James F. Amos Quotes

The Marine Corps has to ask itself, 'What does our nation need from its premier crisis response force?' We are America's shock troops in war and peace. I know it sounds corny, but it's not.

We are the nation’s force in readiness…. We are the nation’s expeditionary force.

Well, you know, any defense force worth its salt has to be able to deal with uncertainty, has to be able to deal with events that we may not have planned for.

There is no battle space the U.S. Military cannot access. They said we couldn't do Afghanistan. We did it with ease. They said we couldn't do Iraq. We did it with 150 combat casualties in six weeks. We did it so fast we weren't prepared for their collapse. There is nobody we can't take down. The question is, what do you do with the power?

We trained like we fight.

As an A-10 squadron commander in the Air Force, I was required to be ready to deploy my 24 Warthogs and team anywhere in the world within 24 hours, including the Korean Peninsula.

We were able to flood the zone immediately.

Japan's alliance with the U.S. will only grow in importance amid the increasingly difficult security situation surrounding our country, thus I think it is necessary to keep the marines in Okinawa, a geographically strategic location from the standpoint of maintaining deterrence.

Morale is good; troops are confident; leaders are capable.

The North Koreans or Chinese may have a million men in uniform but it's about how you perform.

I'm relieved that the state of the Marines' readiness will remain high.

Today nearly every combat brigade located within the United States would report that they are not ready for duty. They are at the lowest levels of readiness.

Before they deploy, they train for the specific operations, but there is a danger that the Army is not retaining the core of its full capabilities.

Technology alone rarely confers an insurmountable military edge. Even if a country figures out how to harness military power, it still needs the wisdom to know the capabilities and limitations of its war machine

No Dependence can be put on the Militia for a continuance in Camp, or Regularity and Discipline during the short time they may stay

It takes more than a trained army … it takes an institutionalized army.

As long as I am president, we will maintain the greatest fighting force that the world has ever known.

… you go to war with the army you have, not the army you might want or wish to have at a later time.

We must ensure that our troops are ready when called upon, that they are fully capable of fighting, and that they must win every war

The plain matter-of-fact is, our good people have rushed to the rescue of the Government, faster than the government can find arms to put in their hands.... We know you do all as wisely and well as you can; and you will not be deceived if you conclude the same is true of us.

The United States has become geopolitically hobbled seemingly interested in grand strategic initiatives or transformative diplomacy, as its attention constantly dances from one crisis to another.

In the military, we have known for decades, if not centuries, that the time to prepare, whether it's for a hurricane, a typhoon or strategic changes, is before they hit you

I don't believe that any prime minister would send our troops into conflict without the assurance from the military that they had the equipment necessary for the operation.

Unless more efforts based upon long-range planning are put into military preparations and operations, it will be very hard to win the final victory.

One of the first things I learned in the Marine Corps is that any military mission has to be defined as precisely as you can possibly define it, and then you size the force and equipment force to accomplish that mission without fail.