Defense Planning Quotes

He [General George Marshall] brought up the event that we were likely to be attacked perhaps (as soon as) next Monday, for the Japanese are notorious for making an attack without warning, and the question was what we would do. The question was how we should maneuver them in to the position of firing the first shot without allowing too much danger to ourselves. It was a difficult proposition.

In peace, as a wise man, he should make suitable preparation for war.

You cannot prevent and prepare for war at the same time.

As the Pentagon makes plans for the largest troop rotation since World War II, I will work with the Armed Services Committee to help make this proposal a reality.

Using these new funds, I will ask my secretary of defense to propose a new defense budget to meet the following longtime goals.

In time of peace prepare for war.

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.

Normally, what happens when we have a national leader who wants to do something in terms of military intervention, he tells the Pentagon, put together some options to accomplish goal.

Presidents should plan for war before they threaten war.

Our military plans for everything.

Among the many interesting objects which will engage your attention that of providing for the common defense will merit particular regard. To be prepared for war is one of the most effectual means of preserving peace.

What we can afford least is to define the problem of future war as we would like it to be and, by doing so, introduce into our defense vulnerabilities based on self-delusion.

Donald Trump doesn't have a plan. He said, I have a secret plan, and then he said, um, I know more than all the generals about ISIS. And then he said, I'm going to call the generals to help me figure out a plan. And finally he said, I'm going to fire all the generals. He doesn't have a plan. But he does have dangerous ideas.

Our military should be trained and structured around missions, not the elements of air, water, and land.

The National Defense Strategy remains our guiding document, and everything we do should support its stated objectives.

General [James] Mattis has got a really intellectual mindset about how the United States should go about protecting its national security.

Well, he keeps saying that, and as defense secretary, of course he has to think of a lot of potential enemies. I do not think it's a wise course to articulate this or to base our policy on it. And I do not see under modern circumstances what we would be fighting about.

One of the key challenges the military has faced - and the Army, in particular - is defining our requirements and keeping them stable.

There is nearly always uh, a process of wanting contingency plans made in the military.

Our national-security strategy must drive our military budget, rather than the budget setting our strategy.

It's impossible to start making a weapon only when the war already started!

We can't be fighting the last war. We have to be preparing to fight the new war.

I feel very strongly that the significance of 9/11 cannot be underestimated. It forces us to think in new ways about strategy, about national security, about how we structure our forces and about how we use U.S. military power.

Some day there is going to be a man sitting in my present chair who has not been raised in the military services and who will have little understanding of where slashes in their estimates can be made with little or no damage. If that should happen while we still have the state of tension that now exists in the world, I shudder to think of what could happen in this country

Armed forces abroad are of little value unless there is prudent counsel at home