Operational Readiness Quotes

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.

The U.S. military is known the world over for its advanced technology as well as the prowess, skill, and dedication of its service members. When you grow up in the company of its leaders, as I did, you understand that this greatness is something that is cultivated.

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.

The Agency became so wrapped up in the military operation that it failed to appraise the chances of success realistically. Furthermore, it failed to keep the national policymakers adequately and realistically informed of the conditions considered essential for success.

History tells us that a general can move and feed an army as efficiently as he likes, but the real litmus test is the battlefield.

You don't deploy forces into harm's way without knowing what's going on.

The President does not expect impossibilities, but he is very anxious that all this good weather should not be wasted in inactivity. Telegraph when you will move, and on what lines you propose to march.

It is not enough just to get your forces from A to B - you have to keep them fed and watered as they go. The art of movement, therefore, is one of the most complex and vital that any commander must master if he is going to win.

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.

I love the U.S. military. I want them to be the most effective and the most cost-effective and I think there is so much spending and so much bloat and so much bureaucracy that it actually hinders them from having a lot of the mission accomplishments that they should.

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

When I first deployed as a military intelligence officer my resources were a map, a grease pencil and two corporals.

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.

To get an Army that's already fighting a war to change in stride to a total different military strategy on the ground - and to get everybody on the same page - was accomplished by the sheer force of Dave Petraeus' will.

If you put our guys in harm's way, you better support them with the right equipment, the right rules of engagement, the right Medevac, the right quick-reaction force.

The Homestead plant, taken as a whole, is complete and finished in every department. There is nothing of any consequence to be desired. It is the first time I have ever been connected with any works that I could say it is finished and complete and to my entire satisfaction.

I am so restrained in all my military movements that it is impossible to undertake anything effectual

You have to give the soldiers, the Army, a clear vision.

Things are going very smoothly. As expected, there are some minor glitches, and the eight minutes that it took us to get to orbit, we trained months and months for, and didn't have to use any of that preparation, other than being aware and ready.

I think no commander ever is going to come out and say, 'I'm confident that we can do this.'

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?

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

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

We need to do a lot more thinking about how the regime is going to evolve, how the bad guys are going to adapt their tactics, and what measures we're going to need in order to go forward.

I am confident that President Trump's administration is capable of making the Pentagon run at maximum efficiency and enacting procurement reforms that will get weapons and assets to our warfighters more quickly and efficiently.