The extremely high regard that I have for the American soldier here is the best fighting man that I have ever seen. Our army is an amazing organization filled with talented young Americans who want to live a life of purpose by serving our country. As a member of the army profession, much is expected of you. The army expects you to be a warrior, steeled, tough, relentless, and lethal, a professional, and exercise personal courage, restraint, and ethical judgment, and a leader to show your soldiers a path forward when none seems possible, and inspire them to act. These are high expectations, but our army has a sacred mandate to protect the people worth protecting, and defend a country worth defending.

We do this with courage, conviction, and without hesitation, because we are a land of the free. This we'll defend.