Panetta Speaks on Need for Public Service

By Jim Garamone

American Forces Press Service

CAMP DWYER, Afghanistan, July 10, 2011 – Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta picked a perfect forum to speak about the benefits of public service here today.

The new defense secretary spoke to more than 250 Marines and sailors in the chapel of this camp. Here in the deserts of Helmand province the temperature outside was well over 110 degrees. Inside, it was a relatively cool 88 degrees.

The young Marines and sailors put up with the heat, dust, bugs, snakes and enemy activity.

Panetta thanked them for choosing country over comfort and spoke of his own journey toward public service.

“I’m a believer in public service,” Panetta told the service members. “My whole life has been dedicated to public service.”

He started on the journey as an Army 1st lieutenant during the Vietnam War era. He was elected to the House of Representatives from California in 1976 and was reelected nine times. President Bill Clinton appointed Panetta as the director of the Office of Management and Budget and later as White House chief of staff. President Barack Obama nominated Panetta as the director of the Central Intelligence Agency, a post he held until he became defense secretary July 1.

“I think it’s important that people give something back to this country,” Panetta said. “I am the son of immigrants. Both my parents came from Italy. They made it clear to me that because of what this country was able to give them in terms of opportunity, it was important for their two boys to give something back to the country.”

The secretary said he used to ask his father why he had come to California from Italy when he didn’t have any money and spoke little English.

“My father used to say it was because ‘your mother and I thought we could give our children a better life,’” he said. “I think that’s the American dream. My wife and I want it for our three sons. It’s what you want for your children. It’s what your children will want for their children – to be able to say you gave them a better life.”

“Through public service I think we can make a difference to try to make sure that the lives of our children are better,” he said.

He told the Marines and sailors that they were doing a great job in Afghanistan.

“You have my commitment that I will fight for you in Washington,” he said. “You are willing to fight for that American dream, fight to give our kids a better life, but most of all fight for a government of, by and for all people.”

‘You, Too, Can Shape History,’ Gates Tells Graduates

By Lisa Daniel

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, May 14, 2011 – Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates took his message of public service to graduates of North Dakota State University today and the University of Oklahoma yesterday, urging young people to “consider a life of service.”

“I say to each of you, as someone who started out just another kid from the plains, that you, too, can shape history,” Gates said in prepared remarks to the Oklahoma graduates. The secretary, a Kansas native, has announced he will retire this summer, ending four decades of public service.

“I’ve served eight presidents and been around the world more times than I can count,” he said. “Most recently, I’ve held the great trust, my greatest honor since entering public service, of guiding and looking out for those who defend us. They fight to protect the freedoms and opportunities that all Americans enjoy -- freedoms and opportunities that can take any one of you wherever you choose to go.”

Quoting from President Barack Obama, Gates said in his prepared statement that graduates can go wherever they choose, but only “if you have the courage to put your foot firmly into the course of history.”

Gates said he was honored to commission graduating ROTC cadets -- 10 in Oklahoma, nine in North Dakota -- into the Army, Navy and Air Force. “You join an American military that has been fighting multiple wars at an incredible tempo over the past decade,” he said. “This is the true patriotism of the deed.”

The secretary urged the graduates to “keep the faith” of the ideals and beliefs America was founded on. “I see that faith every day in the faces of the young men and women of the military who have volunteered to serve this great nation,” he said. “Over the past decade, hundreds of thousands of young Americans in uniform have volunteered to put their lives on the line to defend us -- to set aside their dreams so you can fulfill your dreams.”

Gates also told them to not be afraid to pursue their own idealism, something best done through public service. “If you scratch deeply enough, you will find that those who serve -- no matter how outwardly tough or jaded or egotistical -- are, in their heart of hearts, romantics and idealists. And optimists. We actually believe we can make a difference, that we can improve the lives of others, that we can better the future of this country and of the world.”

The secretary warned against some public sentiments that the United States should scale back its global leadership role in light of record deficits and 10 years of war. “The lessons of history tell us we must not allow our frustrations to cause us to withdraw from the world or diminish our ability or our determination to deal with the threats and challenges on the horizon,” he said.

Gates quoted President Theodore Roosevelt in saying that a nation that absolves itself from duties around the world forfeits its place “among the peoples that shape the destiny of mankind.”

“Are we, as a nation, willing to forfeit our place to shape not only our own future, but the future of this world with which we all are so intrinsically linked?” the secretary said. “It falls on us as Americans to lead, to shape the course of world events, to face challenges, to make the necessary sacrifices and take the necessary risks to defend our values and our interests.”

For America to continue to be a force for good in the world, “the most able and idealistic of its young people -- of you -- must step forward and accept the burden and the duty of public service,” Gates said.

Gates Urges Graduates to Consider Public Service

By Fred W. Baker III

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, May 7, 2011 – U.S. public servants are the most dedicated, capable and honest in the world, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said today during a commencement ceremony at Washington State University, in Pullman, Wash.

The secretary, on the eve of his own retirement, used the podium to urge the graduates to consider dedicating at least part of their careers to some type of public service.

Gates choked up briefly when recalling his most recent tenure as defense secretary, saying he will be forever thankful for the opportunity to lead today's military.

And he was still visibly emotional in his closing as he issued a challenge to the 2,350 graduates.

"And so I ask you ... will the wise and the honest among you come help us serve the American people?" Gates asked.

Gates’ plea came in contrast to earlier jokes about life within the Washington, D.C., beltway, as he often does in his speeches.

"It's a special pleasure to be with you here today, especially since it gives me an excuse to get about as far away from the other Washington as one can get within the continental Unites States," Gates joked.

Gates also joked about parents who will continue to shell out money even after their children graduate. And he acknowledged that he was the only obstacle between the graduates and their graduation parties.

So Gates kept his promise to keep his speech short.

But he packed the 15 minutes he spoke, with praise for the sacrifices of those who serve their country in and out of uniform.

He quoted billionaires and film directors, an opera star and an actress, presidents and their parents.

It was in his own words, however, based on a lifetime of leadership public service, that the seriousness of the message crept. Now, more than ever, the United States needs the talents of its best and brightest, he said.

"You are graduating in challenging times, of that there is no question," Gates said, citing a decade of war, a period of wrenching economic turbulence and a huge budget deficit and national debt.

Gates said it is no surprise that recent polls show a souring of the public mood, with many Americans pessimistic about the trajectory of our country. But, Gates said, he has lived through times when such pessimism was as prevalent.

In 1957, when Gates was a freshman in high school, the Soviet Union launched its Sputnik 1 into space, and Americans feared being left behind in the space race. Even more cause for worry was being left behind in the missile race, he said.

In the 1970s the nation went through another period of questioning its place in the world, brought about by the angst over the Vietnam War and the OPEC oil embargo, followed by sky-high inflation and equally high interest rates, he said.

And in the late 1980s America's growing fiscal and trade deficits left many worried that we would soon be taken over by Japan, Gates added.

"I lived through each of these periods of declinism when many were convinced America was stuck in a downward spiral," Gates said. "And yet, after meeting the many challenges we faced head on, our nation emerged from each of these periods stronger than before, and I am convinced we will do so again.

"Indeed today, as throughout our history, this country remains the world's most powerful force for good. The U.S. will, I am convinced, remain the indispensable nation, and our country will be able to adapt and overcome once again as it has in the past," he said.

However, especially in times of fiscal constraint, the United States must come up with innovative solutions to the challenges it faces.

"It is precisely during these trying times that America needs its best and brightest young people from all walks of life to step forward and bring their talents and fresh perspectives to bear on the challenges facing this country," Gates said.

"Because while the obligations of citizenship in any democracy are considerable, they're even more profound and more demanding as citizens of a nation with America's global challenges and responsibilities, and America's values and aspirations," he said.

Gates encouraged the graduates to find out what drives them, to find their passion and to pursue it with all of their energy and commitment. But he asked that they consider spending at least part of their careers in public service.

"You will have a chance to give back to the community, the state, or to the country that has already given you so much," he said.

Gates said that he understands that with today's political rhetoric, public service may not be appealing.

"I understand that it can be disheartening to hear today's often rancorous and even tawdry political discourse," he said. "Too often those who chose public service are dismissed as bureaucrats or worse. And in many cases politicians run for office running down the very government they hope to lead."

"Cynicism about the people and the institutions that govern and protect our country can be corrosive," he said.

The secretary said he worries that too many of brightest young Americans, normally engaged in volunteerism, turn aside careers in public service.

"There is another aspect of public service about which Americans hear very little," he said. "The idealism, the joy, the satisfaction and fulfillment."

Gates, who served under eight U.S. presidents, said he has worked with political appointees and career civil servants of the highest quality, acting with steadfast integrity and love of country and what it stands for.

The secretary applauded the efforts of today's all-volunteer military, saying that "over this past decade doing one’s duty has taken on a whole new meaning and required a whole new level of risk and sacrifice."

But, he added, "to serve our country you don't need to deploy to a war zone or a Third World country or be buried in a windowless cube in gothic structure by the Potomac River.

"You don't have to be a CIA spy, or an analyst, a Navy SEAL who tracked down and brought down the most notorious terrorist in the world," he said.

"Whatever the job, working in the public sector at some level offers the chance to serve your fellow citizens as well as learn the inner workings of our government and build skills that will stand you in good stead in facing other challenges in your career and in your life," he said.

Gates said the graduates live in a time of "great necessities" when the America cannot avoid the challenges of addressing its domestic problems, or the burdens of global leadership.

"The stakes are unimaginably high," Gates said. "If, in the 21st Century, America is to continue to be a force for good in the world, for freedom, justice, rule of law, and the inherent value of each person, then the most able and idealistic of our young people -- of you -- must step forward and accept the burden and the duty of public service.

"I promise you that you will find joy, satisfaction, and fulfillment," he said.

Gates’ wife, Becky, is a Washington State University graduate and member of the College of Liberal Arts Advisory Council. Their son, Brad, is a 2003 graduate of the university. Gates has plans to retire in the state.