"You’re living in a time when we are just more and more joint; we operate more and more together. So I think that will continue. And yet, there’s also a great strength in the individual services. I never see a day – anytime I get asked this question of, do you think we’ll all be in the same uniform – no. Capital N, capital O – NO – because the culture and the history and the ethos of each service is different and that’s what makes up our military."
(December 18, 2009, All Hands Call, Basra, Iraq)
"Let us face that future with the same resolve our men and women in uniform exhibit, the same courage with which they serve and struggle to ensure another day like that day never happens again. America has sent her armed forces forward with that task. In harm’s way, you have deployed them. And in harm’s way, they stand for you and for each other. Many of them, more than 1 million, have enlisted after 9/11. Because of 9/11, they volunteered to defend their country, to fight for something bigger than themselves. And from Afghanistan to Iraq, and a thousand other places, they are doing just that and doing it magnificently.
"
(September 11, 2009, Sept. 11 Commemoration Ceremony, The Pentagon, Washington, D.C.)
"I'm very proud to lead the best military I've ever been associated with in the over 40 years that I've been wearing the uniform."
(July 05, 2009, CNN State of the Union w/ John King, Washington, D.C. )
"When I talk about service, I’m not just talking about the military. There is a huge need to serve, not just in our country but around the world. The answers in the world we’re living in are not military."
(July 24, 2009, Junior Statesmen Summer School)
"When I visit bases large and small, at home and abroad, I often ask [the junior officers] how many deployments they've seen. I see hands still in the air for three tours, four tours and sometimes more. They may be tired, but they are wise beyond their years. And it’s up to us to keep as much of that wisdom as we can inside the institution, where we need it most.
"
(June 11, 2009, National Defense University Commencement 2009, Fort McNair, Washington, D.C. )
"... that’s just who you have right now as a chairman. My belief is that, that’s what I pay you for, that’s what I expect – that leadership in the field, on the deck plates, wherever it is, more than anything else. And I think anything is possible with good leadership and nothing is possible without it.
"
(February 12, 2010, Senior Enlisted Fellows Remarks, Fort McNair, Washington D.C. )
"I know I talked to you before and – but I never talk to audience that has sacrificed so much without saying thanks. And for those of you who obviously are here and I know you’ve lost comrades out here that will never – it will always be remembered, never be forgotten."
(March 30, 2010, FOB Wilson All Hands Call, Forward Operating Base Wilson, Afghanistan )
"You’re living pretty close to the DMZ. So the importance of that training, the need to be on the edge, to always have the capability, is absolutely vital. And I focus on that in great hopes that we never have to use that, we never have to execute it. But I think being incredibly strong is much more of a guarantee that we would never have to do that than not being strong, or not being ready.
"
(July 20, 2010, All Hands Call , U.S. Army Garrison Red Cloud, South Korea)