Stanley McChrystal - Retirement Speech (Complete)

this is frustrating I spent a career waiting to give a retirement speech and lie about what a great soldier I was then people show up who are actually there it proves what Doug Brown taught me long ago nothing ruins a good war story like an eyewitness to show you how bad it is I can't even tell you I was the best player in my little league because the kid who was the best player is here tonight in case you're looking around he's not a kid anymore but to those here tonight you feel the need to contradict my memories with the truth remember I was there too I have stories on all of you photos on many and I know a Rolling Stone reporter look this has a potential to be an awkward or even a sad occasion with my resignation I left a mission I feel strongly about I ended a career I loved it began over 38 years ago and I left unfulfilled commitments I made too many comrades in the fight commitments I hold sacred my service did not end as I would have wished and there are misperceptions about the loyalty and service of some dedicated professionals that will likely take some time but I believe will be corrected still Annie and I are in approaching the future with sadness but with hope and iPhones and my feelings for more than 34 years I spent as an Army officer or a combination of surprised that any experience could have been as rich and fulfilling as mine was and gratitude for the comrades and friends we were blessed with that's what I feel and if I fail to communicate that effectively tonight I'll simply remind you that secretary gates once told me I was a modern Patton of strategic communications fair point so if we laugh tonight it doesn't mean all these years have not been important to me it means the opposite that every day and every friend or gifts I treasure and I need to celebrate but first I need to address two questions that we've been asked often lately the first is what are you going to do actually Annie is the one who's asking me that I'm thinking I'd be a good fashion consultant and spokesman for Gucci but they haven't called the other question is always asked a bit tentatively how are you in Annie doing we did spend some years apart but we're doing well and I'm carrying some of what I learned into retirement first Andy and I are reconnecting and now we're up on skype with each other of course we never did that all the years I was ten thousand miles away but now we can connect by video link when were 15 feet apart and I think she really likes that I was so enthused I tried using Skype for a daily family vtc where I could get updates and pass out guidance but there's some resistance to flatter and faster in the McChrystal household the same is true for the tactical directive is you'd soon after my return it's reasonable guidance one meal a day early morning PT the basics of a good family life but I've gotten a few night letters and Annie's stocking up on a new ammonium nitrate fertilizer which is strange since our new yard is smaller than this podium although the insurgency is relatively small one woman she's uninterested in reintegration i assess the situation as serious and in many ways deteriorating mr. secretary look at her I'm thinking at least 40,000 troops she's uninterested in reintegration I assess the situation as serious and in many ways deteriorating mr. secretary look at her I'm thinking at least 40,000 troops let me thank everyone for being here this turnout is truly humbling here tonight my wife and son my four brothers two nephews mentors comrades from countless phases of my career and some special guests whose service and sacrifice are impossible to describe with words but because this crowd is pretty big for good order and discipline I've divided you all into four groups please remember your group number Group one or all the people who accepted responsibility for making this ceremony work from the planners to the soldiers on the field my apologies for all the time you spend in the heat your special people and in my mind you also represent soldiers all over the world you have my sincere appreciation the second group the second group is distinguished service servants of all nations who have taken time from your often crushing schedules to be here and thanks for your years of support and friendship I got you out of the office early on Friday group three are warriors of all ranks and that includes many who don't wear a uniform but defend our nation with whom I shared aircraft be TCS remote outpost frustrations triumphs laughs and a common cause for many years you are not all here some of you are deployed and in the fight others rest across the river in Arlington most of the credit I've received actually belongs to you it has been your comradeship that I have considered the greatest honor of my career finally Group four is all those who've heard we're having two kegs of beer in the backyard of my after my ceremony this group includes a number of my classmates from West Point old friends most of the warriors from Group three and some others who defy accurate description anyone already carrying a plastic cup might be considered the vanguard of group for everyone here today is invited to join to secretary gates I want to express my personal thanks certainly for your generous remarks but more for your wisdom and leadership which I experienced firsthand in each of my last three jobs your contribution to the nation and to the force is nothing short of historic similarly I want to thank the many leaders civilian and military of our nation beginning with President Obama for whom and with whom I was honored to serve whether elected appointed or commissioned the common denominator of selfless service has been inspiring as Co myself I was provided a unique opportunity to serve alongside the professionals of 46 nations under the leadership of NATO we were stronger for the diversity of our force and I'm better for the experience my thanks also to the leadership in people of Afghanistan for their partnership hospitality and friendship for those who are tempted to simplify their view of Afghanistan and focus on the challenges ahead I counter with my belief that Afghans have courage strength and resiliency that will prove equal to the task Mayon career included some amazing moments and memories but it is the people I'll remember it was always about the people it was about the soldiers who are well trained but at the end of the day act out of faith in their leaders and each other about the young sergeants who emerge from the ranks with strength discipline commitment and courage as I grew older the soldiers and sergeants of my youth grew older as well they became the old sergeants long service professionals whose wisdom an incredible sense of responsibility the mission and for our soldiers is extraordinary and the sergeant's major they were a national treasure they mold and maintain the force and leaders like me they have been my comrade confidant constructive critic mentor and best friend a little more than a year ago on a single email command sergeant major Mike Hall came out of retirement Lima leaving a job his son and his amazing wife Brenda to join me in Afghanistan - Mike I can never express my thanks to Brenda I know after all these years I oh yeah I also love you to true professionals like sergeants major Rudy Valentine Jodie NAEYC Steve Guffey CDW thompson chris craven jeff Mellinger and chris ferris your presence here today is proof that when something is truly important like this ceremony you're on hand to make sure I don't screw it up I've been blessed with my with the presence of old friends throughout my career friendships that began long ago at West Point fort spinnin Bragg Lewis or countless other locations and shared years of army life moving vans kids laughs disappointments and each other's successes which grew into bonds that became critical on the battlefield I treasure a note I received during particularly tough time in Afghanistan in 2007 from fellow commander Dave Rodriguez the quoted Sherman's confidence that if he ever needed support he knew his friend grant would come to his aid if alive serving with people who say and mean such words is extraordinary I served with many many of you are here tonight and not all the heroes our comrades are in uniform in the back of a darkened helicopter over cone our Afghanistan in 2004 a comrade and bluejeans whose friendship I cherish to this day passed me a note scribbled on a page torn from a pocket notebook the note said I don't know the Ranger creed but you can count on me to always be there he lived up to his promise many times over to have shared so much with and been so dependent on people of such courage physical and moral integrity and selflessness taught me to believe and he's here tonight no doubt she walked the fifty feet from our front door in cute little Italian shoes of which we have an extensive collection in Afghanistan I once considered using any shoe purchases as an argument to get Italy to send additional forces but truth be known I have no control over that part of the McChrystal economy but she's here like she's always been there when it mattered always gorgeous for three and a half years she was my girlfriend then fiancee and for over 33 years she has been my wife for many years I've joked sometimes publicly about her lousy cooking terrifying closets demolition derby driving an addiction to M&M candy which is all true but as we conclude a career together it's important for you to know she was there she was there when my father commissioned me a second lieutenant of infantry and was waiting some months later when I emerged from Ranger school together we moved all we owned in my used Chevrolet Vega to our first apartment apartment at Fort Bragg the move with our first days in our 180 dollar-a-month apartment was the only honeymoon I was able to give her a fact she has mentioned a few times since Annie always knew what to do she was gracious when she answered the door at midnight in her nightgown to find sergeant email holds a huge mortarman carrying a grocery bag of cheap liquor for platoon party I'd hastily coordinated that evening and not told any about following a Friday night jump I got home not long after to find an army any making food for the assembling paratroopers intuitively any knew what was right and quietly did it with 911 she saw us off to war and patiently supported the families of our fallen with stoic grace as a years passed and the fight grew ever more difficult and deadly Annie's quiet courage gave me strength I would never otherwise have found it's an axiom in the army that soldiers write the checks but families pay the bills and war increases both the accuracy of that statement and the cost families pay in a novel based on history Steven Pressfield captured poignant Lee just how important families were and I believe are today facing an invading Persian army under King Xerxes a coalition of Greek states in a small force to buy time by defending the pass at Thermopylae and were led by 300 specially selected Spartans the mission was desperate and death for the 300 certain before he left to lead them the spartan king leonidas explained to one of the spartan wives how he had selected the 300 from an entire army famed for its professionalism courage and dedication to duty I chose them not for their valor lady but for that of their women Greece stands now upon her most perilous hour if she saves herself it will not be at the gates death alone awaits us and our allies there but later in battles yet to come by land and sea then Greece if the gods will it will preserve herself do you understand this lady well now listen when the battle is over when the 300 have gone to death then all Greece will look to the Spartans to see how they bear it but who lady will the Spartans look to to you to you and the other wives and mothers sisters and daughters of the Fallen if they behold your hearts Riven and broken with grief they too will break and Greece will break with them but if you bear up dry-eyed not alone enduring your loss but seizing it with contempt for its agony and embracing it as the honour that it is in truth then Sparta will stand and all Greece will stand behind her why have I nominated you lady to bear up beneath this most terrible of trials you and your sisters of the 300 because you can to all who wear no uniform but it gives so much sacrifice so willingly and service such an example to our nation and each other my thanks as I leave the army to those with the responsibility to carry on I'd say service in this business is tough and often dangerous it extracts a price for participation and that price can be high it is tempting to protect yourself from the personal or professional costs of loss by limiting how much you commit how much you believe and trust in people and how deeply you care caution and cynicism are safe but soldiers don't want to follow cautious cynics they follow leaders who believe enough to risk failure or disappointment for a worthy cause if I had it to do over again I do some things in my career differently but not many I believed in people and I still believed in them I trusted and I still trust I cared and I still care I wouldn't have had it any other way Winston Churchill said we make a living by what we get but we make a life by what we give to the young leaders of today and tomorrow it's a great life thank you

Channel: AmericanRhetoric.com

Views: 112,400

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Keywords: mcchrystal, retirement, speech

Id: jKbj-V44fT4

Length: 18min 31sec (1111 seconds)

Published: Fri Jun 15 2012