We read a lot of testimony, magazines, newspapers, e-zines and e-news, and decided to compile a series of quotable quotes from our political and military leaders. All of these quotes are public statements, not private conversations. We try to maintain context, and not take a stray comment here or there. Hopefully, there is a degree of utility for our members in seeing and using these quotes in a professional manner. The newest quotes are at the bottom of the page.

Updated June 6, 2007

SEN Joseph Lieberman (March 1, 2006 hearing): "The Army's estimate of an additional $20 billion requirement for reset in fiscal years 2007 to 2011 assumes that units will begin withdrawing in the summer of 2006 from Iraq and complete that withdrawal within two years. Should that assumption prove wrong, the program's cost of reset will certainly require an increase."

SEN Joseph Lieberman (March 1, 2006 hearing): "Common sense dictates that we must question the QDR's recommendation that the Army decrease its size at this point in time….I know of no instance in our nation's history in which we cut our Army during wartime."

SEN John McCain (March 1, 2006 hearing): To GEN Cody, Army Vice Chief of Staff: "If we are going to reprogram the money, if they (the Army Guard) can reach end-strength of 350,000, do we have any ideas of what we're going to reprogram?" GEN Cody response "No sir."

Mr. Paul Francis, GAO (March 1, 2006 hearing): "We do not yet know if FCS (Future Combat System) is technically doable."

Michelle Flournoy, Senior Advisor, CSIS (March 9, 2006 hearing): "I think this (homeland security) is one of the most critical issues that you can address as a commission (Commission on the National Guard and Reserve). I believe that homeland defense and civil support should be a primary mission for the National Guard, that the Guard-of all the elements in the military, the Guard is really ideally suited to be the sort of point element of DOD's response."

Michelle Flournoy, Senior Advisor, CSIS (March 9, 2006 hearing): "The third approach is that you actually fence forces, meaning at some point in that one-in-six rotation cycle, in a unit's rotation period, at some point they are in the box for homeland defense and civil support missions."

Dr. Andrew Krepinevich, Executive Director, Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments (March 9, 2006 hearing): "I was struck by a speech that President Kennedy gave at Rice University in 1962. …he said, we choose to do these things, to meet these challenges, not because they are easy, but because they are hard. We have not had that kind of a call or a statement made to the American people by the leadership of either party. I think that is something that is very much needed.

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SEN Lindsey Graham (March 30, 2006 hearing): "For those cuts (force structure cuts in Army and Air Guard) to come at this time, when the Guard and Reserve has never been asked to do more, not only in war, but also in homeland defense and homeland security and disasters response. I'm dying to hear your thoughts about that."

SEN Lindsey Graham (March 30, 2006 hearing): "Every member of the Guard and Reserve is subject to being called up domestically and internationally. And that's why, I believe, TRICARE eligibility for every Guard and Reservist, who's subject to deployment, is important."

SEN Lindsey Graham (March 30, 2006 hearing): "So my message to the force at-large is that you are appreciated. And the benefits need to be to the force at-large, not just to a few who sacrifice greatly.

SEC Thomas Hall, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs (March 30, 2006 hearing): "And General Schoomaker, before these committees, has stated that the goal now, as it has not been in the past, is to make sure that the Guard and Reserve are equipped with the same equipment, the same amounts of equipment as active duty. And that is his commitment."

SEC Francis Harvey, Secretary of the Army (March 28, 2006 hearing): "Simply put, the Army could not perform the full spectrum operations without the tremendous contributions of the Guard and Reserve."

SEC Francis Harvey, Secretary of the Army (March 28, 2006 hearing): "In essence, the Army National Guard and the Army Reserve are transforming and modernizing from an under-resourced stand-by force to fully equipped, manned, and trained operational-ready units."

GEN Peter Schoomaker, Chief of Staff of the Army (March 29, 2006 hearing): "…if you look at our prime market for enlisting, which is males 17-24, only three out of 10 in our society today in that age group qualifies to make the standard for joining the armed forces under the DOD standards that we have. So we have about 15%, because half of that three out of 10 go to college, and we're competing with the college market."

GEN Peter Schoomaker, Chief of Staff of the Army (March 29, 2006 hearing): "According to the "Washington Post," which I do not read, somebody gave me, the National Retail Association this year published that we spent 6 percent estimated more for the Christmas holiday season this year than we did the previous, and that the total estimated amount that the people of the United States spent for the holiday was $439.5 billion, which is roughly the size of the defense budget. Now, if we can do that for Christmas, we can take care of people that you're talking about."

LTG H Steven Blum, Chief National Guard Bureau (May 17, 2006 hearing): "Everyone this is employed in this mission that would be in a mission set where their life would be threatened or we think that they could encounter danger will have the right of self-protection and will be armed and able to do that."

LTG H Steven Blum, Chief National Guard Bureau (May 17, 2006 hearing): "I know that the fine members of the Guard can handle virtually any mission that is thrown at them. Their ability to adapt and perform extraordinary missions is legendary, whether responding to disasters here at home…or fighting wars overseas."

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REP Steve Buyer (May 25, 2006 hearing): "We have a meltdown in V.A.'s information management. According to V.A. this meltdown has resulted in a catastrophic failure to safeguard sensitive personal data. ... So with that context, I believe there's a damaged trust, angered veterans and families, and there are systematic flaws. And, Mr. Secretary, this is a defining moment of your leadership."

SEC R. James Nicholson, Secretary of Veteran's Affairs (May 25, 2006 hearing): "I am the person ultimately responsible to our veterans, and therefore the responsibility for this situation rests on me. ...I'm frankly mad as hell. ... I cannot explain these lapses in judgment on the part of my people. It makes me really angry and disappointed. And after the I.G. finishes his investigation as to exactly what went on, I plan to take decisive action."

REP Ike Skelton (June 27, 2006 hearing on equipment): "Unfortunately, theater readiness has come at the expense of equipment here in the continental United States, or CONUS. These low mission-capable rates disturb me greatly, as they are an indicator of a military under great stress."

GEN Peter Schoomaker, Chief of Staff of the Army (June 27, 2006 hearing): "At the height of the Second World War, defense expenditures exceeded 38 percent of the gross domestic product. Today they amount to about 3.8 percent and are projected to shrink. In this extraordinarily dangerous time for the nation, we can and must reverse this trend."

GEN Peter Schoomaker, Chief of Staff of the Army (June 27, 2006 hearing): "There is an invalid belief on the part of some that the Army is getting well on supplemental funding. That is an incorrect statement. Supplemental funding is paying for the cost of war. It is not correcting the holes in the force that existed at the start of the war. We must not mortgage the future readiness of the force by focusing our resources solely on the current challenges."

GEN Peter Schoomaker, Chief of Staff of the Army (June 27, 2006 hearing): "Our personnel costs in the United States Army, active Guard and Reserve--I'm talking now about our active force, our civilians and our reserve force--in '08 will be approximately 81 percent of our budget--at 81 percent!"

REP Vic Snyder (June 27, 2006 hearing): "Well, we can afford what we decide as a country to do together and what priorities we set as a country."

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GEN Peter Schoomaker, Chief of Staff of the Army (June 27, 2006 hearing): "And it's my belief, and I don't have any crystal ball, but I believe we'll be in Iraq a long time and Afghanistan, and fighting this global war on terror for a long time. A long time is a long time. I believe it's open-ended right now. That's my personal belief."

GEN Peter Schoomaker, Chief of Staff of the Army (June 27, 2006 hearing): "We must fund both (rolling stock and combat vehicles), because what we are using our Guard for is both our homeland security, homeland defense mission, as well as the away game. And so, because of their availability to us under the force generation model, there's only one out of six years, and they will spend the majority of their time supporting their state, we have to think about both of these needs and understand that we probably need to fund the first need first, which is the homeland security need, and then make sure that we continue to fund them fo rthe larger war-fighting mission. And that's the strategy we have. So we're trying to rectify decades' worth of decisions and priorities. It is a statement of commitment."

LTG H Steven Blum, Chief National Guard Bureau (July 14, 2006 Pentagon press conference): "Everyone who joins the Army or Air National Guard knows that they will deploy; it's just a matter of when. And yet that has not shown any reluctance on their part to join our ranks, which I think says and speaks volumes about the magnificient young men and women of this nation and how well that people support the National Guard."

LTG H Steven Blum, Chief National Guard Bureau (July 14, 2006 Pentagon press conference on the Southwest Border mission): "I expect to be out of this mission in two years. As the Border Patrol trains more people, develops more infrastructure, has more technological enablers, I think the National Guard will be out of this mission in two years or less, to be frank about it."

David M. Walker, Comptroller General of the United States (July 18, 2006 hearing): "DOD policy requires the Army to replace equipment transferred to it from the Reserve Component including temporary withdrawals or loans in excess of 90 days (DODD 1225.6 dated April 7, 2005), yet at the time of our report in October 2005, the Army had neither created a mechanism in the early phases of the war to track Guard equipment left in theater nor prepared replacement plans for this equipment, because the practice of leaving equipment behind was intended to be a short-term measure. While the exact dollar estimate for these replacements will not be known until operations in Iraq cease, it will likely cost billions of dollars."

CSIS Report "The Future of the National Guard and Reserves" (July 2006): "It is not an understatement to say that as goes the health of the Reserve Component, so goes the health of the all-volunteer force. Building and sustaining a healthy Reserve Component will require far more resources than DOD currently plans to spend on the National Guard and Reserves, but these resources must be found if the United States intends to maintain the military it needs to prevail in the years ahead."

CSIS Report "The Future of the National Guard and Reserves" (July 2006): "The Army's decision to move to a rotational model that will routinely generate more readily deployable RC forces is a welcome development , but the program appears under-developed and under-resourced. ...there is not yet empirical data that indicates whether this rotational ratio can be maintained over time."

CSIS Report "The Future of the National Guard and Reserves" (July 2006): "Equipping Army Guard units at less than the required level was a deliberate decision by the Department of Defense and the Army and reflected the need to conserve resources. Although the Army is required to have a plan to replace equipment that Guard units left behind in theater for more than 90 days, Army Material Command appeared to be tracking only about 45% of the leave-behind items in late-2005. Because non-deployed Army Guard units are experiencing shuch significant equipment shortfalls, it is difficult in some cases for these units to train sufficiently and maintain combat readiness for future missions. Equipment shortages also may have a negative effect on the ability of the Army Guard to perform homeland defense and civil support missions, although that is difficult to establish with certainty in the absence of defined requirements and preparedness standards for these missions.

CSIS Report "The Future of the National Guard and Reserves" (July 2006): "Almost all defense experts agree that there is likely to be downward pressure on the defense budget as the federal deficit and non-discretionary programs like Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid continue to grow. During the Cold War, the nation spent about seven percent of its gross domestic product on defense every year. Today the United States is spending about four percent of its GDP on defense. ....it may be time to question whether the nation's national security priorities are accurately reflected in the federal budget and associated fiscal policies.

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CSIS Report "The Future of the National Guard and Reserves" (July 2006): "The White House report on the federal response to Hurricane Katrina, reflecting the President's comments, clearly states that DOD should plan and prepare for a significant DOD supporting role during a catastrophic event. For example, the White House recommends that 'DOD should consider fully resourcing the JTF State Headquarters,' 'should consider assigning additional personnel (to include General officers) from the National Guard and the reserves of the military services to USNORTHCOM,' and 'should consider chartering the National Guard Bureau as a joint activity of the DOD.' Until DOD accepts that it will likely play a substantial support role, and perhaps the lead role temporarily during a catastrophic event, it will not develop requirements or organize, train and equip its military forces--both active and reserve--to be able to provide the necessary level of support within the very compressed timeframes that an effective response will require."

CSIS Report "The Future of the National Guard and Reserves" (July 2006): "Large numbers of RC personnel may remain uninsured because they do not want to spend a portion of their income on TRS premiums--just as many individuals outside the military choose not to purchase health care coverage. Additionally, this population knows they will get full coverage for free if they are called to active duty, a benefit that can, unfortunately, serve as a disincentive to enroll in TRS. To achieve universal coverage under TRS, DOD would have to lower its premiums substantially, and TRICARE premiums are already significantly lower than those of most civilian healthcare plans."

SEC Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of Defense (Town Hall Meeting in the Pentagon, September 22, 2006): "I know that at times it's difficult for all of us to see the larger picture, but I'm convinced that with the distance of a few years, we'll all be able to look back at this time and see that while a number of things that have been accomplished have been controversial - - and we understand that - - nonetheless, we are becoming a stronger, a better equipped, a more flexible and a considerably more capable force."

SEC Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of Defense (Town Hall Meeting in the Pentagon, September 22, 2006): "And I know we all feel blessed to live in a country where citizens admire the military. It's interesting - - in so many countries that's not the case, and in this country, it is. You look at the polls; you look at where they rank different professions and different institutions of the country; where they rank the media or the Congress or the press or the business people or labor unions and all of those; the military always ranks near the top."

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REP John McHugh (September 27, 2006 hearing on MGIB): "There is no group that deserves a robust GI Bill more than the members of the reserve components and the National Guard who have so expertly and gallantly stepped up and confronted our enemies across the globe."

REP John Boozman (September 27, 2006 hearing on MGIB): "Witnesses from inside the Beltway have generally said that little change, if any, is needed (to the MGIB). They have predicted dire consequences if, for example, we provide post-discharge benefits under the 1606-1607 program. Senior witnesses in field hearings, however, have generally stated that such a change would have little, if any, impact on retention. They point out that members of the National Guard and Reserve do not join and remain because of the benefits. They come to the Guard and Reserve because it offers all of the emotional benefits of belonging to something important on the local and national scene while remaining in their communities."

SEN Blanche Lincoln (September 27, 2006 hearing on MGIB): "These citizen soldiers served with distinction and did so in some of the worst conditions imaginable. While their families and their communities have welcomed them home with open arms, our nation should do the same by ensuring they receive the benefits and services they need as they transition back into their civilian lives, figuring out what it is they're going to do with their futures and their families' futures."

SEN Blanche Lincoln (September 27, 2006 hearing on MGIB): "Congress must work on behalf of them and their families to ensure they are provided with the benefits, pay and health care that they have earned. It is the least we can do for those whom we owe so much and to reassure future generations that a grateful nation wil not forget them when their military service is complete. It's time for Congress to stand up and make educational benefits for members of the Selected Reserve more commensurate with the increased sacrifices that we are asking them to make."

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Mr. Steve Kime (Former President, SOC) (September 27, 2006 hearing on MGIB): "If you want the mothers and fathers of your future recruits to feel like they've been cheated, keep doing it the way we've been doing it. These reservists are the mothers and fathers of the future recruit. And if we're going to be conducting war this way from now on or in some form or some magnitude, we'd better not forget that. We have to do the right thing."

Congressional Budget Office (CBO) "Cost Estimate, H.R. 5122, John Warner National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2007" (October 2006): "TRICARE Reserve Select. Under current law, reservists who receive unemployment compensation can participate in TRICARE Reserve Select (the DOD insurance program offered to members of the Selected Reserve) by paying premiums that are lower than those paid by many other reservists. Section 706 would allow all reservists to enroll in TRICARE Reserve Select and pay the same premium regardless of unemployment status, beginning in 2008. Because Section 706 would remove the direct link between receiving unemployment compensation and being eligible to praticipate in TRICARE Reserve Select at low premiums, CBO expects that some reservists would collect unemployment insurance for a shorter period. CBO estimates that enacting Section 706 would reduce the average benefit period for reservists by about one week at an average savings of about $275 per person in 2008. Based on CBO's projections of national unemployment trends, CBO estimates that about 13,000 unemployed reservists will use TRICARE Reserve Select in 2008 and beyond. Thus, CBO estimates that, under Section 706, spending for unemployment compensation would decrease by $15 million over the 2008-2011 period and $37 million over the 2008-2016 period."

Congressional Budget Office (CBO) White Paper "Long-Term Implications of Current Defense Plans: Summary Update for Fiscal Year 2007" (October 2006): "The four costliest such (personnel) benefits are the repeal of the REDUX retirement system, the establishment of TRICARE For Life, the elimination of the Social Security offset for the military's Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP), and changes in the rules regarding concurrent receipt of both military retired pay and veterans' disability compensation. CBO estimates that during the 2007-2024 period, the growth of accrual and direct costs for those new benefits will account for 41 percent of the total growth of military personnel spending. As outlined in the 2007 FYDP(Future Years Defense Program), DOD's medical spending for 2008 decreases in every category except for accrual charges. Accrual payments make up nearly 46 percent of the projected increase in medical spending, growing at a nominal rate of 6.25 percent a year after 2007. (Accrual charges are those necessary to fund the TRICARE For Life program, beneficiaries who are Medicare-eligible)."

Congressional Budget Office (CBO) White Paper "Long-Term Implications of Current Defense Plans: Summary Update for Fiscal Year 2007" (October 2006): "DOD plans to raise pay for military personnel at a nominal rate of 2.2 percent in 2007 and 3.4 percent each year from 2008 to 2011. For civilian employees, DOD plans to increase pay at a nominal rate of 2.2 percent in 2007 and 2.3 percent each year from 2008 to 2011."

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SEC Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of Defense (Town Hall Meeting in the Pentagon, December 8, 2006): "Every day, in one way or another, I've seen the strength of men and women in uniform, and the dedication of the many thousands who serve here - - military and civilian - - who do their jobs knowing theirs is the essential business of protecting a nation and protecting a people. You do so knowing that you contribute directly to the safety of millions of Americans - - people you'll never meet, whose names you'll never know."

SEC Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of Defense (Town Hall Meeting in the Pentagon, December 8, 2006): "When thousands of people make dozens of difficult decisions on hundreds of pressing issues, for the most part, on matters that are new and unfamiliar, where there's no road map, no guidebook that says 'here's exactly how you should do something,' the hope has to be not perfection but that most decisions, with the perspective of time, will turn out to be the right ones, and that the perspective of history will judge the overwhelming majority of those decisions favorably."

GEN Peter Schoomaker, Chief of Staff of the Army: "I think that the Army is too small for the century that we're in. I believe the plan we have is the proper plan and proper slope to do it. And so my advice would be that we complete the plan and we sustain this force. It's my opinion the nation can afford it, and it's necessary in this century."

CBO Testimony "The Effects of Reserve Call-Ups on Civilian Employers" (May 2007): "CBO's analysis revealed that most employers are unaffected by the activation of reservists. Only about 6 percent of business establishments employ reservists, and fewer than half a percent of self-employed people are in the reserves."