Mark Milley

“General Mark Milley is a big boy. When he isn’t selling out America to the Chinese, lying about the murder of random Afghan civilians, and undermining the elected president of the United States, it is clear the man enjoys a lap or two (or three) around the nearest all-you-can-eat buffet.”

“The former president is inciting violence against the nation's top general. America’s response is distracted and numb.”

“Speaking of the seven-week war in Ukraine ignited by Vladimir Putin, Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is warning us to expect a war that lasts for years. “I do think this is a very protracted conflict … measured in years,” Milley told Congress. “I don’t know about a decade, but at least years, for sure.” As our first response, said Milley, we should build more military bases in Eastern Europe and begin to rotate U.S. troops in and out.”

“We are proud of you. You have a difficult and dangerous road ahead, and no one should underestimate it. But you also have the opportunity to navigate those dangerous roads ahead and to lead our nation's most precious resource: the young men and women who don the cloth of this nation, the American soldier.”

“As you march into your future, have the vision to change and to prevent war from happening in the first place. By maintaining peace through the strength of the U.S. military, and the example of our values, it is up to you, today.”

“Globally, there's an increase in nationalism and authoritarian governments, regional arms races and unresolved territorial claims, ethnic and sectarian disputes and an attempt by some countries to return to an 18th-century concept of balance of power politics with spheres of influence.”

“In your world, you're going to have to optimize yourselves for urban combat, not rural combat. That has huge implications for intelligence collection, vehicles, weapons design, development, logistics, camo and all of the other aspects of our progression.”

“And finally, there is the mother of all technologies — artificial intelligence — where machines are actually developing the capacity to learn and to reason. These rapidly converging developments in time and space are resulting in that profound change — the most profound change ever in human history. And whatever overmatch we, the United States, enjoy militarily … the United States is challenged in every domain of warfare: space, cyber, maritime, air and land.”

“You'll be fighting with robotic tanks, ships and airplanes. We've witnessed a revolution in lethality and precision munitions. What was once the exclusive province of the U.S. military is now available to most nation states with the money and will to acquire them.”

“You're entering a different world. The United States is under significant challenges in Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Europe. We see revanchist Russia, as we have just witnessed another invasion in Ukraine. In Asia, we are in the third decade of the largest global economic shift in 500 years, resulting in a rapidly rising China as a great power with a revisionist foreign policy backed up with an increasingly capable military.”

“The nature of war is not going to change. It's still a political act. It's a decision by humans to impose their political will on their opponent by the use of violence.”

“[And in Ukraine, we are learning the lesson that] aggression left unanswered only emboldens the aggressor. Let us never forget the massacre that we have just witnessed in Bucha. Know the slaughter that occurred in Mariupol. And the best way to honor their sacrifice is to support their fight for freedom and to stand against tyranny.”

“We are facing, right now, two global powers: China and Russia, each with significant military capabilities, and both fully intend to change the current rules-based order.”

“You are what makes the United States undaunted by the difficult, and motivated by the impossible.”

“[You] have become a team. And you're going to be drawing upon each other for the rest of your lives.”

“Opportunity in our military must be reflective of the diverse talent in order for us to remain strong. Our nation is ready to fulfill the promise of our Constitution to build a more perfect union and to ensure equal justice for all people, and it is your generation that can and will bring the joint force to be truly inclusive of all people.”

“The 6th of January was one of the days of high risk. Neither I, nor anyone that I know of, to include the FBI or anybody else, envisioned the thousands of people who assaulted the capitol. To basically encircle the Capitol and assault it from multiple directions simultaneously, and to do what they did, that was something else. The 6th was pretty dramatic. That's about as dramatic as you're going to see it, short of a civil war... What you might have seen was a precursor to something far worse down the road.”

“We have challenges to be sure, but the military has been and remains the largest meritocracy in the world. We promote, we advance and we select based on your knowledge, your skills, your attributes and the content of your character. We are stronger together. Diversity builds a better team and readiness.”

“Since the protests began, I sought information to help me assess the ability of federal, state and local authorities to handle situations under their responsibility. I continually assessed and advised that it was not necessary to employ active duty troops in response to the civil unrest occurring in our nation. It was my view then, and it remains so now, that local, state and federal police backed up by the National Guard under governor control, could, and continually can, effectively handle the security situation in every case across the country.”

“Equality and opportunity are matters of military readiness, not just political correctness.”