We do have an obligation to deter conflict and to prepare for it should it occur.
You might argue that we have become a little too forgiving because, if a perpetrator shows up at a court-martial with a rack of ribbons and has four deployments and a Purple Heart, there is certainly the risk that we might be a little too forgiving of that particular crime.
If there are threats to the United States, then I would of course go back to the president and make a recommendation that may include the use of U.S. military ground force.
This is a major strategic challenge affecting not only our military, but ultimately, America's leadership in the global world order, we are at a point where our national aspirations are at risk of exceeding our available resources.
I think what happened is, we have gotten a little careless maybe and sloppy over the last 10 years with the mechanisms that used to provide oversight, checks and balances, a safety net, if you will, for professionalism.
We became consumed with preparing to go on a deployment, going on the deployment, coming back, and getting ready to go again. We stopped sending young men and women to our professional military education when they should have gone. We stopped doing things like command climate surveys. We got sloppy with contracting oversight.
And we have got to go back - I will tell you what we have got to do. We have got to go back to the small disciplines that really make a difference in defining ourselves as a profession. And we will.
You know, we live here in America and sometimes don't understand the realities of geography and demographics in Eastern Europe.
We do have treaty obligations with our NATO allies.
