanders field in World War one She got a big hole from a Bertha gun She turned blood red in World War Two She hung limp and low a time or two She was in Korea and Vietnam She went where she was sent by Uncle Sam She waved from our ships upon the Briny foam And now they’ve about quit waving her back here at home In her own good land here she’s been abused She’s been burned, dishonored, denied, and refused And the government for which she stands Is scandalized throughout the land And she’s getting threadbare and wearing thin But she’s in good shape for the shape she’s in ‘Cause she’s been through the fire before And I believe she can take a whole lot more So we raise her up every morning We take her down every night We don’t let her touch the ground and we fold her up right On second thought, I do like to brag ‘Cause I’m mighty proud of that ragged old flag (audience applauding) Soldiers, civilians, family members, and friends, thank you for joining us today for the CIOG-6 second annual Why We Serve ceremony. By re-energizing a dialog of our shared values, our shared commitment, and our noble profession, we support the Army’s broader efforts to be ready to serve and accountable to the nation. Today’s event will allow us to reflect on why we took the solemn oath and dedicated ourselves to the greatest profession on Earth. I’d like to take a few moments to recognize our special guest, all senior leaders, our Blue Star families from Washington, D.C. chapter, our veteran service organizations, the VFW, the USO, the United States Army Disabled Sports, our very own United States Army Band, Army Voices, Mrs. Tanisha Opperman and her daughters, Kristin and Chelsea who provided us with that wonderful rendition of the national anthem. Our members of the D.C. Youth Challenge Program, thank you, our new recruits from around the national capital region. And a very special thanks and warm welcome to our two Gold Star mothers in attendance, Ms. Janice Chance and Ms. Paula Davis. (audience applauding) Ladies and gentlemen, providing opening remarks is the Army Chief Information Officer G-6, Lieutenant General Bruce T. Crawford. (audience applauding)
Alright, well good afternoon everyone. Alright, we’ll give this one more shot here, good afternoon everyone.
[Audience] Good afternoon.
Alright, there we go, there we go. Alright well, first thing I wanted to do, again, fellow General Officers, I see we got the G-1 of the entire United States Army, Lieutenant General Tom Seamands who’s been a long time friend and big time supporter of all things that have to do with the Signal Corp and for sure has been a steward in our United States Army. Tom, I know exactly how busy you are and I didn’t want to let this moment pass without personally thanking you for being here today. We have got members of the senior executive service here, we’ve got commission officers, we’ve got non-commission officers, soldiers, civilians, families. And when I called the trusted employees of our contracted workforce, they’re also here today. And I wanted to make sure since today is her special day, that I took the opportunity to recognize my boss who’s here playing hooky from school, because I know the kids already went back, my wife, Diane, for being here representing military families. (audience applauding) There’s a couple of reasons I wanted to mention Diane, one because I get in trouble at home if I don’t. So Mama didn’t raise no fool here after 33 years of marriage. But the other is today happens to be, believe it or not, her 21st birthday again. (audience applauding) That’s for the young people in the room, that’s another tip you get after 33 years of marriage. Thank you all for being here in this beautiful fall September afternoon, as we do what professionals do. And what professionals do is they pause and reflect on who they are. In this particular case, on who we are and what we stand for as professionals and today, we have an added touch as we get the opportunity to reaffirm our commitment to the thing that we do best and that commitment is to service. So I wanted to also take the opportunity to recognize a special guest, and it’s been mentioned but again, they could have been a lot of other places but they chose to be here with us. We mentioned the Gold Star families, the young Ms. Janis Chance and Ms. Paula Davis who have been big supporters of this type of event, supported me when I was in Aberdeen, when we did about every event that I was at, Ms. Chance and the Gold Star mothers were there and I know there’s nothing that we can do to repay you. So your continued service is greatly appreciated. And we’ve got Blue Star families, we mentioned the veteran service organizations, VFW, USO, and USA Disabled Sports. But we’re also, we got another little bit of a treat because we’ve got the D.C. Youth Challenge Academy and I just want to take a moment, very briefly, to talk a little bit about them. So there are about 32 different states in the United States who have some sort of Challenge Academy effort and you talk about outreach to your community. You talk about an organization that makes a difference in the lives of others. But there, ladies and gentlemen, is a shining example of what right looks like and what success looks like and what making sure you put others before yourself, when you look at the output of the Youth Challenge Academy. So I just wanted to put a shameless plug in for them at Ocean 1, the State of Maryland’s team at Aberdeen. But if you get an opportunity to visit one, I highly encourage you to do so. We’ve also got, in addition to, our next generation of leaders from the Youth Challenge Academy, we’ve got a group of citizens who will soon take their initial oath of office and formally join the Army’s new enlistees, supported by their families. We actually have two brothers who are coming in at the same time, and so we’re absolutely looking forward to that. And last but certainly not least, we have the honor of hearing from a great leader. To be quite honest, a man who serves as an inspiration to us all, US Army Veteran and Wounded Warrior, Major Retired D.J. Skelton, who joins us as our guest speaker. I’m just the warmup act, he’s actually the guest speaker for today. So thank you all very much for participating today. I would tell you that your presence, support, and continued trust is greatly appreciated. The thing that I’ll ask you to do is never forget and never allow yourself to take for granted, the fact that your, and this is to the support that we get from the community, those that support us. Please never take for granted the fact that your continued trust, your continued support, is also the absolute heart that pumps the blood that fuels the engine of your United States Army. So never allow yourself to take that for granted. As I said before, I realize given how busy everybody is that you could have easily decided to be elsewhere, but on this day, on this fifth day of September, you all chose to be right here. You chose to be right now, here with us sharing this experience with your United States Army. So on behalf of the 1.4 million soldiers and civilians of the United States Army, and the almost 180,000 who are forge station, some deployed and some forge stationed, defending us so that we might have the honor of participating in this ceremony and the opportunity to participate in this ceremony. I simply say thank you. I simply say thank you to everyone who took the opportunity to be here with us today. So before I move on ladies and gentlemen, events like today don’t just happen without a committed team of volunteers stepping forward to make this a first class event. So before we move on with the ceremony, I wanted to commend Ms. Valerie Jackson, Valerie, please stand, and the entire Why We Serve planning team (audience applauding) for their support. I know this has been like planning a wedding for them getting ready for this, but I just wanted to let you know personally how much I value the commitment of the entire team and the professionalism as we’ve been going through the planning process here. I’d be remiss if I didn’t also take the opportunity to thank the Opperman family for that outstanding rendition of the national anthem. (audience applauding) For anybody who’s got eyes on ’em, I’m actually their agent since this is the second time they’ve worked with us. So I’ll be handing out cards at the end of this. Chaplain Hart, your words of wisdom, you truly set the tone for the occasion, so thank you also for being here. And last but certainly not least, to our United States Army Band, you’re gonna get a real treat today, another one, ’cause you’re getting an opportunity to hear from the Army Voices, led by Sergeant Lindsey Grebeldinger. My team bet me that I would mess that name up, so I got it right for you all, they were betting against me and thank you all for being here to generously share your tremendous gift. And I don’t want to oversell, but you talk about a gifted team of professionals. These soldiers are the best ambassadors that we have in our great Army, so thank you all for being here. And so to the ensembled audience, and I know we had a couple spontaneous rounds of applause, but before I get into what I came here to say because again, today is not me and it’s not about me, I wanted to ask for a loud thunderous round of applause for everyone who’s supported the event. (audience applauding) So as I mentioned earlier ladies and gentlemen, I realized today is about us, today is not about me, but before I depart the stage, I thought it might be helpful and perhaps even a little bit instructional to share a few thoughts about why we are here. Why exactly is this Why We Serve event a big deal and why are we doing this? Why do we ask everyone to gather here? And why we chose the oath of office as the foundation in which we established this series of Why We Serve events? So as I’ve said many times, whether you’re a soldier or a civilian, whether you support the United States Army or any of the joint-force team, you are a member of what is consistently recognized as the absolute most trusted profession on Earth, the profession of arms. So with that respect and admiration that you’ve garnered comes responsibility and a special trust that our nation has bestowed upon us to always, at all times, always be the absolute example for others to follow. So year in and year out, no other profession even comes close to garnering the type of respect and admiration that you receive simply because you raised your right hand and uttered those 72 words to support and defend this great nation as a part of the Army team. To set the tone for why we are here today, I believe that our recently confirmed 40th Chief of Staff of the Army, General Jim McConville, said it best recently when he stated and I quote, “readiness, modernization, and reform “remain the priorities for the Army. “But my number one priority as Chief of Staff of the Army, “is taking care of people.” He went on to state, “that when we send the Army somewhere, “we don’t go to participate, “we don’t go to try hard, “we go to win. “Winning matters and when we win, “we win by doing the right things, the right way” unquote. Ladies and gentlemen, I truly believe that today’s event is in keeping with the words from our 40th Chief of Staff of the Army. Today’s event is all about doing things the right way at all times. So in the context of why we’re here today, what winning looks like is that soldiers, civilians, veterans and their families are taken care of. What winning looks like is that we continue to develop cohesive teams who are highly trained, who are disciplined, who are fit. What winning looks like is that we avoid the perils of things like deliberate flat pressure side and maintain a culture of treating others with dignity and respect remains the foundational part of who we are representing this great nation. It becomes a part of our DNA. And ultimately, ladies and gentlemen, what winning looks like is that we maintain an environment and a culture where the American people are to trust us. Where the American people are willing to trust the United States Army with what the 40th Chief of Staff of the Army calls their most prized possessions, their sons and daughters. It’s been stated by leaders across the Army that the Army’s people are our greatest strength and most important weapons system. So at the end of the day, it’s our people who are and will always be the absolute foundation on which we stand as the nations most trusted profession. So if you’re not already noticed, and paid attention coming in, the visual symbol of why we serve is indeed the 72 words of the oath we all took to support and defend. So to the question of the relationship between the oath of office and today’s Why We Serve event, first and foremost, I consider the oath to be the very foundation in which our values as trusted professionals are established. The oath we all took to support and defend a set of ideals in defense of this great nation is the very essence of the responsibility and accountability the American people have come to expect from those who wear the cloth of this great nation. So whether 50 years ago or five months ago, when you think back to the day that you took the oath for the very first time, there was a sense of pride and enthusiasm because you were instantly at the moment you uttered those last words, you were instantly a part and felt a part of something bigger than yourself. The oath is also a symbol of the day you became empowered. Empowered to add meaning to our cherished Army values of loyalty, duty, respect, selfless service, honor, integrity, and personal courage. So in the end, it is the oath that powers and obligates us as trusted professionals to make a difference in the lives of others and remain accountable to all that we swore or affirmed to support and to defend. So as I look around this room and had an opportunity to talk to people coming in, I see leaders from all walks of life, true professionals of character and honorable service of this great nation. I see men and women who lead with not just integrity but with pride and respect to the beliefs and ideals of others. I see trailblazers among us, men and women who strived for excellence, and leaders who put the needs of others before their own constantly. I see the excellence that can only come from truly committed professionals, individuals who don’t just embrace the Army values, but individuals and leaders who live those values everyday. So you maintain accountability to strengthen the essential characteristics of the Army profession. Reinforce, absolutely reinforcing a bond of trust with each other and most important a bond of trust with the American people. I submit to you, today, that as trusted professionals, we have a moral obligation and inherit responsibility to build on the work of so many proud, dedicated professionals who have come before us, our veterans are soldier for life. By being here today, ladies and gentlemen, I believe that we’ve given this nation’s next generation of leaders the greatest gift that we can give and that is the gift of a good example. So to the final question of why we all serve? I can’t answer that question for the almost 400 people who are in here today because that’s a deeply personal thing about why it is you chose to serve. But what I can tell you is that the most rewarding part of my job as a soldier, the most rewarding part of my job as a senior leader in the Army is looking in the eyes of a proud parent whose child is serving in the military. Their eyes are filled with enthusiasm and their hearts are filled with pride, hope, and ultimately trust that this opportunity to serve, this once in a lifetime opportunity to be a part of something bigger than one’s self, will yield a return on investment that can only be measured through their strong sense of enduring duty and purpose. So although we have much work to do to prepare our Army to meet the challenges of defending all that we stand for in this era of great power competition, I say to this ensembled audience, that the reason that I serve is that I’m a believer. The reason that I serve is that I’m a believer and I believe in you. Remember, all you sitting here today are the history of this great nation. You are its storied past, you are its resilient present, and its evolving and adapted future. Your trust in the Army as an institution that takes care of its people will never, ever, ever be taken for granted. So it’s truly an honor to have you join us today as we reaffirm our commitment to service. The fact that you’re here represents and reflects the Army’s solemn promise to a grateful nation. So ladies and gentlemen, together, we revere the service, we honor the legacy of your United States Army. Winning matters, Army strong, thank you. (audience applauding)
Ladies and gentlemen, please enjoy an inspirational performance from the US Army Band, Army Voices. (inspirational piano music) This is my right My right given by God To live a free life To live in freedom I’m talkin’ about freedom I’m talkin’ about freedom I will fight for the right To live in freedom If any one Tries to take it away You’ll have to answer ‘Cause this is my right I’m talkin’ about freedom I’m talkin’ about freedom I will fight for the right To live in freedom We hold this truths to be self evidence That all persons all created equal That they’re endowed by the creator With certain unalienable rights Which among these are Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness I’m’ talkin’ about freedom, freedom I’m talkin’ about freedom I will fight for the right To live in freedom I’m talkin’ about freedom, freedom, freedom I will fight for the right To live in freedom (audience applauding) My country tis of thee Sweet land of liberty Of thee I sing Land where my fathers died Land of the pilgrim’s pride From every mountain side Let freedom, let freedom ring Let music swell the breeze And ring through all the trees Sweet, sweet freedom’s song Let mortal tongues awake And let all that breathe partake And let rocks their silence break The sound, the sound prolong My country ’tis of thee My country Sweet land of liberty Of thee I sing I’m singing for the land Where my fathers died Oh I’m singing for the land Of the pilgrim’s pride From every mountain side From every mountain side Let freedom, let freedom, Let it ring Oh let freedom, let freedom Let freedom, let it ring Let freedom ring ♪ (audience applauding) Ladies and gentlemen, Lieutenant General Crawford will now introduce our guest speaker.
Well, the first thing I’ll tell you is D.J. Skelton really needs no introduction. So beyond the fact that he served, I truly believe in my heart of hearts, although he accomplished great things as a soldier, his ability to navigate through a great challenge, his ability to overcome obstacles. I talked earlier about the gift of a great example, I can think of no great example, the resilient nature of your United States Army, of the service and the importance of service in your United States Army than Major Retired D.J. Skelton. So without further ado, ladies and gentlemen, I’d like to represent our keynote address and a great leader in his own right, former enlisted soldier and retired Major and Wounded Warrior, Major Retired D.J. Skelton, thank you. (audience applauding)
Not really sure how you follow the Voices, how incredible was that? It’s pretty spectacular. (audience applauding) Well first, General Crawford, thanks for having me come and share a little bit of time. Time is valuable, especially in the city, so it means a lot that you all came here. I actually met General Crawford at an event several months ago over in the Pentagon, introduced by Carmen Davis, in protocol in the back. Carmen and I actually shared joint roles over at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, California. And at the event that I re-engaged with Carmen at was actually the, I think there was a swearing in for the SES for Ms. Crandall here, which was a pretty amazing event if you went to that. And I actually met Nancy because, were you married at the time? I think you had just married John and John and I were really good friends, and all of a sudden, here I am today. The Army and the military family is truly a family, it’s a very small one, so I’m always, I always enjoy the one to two separations of distance between all of us. I was asked to come here to talk about why I served. I don’t really have anything too profound or enlightening, is this on? Yup, there we go. To talk about why I served. I was kind of a punk kid, growing up in a really small farming community in South Dakota. Barely graduated high school, had absolutely no discipline whatsoever, which was why I had a hard time holding down a job after high school. Eventually led to my being expelled from college at the University of South Dakota. And I found a job working in a construction site, commercial construction pouring tar and making roofs on commercial farm buildings. When I went to the first day of work and I showed up at 4 a.m., and I went to the job foreman and he took one look at me and he went white and he was like, “Denny Skelton, is that Denny Skelton?” I was like, nah, that’s my old man, I’m his son, D.J. How do you know my old man? And he goes, “He used to work for me “in this construction company about 30 years ago.” And I went and quit on the spot, went it in my truck, and I saw what my life was gonna be like and I was like, I don’t want that, and I drove to the nearest place to find a job was a mall in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and I happened to walk into the first office that said hiring. And it just so happened to be a US Army recruiter and I signed a blank piece of paper and said get me the heck out of this place. A year later, I’m a private out of basic training, out of AIT, and I find myself at this hardship place called Monterey, California, and I’m studying this language of Chinese at the Defense Language Institute and in between classes, these two officers, which throughout my entire career this is where I learned, I was a young private, I saw these officers, I literally turned around and started running the opposite way. I didn’t want to deal with it, it was a nervous encounter for me. These two officers pulled me aside and were like “hey, do you really want to serve in the Army? “Like why are you here?” And I’m like, one, I never thought about it. I don’t even remember taking the oath. It’s not where I was in my place in life. I couldn’t answer the question. And they’re like, “we want you to think about it “because if you want to stay in the United States military “and you want to serve in the US Army, “we highly, highly encourage to fill out this application “to become an officer.” And it was the first time in my life that I had been pulled aside by someone, other than outside of my family, that looked at me from a distance not because they had to, not because they were told to do it, but they chose to spend some extra time with this person that they barely knew because they saw something in me that I didn’t see. That application happened to be the next year’s entrance to the class of 2003 at West Point. I applied, I got accepted, and had that event never occurred, I would have been on a completely different trajectory in my life. And so I learned a valuable lesson of mentorship. Graduate West Point, started in ’99, graduated in 2003. I find myself at now, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Fort Lewis back then, I’m a platoon leader, not even a year out of the academy and we’re deploying in 2004 to Iraq for the second wave. And I remember sitting on the tarmac with the plane waiting to load up and leave the United States. No one in my unit had ever served before, not even in Vietnam, and the families were out there. You know, kids and spouses and parents and grandparents, and there was this huge event. And I remember as we were getting ready to have the families leave so that we can continue doing our military prep and board the plane, I remember standing in front of my platoon, a young platoon leader, very naive, very naive about this profession that I would later spend 21 years in. And looked at those family members and said, I promise you this, I promise I’ll bring all of your sons and daughters home. Two months later, I was in a coma, as a platoon leader in the Second Battle of Fallujah, got wounded. One of my soldiers had just given birth, missed it ’cause he was with us on the deployment, went through a ball of fire to drag my body through a kill zone. Not because he had to and a lot of soldiers don’t. We don’t get to control how we react sometimes, but his consciously chose to sacrifice that and I’m here today because of many actions. My parents got a phone call from this nurse, saying I’m Nurse Han from Landstuhl. I had to go from a battlefield of Iraq to Landstuhl and I was in a coma at the time and Landstuhl, they had to make a decision and my body was flown back to Walter Reed Army Hospital. And so the first person that my parents got a call from that they built a relationship of was this nurse. And as a senior soldier, young, I didn’t involve my parents whole lot with my life in the Army. In fact, they really didn’t even know what I did. And so the first time their introduction into the Army was their introduction into our medical system and into the workings of Walter Reed Army Hospital. And for the next six weeks, while I was in a coma, in and out, and very heavily sedated, where I couldn’t provide for my family and I couldn’t teach them about why there’s people with guns at the entrance coming into a hospital. It was during a very traumatic time and apparently there wasn’t a whole lot of resources, this was 2004. We didn’t have WTUs, we didn’t have a lot, right? West Point professors showed up, enlisted soldiers that I served with, NCOs that I served with, found out that I was wounded and showed up at the hospital, created matrix, to cook food and every night deliver to my parents and my sister and my loved ones, food for them. Because I couldn’t do that. I get out of the hospital a year later, I got to go back and we’re a bureaucracy right? So at some point, the echelon people don’t really matter, we become numbers. It’s a phenomenon that we’re trying to reverse. So there’s this equation and say if you lose too many limbs or eyes or if you look like this, you have to go through this Med Board, ’cause you’re of no value to us anymore and you’re leaving. I had a hard time with that. And at the time, I was going through a Medical Board being found not fit for duty, that I would never be able to serve because I had nothing to give of value back to the institution, there was this classmate of mine from West Point named Laura. Laura was about ready to deploy the next day on her first combat deployment as an engineer to Afghanistan. And Laura says, “this is my last night, “please come to my house. “I’m sorry I couldn’t come visit you at the hospital, “I was busy with pre-combat deployment stuff. “Come to my house and I want to share “my last night with you. “I have some questions for you.” It was the first time in a process as a Wounded Warrior, that someone looked at me and looked through the scars, through the limitations, and said huh, you have knowledge from your time in combat, that I haven’t been, I want to learn from you. And I spent that night with her and her fiance. Four months later, she was killed by IUD in Afghanistan. I felt appreciated. Six months later, I figure I’d convinced the Army to keep me in and not kick me out. So I became one of our first Continuation of Active Duty, COAD, soldiers. My own life was some stage of management, of exception to policy, so I’ve come to find out. And the Army sends me of all places, which I giggled when I came into this auditorium, I was sent to Fort Greely, Alaska, in the middle of nowhere because that’s where you put your severely injured and wounded soldiers at the defense agency. I spent a year at Fort Greely and when I showed up and I would have taken any job just to say I’m in service, and the Army didn’t know what to do with me back then, so they’re like, just go over here. You’re from South Dakota, you’ll figure it out, there’s hunting and fishing. And there were two Colonels that retired, one from the Air Force and one from the Army, and they were both making a ton of money as contractors with the MBA program, and they pulled me aside and they’re like, “what the heck are you doing here, Lieutenant? “This is Lieutenant-Colonel, Colonel building.” And I was like, I don’t know what I’m doing, I just took the first job that I could get. And they pulled me aside and were like, “We need someone that has knowledge. “We need someone that can contribute to this team.” They came back the next day, I’m still in processing, and they pulled me aside and they’re like, “you know what, you’re not just gonna sit up here “in an office and do nothing “the whole time that you’re here. “You just came from a battlefield, “in which you know better than us.” The timeline that they served, they never served in a combat zone. They said that, “you’ve learned things, “you know about 24/7 security ops “and things that we don’t need, that we don’t know.” And that was the year that the Missile Defense Agency went operational. “Help us with what you know. “Figure out how to stand up a 24/7 operation center “here at Fort Greely, which is what our mission is. “We’ll work with you with all the other stuff, “but help us understand that.” And I felt very appreciative because for the first time, I wasn’t looked at by a rank, I wasn’t looked at for charity. Once again, someone saw value in how I could contribute and provide and be a team player. For the next six years, I’d go through approximately 60 post-major surgeries to rebuild. And of those six years, I got bounced, I was at Fort Greely for a year, I went to the Pentagon for a little bit, went back to Monterey, California. I did a company command at the language school and taught Chinese. Of that six years, I did what everyone told me to do, be resilient. And for six years, I tried really, really hard to be resilient. And what I learned from all of that, is I hate the word resilient more than any other word in the English language and I’ll tell you why. It’s because all resilience is is a measurement of time. You’re traveling in life and you’re right here and a traumatic event sets you back. Just like it did when I got wounded in combat. You can be a leader of an organization or a company and that organization and company has a major event, for the most part, an economic hardship setback. A nation can have a traumatic event, September 11, hurricanes, and it hits and the devastation occurs and it sets us back and all resilience is is the measurement of time that it takes for us to get back to where we were at the moment that the traumatic event occurred and for six years, I tried to get back to the point where I had two eyes, where I had use of two limbs so I could go hunting and climbing and fishing, and that was the source of happiness. That I could go back to a time that I wasn’t peppered in shrapnel and scars, so I could look handsome again. The reality is, is we can’t. These negative things that happen to us are now forever part of us. But instead of this negative thing that occurred, it wasn’t negative at all. It was this source that I could turn to and say hey, I now know what suffering is. I now know who I am when I wake up from that coma and I can take this event and I can learn from it and now I have knowledge that you don’t have and I hope you never do. So you’re gonna sit in the audience and listen to people like me share it, ’cause we don’t need anymore people suffering more than we have. And this thing can be something that’s powerful and a source of strength and we become much more stronger because of out failures, because of these setbacks than we ever could have been. But it wasn’t until I had all these moments of people that saw through the trauma, that saw through the scars, and could look at me and say, “you know what, you have something of value “and worth to our team, to our organization “and we want you to join.” The details, the policies, the procedures, you’ll never do push ups because you need two hands, forgot it, we can deal with that. We’ll manage all that by exception. But what you have, everybody has something about them, everybody. And in today’s day and age, in which the threats are so rapid and so unknown, we need what everybody has to offer. But that means that I want, I have to get up out of bed everyday and I have to show up to work, right? And in order to do that, I need to feel like what I’m doing throughout the day, I feel appreciated, not recognized, appreciated. And the people that I surround myself with, that I go to work with, that I serve with, that I deploy with, I wanted to feel loved by, I want to love each other. A couple days before the weekend before I deployed to Iraq and that tour, I told my platoon, alright, we have four days off, go do whatever you want, travel wherever you want, we have four days, our last free weekend before we go deploy. And my platoon came back to me and said, “Hey Sir, we know you’ve been doing a lot of rock climbing, “you’ve done a lot of camping, “will you take us camping? “Can we bring our family?” I felt loved. Think about that, it’s your last weekend. A few months ago, my wife called me, she had a picture of a guy sleeping on our front porch. She goes, “hey, I don’t quite recognize this guy, “but wasn’t he an old First Sergeant of yours?” I was like yeah. “He’s now living on our front porch.” He’s homeless. At a time where he was the weakest, speaks five languages, highly educated, four combat deployments, three special ops, two years ago. Smarter than I’ll ever be. Knew that he trusted our relationship that we had built in uniform, that he could show up to my house in times of need. That’s the type of organization I want to belong to. People that love and show each other appreciation for what we’ve done, what we sacrifice. ‘Cause the reality is, America will never understand truly what we do day to day working in the offices we work for. But that’s the beauty of it. They shouldn’t. I hate doctors. I hate the entire health care system. I don’t want to spend one ounce of my time trying to understand the life of a doctor, or a nurse, or a case manager. But when I get sick and I need a surgery, which I need a lot of them, I am so grateful that some kid out of high school dedicated 12 years of education and dedicated their life to that profession so they can put me back together again. And that’s a level sacrifice I’ll never understand, the dedication I’ll never understand. But we have to appreciate each other in the sacrifice that we each serve. And I’d rather do it with people that I trust and that I love. And as the General said, none of you had to be here today. Now, some of you did. (audience laughing) But the majority of you didn’t and this is a very tough city to live in, to travel outside of the Beltway and then go back to work. And so to answer the question of why do we serve and more specifically, why do I serve? And more importantly, why do I re-serve? After I got, why did I continuing serving after I woke up from a coma with these injuries? ‘Cause I made a promise on a tarmac that I’d bring my soldiers home. And even though it took six years, I finally made my way back into the infantry, made my way back onto the battlefield and even though it wasn’t that platoon, I actually got to command the same company I was a platoon leader in and some of my privates were my NCOs, and I got to bring that unit home. The detail of it being time aside and different soldiers was irrelevant to me. And just like you volunteered to come here today, is affirmation of why we serve. Take care of each other, go back to your offices and your team, not recognition, but show appreciation in everything you do with the people you work for because we don’t have hierarchy in life. Your rank means nothing to me nor should it for the people we love. Thank you for serving, serving with me in and out of uniform and serving with our families, ’cause family doesn’t go away when we take the uniform off. Thank you for letting me speak. (audience applauding) (dramatic music)
I volunteered to serve because of my family history of serving in the military. Both my grandfather and great grandfather served here in Hawaii, 50 years ago.
I serve because I grew up in Philadelphia and I was going down the wrong path. I joined the military and the military shook me out, straightened me up, and I’ve got almost 40 years of service and I’ve been enjoying just about every day.
Hi, I’m Mr. Savang with Eighth Army, located at Camp Humphrey’s in South Korea and I serve the army because I wanted to represent this great a nation. As a Signal Warrant Officer, I’ve had the privilege to develop a specialized team of soldiers to support the Commanding General, which is both an honor and a reward within itself.
I serve because I love the United States Army and I use the word love intentionally because how could you not love someone who gets up every morning, puts on a uniform, and intentionally says the ultimate goodbye to their own family. Their fathers, their mothers, their spouses, their children, to protect someone like me and my family.
Hi, I’m Private First Class Lloyd Lawrence with the 2nd Infantry Division, ROK-US based division in Korea. And I serve in the Army because as a young man, I believe I should have the general foundation in hardship and struggle to make the country I’m serving a better society,
It’s all I’ve ever wanted to do. My cousin is two years older than me, he joined the Army. I went to his parting out parade and absolutely loved it, loved everything I saw and from that moment onwards, it was all I ever wanted to do. And I joined the Army at the age of 16 and I’ve been serving ever since, that’s 35 years now.
My name is Private Keenan Knight. I was born and raised in Great Wood, North Carolina. I’m currently attached to the 160th Signal Brigade here in Camp Arifjan, Kuwait. I serve because I wanted to provide stability and better opportunities for my family. The Army has given me the opportunity to do so. I’ve been able to earn three certifications in my field of work. To anyone who’s out there who’s afraid to take the next step in joining the military, I suggest you go for it.
I’m Private Mikayla Casarez, I was recruited from West Texas. I’m currently with the 160th Signal Brigade at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait. I serve because the Army gives me an opportunity to start a career, further my education, and help others. Right after high school, I was working a part-time job making minimum wage, trying to pay for college. That didn’t really work out for me so I found myself with a recruiter discussing about education and career benefits. It wasn’t long until the idea of helping others while the Army could help me made my decision to become a soldier. (dramatic music)
We’ll now administer the oath of service. Members of the United States military professions swear to support and defend the constitution of the United States. This solemn oath ties service in the Army directly to our nation’s founding document. The Army profession derives common standards in a code of ethics for moral obligations undertaken in its members oath of office. These standards unite members of all services to defend the constitution, protect the nations interest, and defend it against all threats at home and abroad. Will all commissioned officers please stand and receive the oath of office from Lieutenant General Crawford.
Right, before I actually administer the oath, I just wanted to say, just a couple of minutes here, to say a few words about the oath. And so when you think about the 72 words that you’re gonna hear these officers, that you’re gonna hear our enlisted soldiers, that you’re gonna hear the trusted professionals of our civilian workforce, and ultimately you’re gonna hear from our new enlistess, I want you to think about a couple of things. Number one, the oath is absolutely, as I mentioned earlier, the foundation on which we stand. But what’s significant about this oath, is we’re one of the only nations that swear an oath of allegiance not to a King, not to a Queen, but we swear an oath to an idea. That idea and that set of ideals is actually grounded in who we are as a nation and in our constitution. That one idea is what brought down Nazi Germany and fascist Italy over time. That one idea is what allowed us to prevail throughout the last 18 years of continuous combat. That one big idea is simple, when you think about, and the crux of that idea is this, that everyone in here, you, me, the person to your right, the person to your left, the person to your back and your front, that we are all created free and that we are all create equal and that will be judged by the content of our character and we will be judged not by the color of our skin. That it does not matter, as the leadership of our Army has said in the past, who you love, it does not matter whether you are rich or whether you are poor. It does not matter where you are from, it does not matter who you worship, whether you’re catholic or protestant, or that you don’t worship at all. What does matter is that we’re all, again, created free and that we are created equal and that you can be in these United States of America, under these colors of red, white, and blue, you can be anybody that you want to be and that, ladies and gentlemen, is the crux and the foundation of our oath and that, ladies and gentlemen, is why we serve and why we fight. And so, please bear with me. Please raise your right hand and repeat after me, I, state your full name. (audience speaking) Have been appointed an officer in the United States Army.
[Audience] Have been appointed an officer in the United States Army.
Do solemnly swear.
[Audience] Do solemnly swear.
That I will support and defend the constitution of the United States.
[Audience] That I will support and defend the constitution of the United States.
[Crawford] Against all enemies.
[Audience] Against all enemies.
[Crawford] Foreign and domestic.
[Audience] Foreign and domestic.
[Crawford] And I’ll bear true faith and allegiance to the same.
[Audience] And I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same.
[Crawford] And that I take this obligation willingly.
[Audience] And that I take this obligation willingly.
[Crawford] Without any mental reservation.
[Audience] Without any mental reservation.
[Crawford] Or purpose of evasion.
[Audience] Or purpose of evasion.
[Crawford] And I will well and faithfully.
[Audience] And I will well and faithfully.
Discharge the duties.
[Audience] Discharge the duties.
Of the office.
Of the office.
Upon which I’m about to enter.
[Audience] Upon which I’m about to enter.
So help me God.
So help me God.
Hooah.
Hooah. (audience applauding)
[MC] Please be seated. Will all enlisted soldiers please stand and receive the oath of enlistment from Major General Todd Isaacson.
I’ll ask you to raise your right hand and repeat after me. I, state your full name. (audience responding) Do solemnly swear.
Do solemnly swear.
That I will support and defend.
[Audience] That I will support and defend.
[Isaacson] The constitution of the United States.
[Audience] The constitution of the United States.
[Isaacson] Against all enemies.
[Audience] Against all enemies.
[Isaacson] Foreign and domestic.
[Audience] Foreign and domestic.
[Isaacson] That I will bear true faith
[Audience] That I will bear true faith
And allegiance to the same.
[Audience] And allegiance to the same.
That I will obey the orders.
[Audience] That I will obey the orders.
Of the President of the United States.
[Audience] Of the President of the United States.
And the orders of the officers.
[Audience] And the orders of the officers.
Appointed over me.
Appointed over me.
[Isaacson] According to regulations.
[Audience] According to regulations.
[Isaacson] And the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
[Audience] And the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
So help me God.
So help me God.
Congratulations. (audience applauding)
Please be seated. Our civil service employees also play a critical role in the defense of our nation. As faithful public servants and skilled professionals, our civilians bring critical expertise and institutional knowledge that enable our uniformed service members to execute their missions. Mr. Gregory L. Garcia, SES, and Deputy CIOG-6, will administer the oath of office for civil service employees. Will all civil service employees please stand and receive the oath of office.
If I may, there’s a very rare occurrence that has occurred since our last Why We Serve for the civilian corps. Our creed has actually changed. The Secretary and the Chief, through great work of G-1, has recognized that civilians do also contribute leadership. So the civilians corp creed has actually changed as of 30 March this year, to include the word civilians provide leadership, continuity, and stability, which is a significant difference and recognition of the long, long partnership of the Department of Army Civilians with our officers enlisted. So it’s really kind of the first time that we’ve had the three pillars that we’ve been able to serve. So I want to make that note this will be an oath with a new meaning. Please raise your right hand. I, state your name. (audience responding) Do solemnly swear.
Do solemnly swear.
To support and defend.
[Audience] To support and defend.
The constitution of the United States.
[Audience] The constitution of the United States.
Against all enemies, foreign and domestic.
[Audience] Against all enemies, foreign and domestic.
That I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same.
[Audience] That I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same.
I take this obligation freely.
[Audience] I take this obligation freely.
Without any mental reservations or purpose.
[Audience] Without any mental reservations.
Or purpose of evasion.
Or purpose of evasion.
I will well and faithfully.
I will well and faithfully.
Execute the duties.
Execute the duties.
About which I’m about to enter.
[Audience] About which I’m about to enter.
So help me God.
So help me God.
Congratulations. (audience applauding)
Please be seated. Today we have some very special guests and their families with our new recruits, please rise. (audience applauding) These young Americans you see standing, have agreed to receive their first oath of enlistment to become members of active duty military service at our event today. Their impending service to the nation is a symbol of the future generation of our Armed Forces. Lieutenant General Crawford is honored to administer their first oath of enlistment into the US Army.
[Crawford] Please raise your right hand and repeat after me. I, state your full name. (recruits responding)
[Crawford] Do solemnly swear.
[Recruits] Do solemnly swear.
[Crawford] That I will support and defend the constitution of the United States.
[Recruits] That I will support and defend the constitution of the United States.
Against all enemies.
Against all enemies.
Foreign and domestic.
Foreign and domestic.
And I’ll bear true faith and allegiance to the same.
[Recruits] And I’ll bear true faith and allegiance to the same.
And I will obey the orders of the President of the United States.
[Recruits] And I will obey the order of the President of the United States.
And orders of all officers appointed over me.
[Recruits] And orders of all officers appointed over me.
[Crawford] According to the regulations.
[Recruits] According to the regulations.
[Crawford] Of the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
[Recruits] Of the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
[Crawford] So help me God.
So help me God.
Congratulations. (audience applauding) So one of things we wanted to make sure that we do is, our greatest gift, as I talked about earlier, is always giving back. I am literally standing here and many of you have heard my story, because a veteran invested in me. So these folks, this ladies and gentlemen, is our next greatest generation of leaders. And so victory for us, when our leader talks about winning, okay? And we talk about this idea that winning matters. Winning for us is that 10 years from now, five years from now, 20 years from now, whenever, that this group or somebody from this group, is giving back to somebody else. That’s what winning matters. That’s what winning means and that’s what this is all about. So I just wanted to make sure I took the opportunity to state that. Hooah.
Hooah.
Ladies and gentlemen, the Army Voices will now sing “God Bless America.” (gentle piano music) While the storm clouds gather Far across the sea Let us swear allegiance To a land that’s free Let us all be grateful For a land so fair As we raise our voices In a solemn prayer God bless America Land that I love, that I love Stand beside her and guide her Through the night with a light from above, from above From the mountains, to the prairies To the oceans white with foam God bless America My home sweet home
Could everyone please stand and join us in singing “God Bless America.” God bless America Land that I love Stand beside her and guide her Through the night with a light from above From the mountains, to the prairies To the oceans white with foam God bless America My home sweet home God bless America My home sweet home (audience applauding)
Ladies and gentlemen, Lieutenant General Crawford will provide closing remarks.
Hey listen, again, thank you everybody for being here. You know, as we were planning for this, we realize that we are just about six short days from a really big event that occurred in a not too distant past and that was 9/11. And so I know that we’ve got trusted professionals throughout this organization. I know that we’ve got many of you, who I know personally in this audience, who were actually in the Pentagon on that day and I was actually one of those. And so, just to kinda put a bow on this event, this is not something that’s for Greg Garcia, or something that’s for me, or something that’s for Tom Seamands, or something for the Sergeant Major. Ladies and gentlemen, this is about us, this is for us. This is our opportunity to set the example for the next greatest generation of leaders. And so I wanted to publicly thank everybody. Again, you could’ve been a thousand other places, but you chose to be here to at least participate in this event. And so in closing, there are 300 plus or so people here and it’s hard to say what you’re gonna walk away from in this particular event. You know, you will take away from today’s event. But my philosophy is this. If there’s one person in this room who heard something today that’s gonna cause them to be a better leader, that’s gonna cause them to treat people differently, that’s gonna cause them to give just a little bit more of themselves, to positively impact the lives of others, then ladies and gentlemen, this day, if there’s one person in this room who heard something that’s gonna cause them to take a step back, re-examine this idea of service to others, then this day, ladies and gentlemen, will have been well worth it for me and will not have been I vain. And so again, I wanted to take the opportunity to thank you all for the gift of your time today. For your personal engagement in making today a positive experience for everyone in attendance. And so we had one gift that I think we wanted to give and so I signed this and it’s a gift that I try and you know, provide something from the CIOG-6 to departing leaders from the organization and it’s a picture of the very first Signal Officer, Dr. Albert Myer. And there’s a little old Fort name for him not too far from here. If you ever get an opportunity to read his story and how this thing the United States Army Signal Corp came to be, you talk about creativity, intellectual curiosity, and commitment, ladies and gentlemen, this gentlemen had all of that and then some to include a vision for what could be in the future. And so D.J., I just want to take the opportunity again to thank you for your heartfelt engagement here. I know you had notes and I knew we were in for a treat when your notes went away and so again, thank you for being here. (audience applauding)
Please rise for the benediction given by Chaplain Edison, Chaplain US Army Cyber Command, and remain standing for the singing of the Army song, led by the United States Army Band, Army Voices, and please remain standing for the departure of the official party.
Will you bow with me for a word of prayer? In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Thank you for the opportunity to serve you and our nation. Today’s event causes us to pause and reflect on who we are and what we stand for as professionals and why we all chose to serve. We are thankful for the military and civilian personnel who have answered the call and chose to affirm their oath of office. We ask your blessings on our efforts to tell our story in order to recruit more to answer the call to serve. Please continue to bless those in harms way and the Armed Forces family. For God and country, amen. (upbeat piano music) March along, sing our song, with the Army of the free Count the brave, count the true who have fought to victory We’re the Army and proud of our name We’re the Army and proudly proclaim First to fight for the right And to build the Nation’s might And the Army goes rolling along Proud of all we have done Fighting till the battle’s won And the Army goes rolling along Then it’s hi, hi, hey The Army’s on its way Count off the cadence loud and strong, two, three For where e’er we go, you will always know That The Army goes rolling along (audience applauding)
Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes today’s Why We Serve ceremony. Please join us for refreshments in Derwent Hall foyer. Thank you for attending and thank you for your service to our community, our Army, and our nation. For the soldiers, ready to serve, Army strong.