1 00:00:00,330 --> 00:00:03,620 - Team Double Eagle Six. Fort Myer, Virginia. 2 00:00:03,620 --> 00:00:05,050 I just want to spend a few minutes today 3 00:00:05,050 --> 00:00:08,250 talking to you about what's going on in America. 4 00:00:08,250 --> 00:00:10,550 Where we've been, where we're going as a team 5 00:00:10,550 --> 00:00:11,850 in America's Army Reserve. 6 00:00:12,980 --> 00:00:15,410 In the last four years, we've been pounding away 7 00:00:15,410 --> 00:00:17,400 on a couple of basic themes. 8 00:00:17,400 --> 00:00:20,500 I'm gonna reiterate them for you here real quick, all right? 9 00:00:20,500 --> 00:00:23,060 One of them is we're all on this tam together. 10 00:00:23,060 --> 00:00:25,400 That would be a unity theme, all right? 11 00:00:25,400 --> 00:00:29,860 Another is we are a very diverse, awesome, dynamic team. 12 00:00:29,860 --> 00:00:31,400 That would be a diversity theme. 13 00:00:31,400 --> 00:00:33,470 And it's E pluribus unum. 14 00:00:33,470 --> 00:00:35,740 That is the motto of United States of America. 15 00:00:35,740 --> 00:00:38,700 From many one, or one from many. 16 00:00:38,700 --> 00:00:39,533 That's us. 17 00:00:39,533 --> 00:00:40,780 That's America's Army Reserve. 18 00:00:41,640 --> 00:00:43,790 I've been telling you for the last four years 19 00:00:43,790 --> 00:00:47,310 what is absolutely critical that we all continue to do 20 00:00:47,310 --> 00:00:51,563 is live by our creed and live by our oath. 21 00:00:52,470 --> 00:00:54,533 Our oath is to, "Support and defend the constitution 22 00:00:54,533 --> 00:00:56,647 "of the United States of America against all enemies 23 00:00:56,647 --> 00:00:58,207 "foreign and domestic and bear true faith 24 00:00:58,207 --> 00:00:59,570 "and allegiance to the same." 25 00:00:59,570 --> 00:01:01,660 We've been talking about that for four years. 26 00:01:01,660 --> 00:01:05,150 Our creed among many things is to serve the people 27 00:01:05,150 --> 00:01:06,570 of the United States. 28 00:01:06,570 --> 00:01:08,550 Not some of the people of the United States, 29 00:01:08,550 --> 00:01:11,463 the people of the United States, as a team. 30 00:01:12,720 --> 00:01:16,390 We also have talked about our job as soldiers 31 00:01:16,390 --> 00:01:19,360 to protect the American way of life. 32 00:01:19,360 --> 00:01:21,170 And we talked about what that meant. 33 00:01:21,170 --> 00:01:22,300 What that means. 34 00:01:22,300 --> 00:01:23,720 I've got an opinion about that. 35 00:01:23,720 --> 00:01:26,060 And I've told you, all of you, many times 36 00:01:26,060 --> 00:01:28,690 you're all entitled to sort that out for yourselves. 37 00:01:28,690 --> 00:01:32,460 In my view, it's equal opportunity and rule of law. 38 00:01:32,460 --> 00:01:35,290 Opportunity to succeed to build a better life for yourself, 39 00:01:35,290 --> 00:01:38,440 for your families, your teammates, 40 00:01:38,440 --> 00:01:40,710 and to do it within the context of a rule of law 41 00:01:40,710 --> 00:01:43,690 that creates as even a playing field as we can 42 00:01:43,690 --> 00:01:45,740 to make sure everybody gets a fair shake. 43 00:01:46,976 --> 00:01:48,650 A lot of conversation here in America 44 00:01:48,650 --> 00:01:52,910 over the last week or two since George Floyd was killed 45 00:01:52,910 --> 00:01:56,335 in Minneapolis about what does the rule of law mean. 46 00:01:56,335 --> 00:01:57,820 Conversations about violence, 47 00:01:57,820 --> 00:02:00,973 about people who have been protesting. 48 00:02:01,860 --> 00:02:06,693 Talked about disobedience, discord, disharmony in America. 49 00:02:07,820 --> 00:02:08,850 Remember the fundamental fact, 50 00:02:08,850 --> 00:02:10,610 the fundamental truth about being an American. 51 00:02:10,610 --> 00:02:15,350 Protest, so long as it's peaceful, not only is it lawful, 52 00:02:15,350 --> 00:02:16,750 it's a part of who we are. 53 00:02:16,750 --> 00:02:18,950 We've been doing this for hundreds of years. 54 00:02:20,520 --> 00:02:22,861 Now we're having a conversation and we're gonna continue 55 00:02:22,861 --> 00:02:26,360 to have this conversation as a country about all the things 56 00:02:26,360 --> 00:02:29,110 we've been talking about for the last four years. 57 00:02:29,110 --> 00:02:30,880 Our responsibility to each other. 58 00:02:30,880 --> 00:02:32,610 To treat each other with dignity, 59 00:02:32,610 --> 00:02:34,690 with a sense of mutual respect. 60 00:02:34,690 --> 00:02:38,190 To be aware of and sensitive to our own implicit biases, 61 00:02:38,190 --> 00:02:41,730 depending on where were raised, how we were raised, 62 00:02:41,730 --> 00:02:42,773 from whence we came. 63 00:02:43,670 --> 00:02:47,600 I've asked the DCG, General Roper, 64 00:02:47,600 --> 00:02:50,873 to talk about this as well from his perspective. 65 00:02:52,090 --> 00:02:57,060 And many of you know extraordinarily distinguished leader, 66 00:02:57,060 --> 00:02:59,730 and in the law enforcement community in America, 67 00:02:59,730 --> 00:03:01,808 led one of the largest police departments 68 00:03:01,808 --> 00:03:06,470 in the United States, and knows the business 69 00:03:06,470 --> 00:03:10,480 of how we continue to balance the rights of the one 70 00:03:10,480 --> 00:03:12,480 with the rights of the many. 71 00:03:12,480 --> 00:03:14,930 Pay very close attention to his thoughts on that. 72 00:03:16,090 --> 00:03:19,133 I'm gonna leave you with this as we move into the future. 73 00:03:20,120 --> 00:03:24,870 You stay steady, steady in the saddle about who you are, 74 00:03:24,870 --> 00:03:26,190 about what we represent. 75 00:03:26,190 --> 00:03:28,093 I told you this many times. 76 00:03:29,070 --> 00:03:32,620 We, as a team, some 200,000 soldiers and civilians 77 00:03:32,620 --> 00:03:36,170 spread across 20 times zones, have a unique opportunity 78 00:03:36,170 --> 00:03:37,680 and therefore, I've told you this before, 79 00:03:37,680 --> 00:03:41,550 a unique responsibility to message, 80 00:03:41,550 --> 00:03:44,840 to model for our fellow citizens what life looks like, 81 00:03:44,840 --> 00:03:45,930 how we treat each other. 82 00:03:45,930 --> 00:03:48,090 Remembering the golden rule. 83 00:03:48,090 --> 00:03:51,400 Gathering folks together who don't look the same, 84 00:03:51,400 --> 00:03:53,140 don't come from the same background. 85 00:03:53,140 --> 00:03:54,870 Don't have the same sexual preference, 86 00:03:54,870 --> 00:03:56,670 aren't of the same gender, 87 00:03:56,670 --> 00:03:59,220 don't practice religion in the same way, 88 00:03:59,220 --> 00:04:00,660 don't worship the same God. 89 00:04:00,660 --> 00:04:02,350 All of us together. 90 00:04:02,350 --> 00:04:03,570 I've talked to you about diversity 91 00:04:03,570 --> 00:04:05,550 and how that makes us strong. 92 00:04:05,550 --> 00:04:07,110 It makes us resilient. 93 00:04:07,110 --> 00:04:08,710 It makes us tough. 94 00:04:08,710 --> 00:04:10,200 It makes us us. 95 00:04:10,200 --> 00:04:11,500 Don't forget those things. 96 00:04:12,860 --> 00:04:15,140 And in your formations, commanders, in particular, 97 00:04:15,140 --> 00:04:17,234 I've talked to many of you about this many times. 98 00:04:17,234 --> 00:04:20,570 Be very sensitive to anything that you see 99 00:04:20,570 --> 00:04:22,410 in your formations that looks like 100 00:04:22,410 --> 00:04:25,630 extremist group support, behavior. 101 00:04:25,630 --> 00:04:27,050 Be careful and be mindful 102 00:04:27,050 --> 00:04:28,850 of what people are putting on social media. 103 00:04:28,850 --> 00:04:30,090 Make sure your soldiers are adhering 104 00:04:30,090 --> 00:04:33,780 to standards and discipline when it comes to communications. 105 00:04:33,780 --> 00:04:37,730 Make sure they all understand we are rabidly apolitical. 106 00:04:37,730 --> 00:04:39,800 We are non-partisan. 107 00:04:39,800 --> 00:04:41,302 The issues we're talking about as a nation, 108 00:04:41,302 --> 00:04:42,740 these are not political issues. 109 00:04:42,740 --> 00:04:44,190 These are moral issues. 110 00:04:44,190 --> 00:04:45,730 This is about doing the right thing the right way. 111 00:04:45,730 --> 00:04:47,910 Treating each other the way you want to be treated. 112 00:04:47,910 --> 00:04:49,740 That's what this is about. 113 00:04:49,740 --> 00:04:52,100 Don't get sucked into thinking about this as politics. 114 00:04:52,100 --> 00:04:54,300 Don't let other people tell you that it is. 115 00:04:54,300 --> 00:04:56,150 This is about what's right. 116 00:04:56,150 --> 00:04:57,720 This is about our values. 117 00:04:57,720 --> 00:04:58,900 This is about adherence 118 00:04:58,900 --> 00:05:01,280 to our constitutional responsibilities. 119 00:05:01,280 --> 00:05:04,900 This is about us as soldiers keeping faith to our creed. 120 00:05:04,900 --> 00:05:08,123 We support the people of the United States. 121 00:05:08,960 --> 00:05:10,710 We live the Army values. 122 00:05:10,710 --> 00:05:11,860 Don't ever forget that. 123 00:05:12,960 --> 00:05:15,620 You are a part of the most respected institution 124 00:05:15,620 --> 00:05:17,263 in the United States of America. 125 00:05:18,110 --> 00:05:19,680 And you should be proud of that, 126 00:05:19,680 --> 00:05:21,840 and you should earn it every day 127 00:05:21,840 --> 00:05:23,650 to make sure we're repaying that trust 128 00:05:23,650 --> 00:05:24,900 from our fellow citizens. 129 00:05:26,140 --> 00:05:27,500 Because we come from communities 130 00:05:27,500 --> 00:05:29,300 across the nation, around the world, 131 00:05:29,300 --> 00:05:31,130 we will return to those communities, 132 00:05:31,130 --> 00:05:32,800 those are our teammates, those are our friends, 133 00:05:32,800 --> 00:05:35,193 those are our families, those are our partners, 134 00:05:36,090 --> 00:05:37,220 and they're precious. 135 00:05:37,220 --> 00:05:39,630 We need to maintain their support. 136 00:05:39,630 --> 00:05:41,918 We need to maintain their confidence 137 00:05:41,918 --> 00:05:43,340 that we know what we're doing. 138 00:05:43,340 --> 00:05:46,530 We're doing the right thing, and we serve everyone. 139 00:05:46,530 --> 00:05:48,580 We serve the people of the United States. 140 00:05:48,580 --> 00:05:51,920 Not a party, not one person, we serve each other. 141 00:05:51,920 --> 00:05:53,790 We serve the nation. 142 00:05:53,790 --> 00:05:54,623 You keep pounding. 143 00:05:54,623 --> 00:05:55,833 I'll see you soon.