WEBVTT 00:14.940 --> 00:17.162 the most obvious difference is the size 00:17.162 --> 00:20.410 of the organization , uh the army and 00:20.410 --> 00:22.577 in this case the Army reserves is just 00:22.577 --> 00:24.577 a huge organization in terms of the 00:24.577 --> 00:27.340 number of soldiers and civilians . And 00:27.340 --> 00:29.562 then of course we have to reach out and 00:29.562 --> 00:31.562 support their families and then the 00:31.562 --> 00:33.173 employers that support those 00:33.173 --> 00:35.396 traditional reservists and so the sheer 00:35.396 --> 00:37.618 magnitude and the numbers are obviously 00:37.618 --> 00:40.240 much higher with this job as the Army 00:40.240 --> 00:44.110 Reserve as opposed to being a Ceo . So 00:44.110 --> 00:46.277 that would be the biggest difference . 00:46.277 --> 00:48.166 But the army is a large technical 00:48.166 --> 00:50.350 organization and in my private sector 00:50.350 --> 00:53.260 capacity , I was a ceo of a technical 00:53.270 --> 00:56.590 organization and I think a lot of the 00:56.600 --> 00:58.711 processes that we use in business are 00:58.711 --> 01:00.822 very similar to the military . We try 01:00.822 --> 01:03.330 to do is we try to get to get to the 01:03.330 --> 01:06.460 bottom line as fast as possible and be 01:06.460 --> 01:08.627 effective in the process . And I think 01:08.627 --> 01:10.849 that those are some of the similarities 01:10.849 --> 01:13.020 and so I think as Ceo I provide 01:13.020 --> 01:16.970 guidance and direction and as the C . 01:16.970 --> 01:18.748 G and as the car , I'll provide 01:18.748 --> 01:20.859 guidance and direction . So I think I 01:20.859 --> 01:22.859 think with that that's a lot of the 01:22.859 --> 01:22.850 similarities . 01:28.440 --> 01:30.770 I actually had a private conversation 01:30.780 --> 01:33.002 with the Assistant Secretary that deals 01:33.002 --> 01:35.860 with sustainability with the army and 01:35.870 --> 01:39.260 her and I just got along great because 01:39.640 --> 01:41.584 so many of the things that get her 01:41.584 --> 01:43.696 excited in terms of how they're going 01:43.696 --> 01:45.862 to make the army more efficient from a 01:45.862 --> 01:47.807 sustainability perspective are the 01:47.807 --> 01:49.696 things that I do or did do in the 01:49.696 --> 01:51.640 private sector . And so I think we 01:51.640 --> 01:53.696 actually can make a lot of money for 01:53.696 --> 01:55.751 our army in terms of cost savings by 01:55.751 --> 01:57.640 focusing on sustainability and of 01:57.640 --> 01:59.862 course a new term now that we use a lot 01:59.862 --> 02:01.973 of businesses , the sustainability as 02:01.973 --> 02:04.251 it relates to the business and that is , 02:04.251 --> 02:06.460 if a person or a family can sustain 02:06.460 --> 02:09.490 themselves , then you have a person in 02:09.490 --> 02:11.490 a family , that's a , that's a very 02:11.490 --> 02:13.900 beneficial member of the community . 02:13.910 --> 02:16.132 And it's the same thing with the army , 02:16.132 --> 02:18.243 the Army Reserve has to find a way to 02:18.243 --> 02:20.021 sustain itself so we can remain 02:20.021 --> 02:21.299 relevant to our army . 02:26.040 --> 02:27.984 I think the first reason I went to 02:27.984 --> 02:30.040 school so much is because I'm a slow 02:30.040 --> 02:32.950 learner and I it took me a longer 02:32.950 --> 02:35.061 period of time to assimilate a lot of 02:35.061 --> 02:37.172 information that I felt was important 02:37.340 --> 02:40.270 as an engineer , I was trained to solve 02:40.270 --> 02:42.570 problems , but I didn't feel like I was 02:42.570 --> 02:44.737 at my initial training level , had had 02:44.737 --> 02:46.848 a broad enough holistic experience in 02:46.848 --> 02:48.903 terms of education , so that's why I 02:48.903 --> 02:50.930 went back and pursued academic 02:50.930 --> 02:53.152 endeavors outside of engineering to try 02:53.152 --> 02:55.090 to have a broader perspective on 02:55.090 --> 02:58.010 problem solving and I think I think a 02:58.010 --> 03:00.177 good part of that is just being a good 03:00.177 --> 03:02.343 listener . So as long as I listened to 03:02.343 --> 03:04.970 the soldiers and and their families and 03:05.130 --> 03:07.590 understand some of their challenges , I 03:07.590 --> 03:09.479 think we'll get along just fine , 03:14.340 --> 03:16.562 the first priority and it will probably 03:16.562 --> 03:18.784 remain my first priority for the entire 03:18.784 --> 03:20.840 time that I'm in this job is to make 03:20.840 --> 03:23.760 sure that we have ready accessible 03:24.140 --> 03:27.000 soldiers , leaders and units to provide 03:27.010 --> 03:29.140 to General Rodriguez , the commanding 03:29.140 --> 03:31.307 general , Forces command and the other 03:31.307 --> 03:33.307 commands that we support outside of 03:33.307 --> 03:35.418 force com . That's going to be number 03:35.418 --> 03:38.250 one . I think the second priority is to 03:38.250 --> 03:41.120 make sure that we are properly 03:41.120 --> 03:44.440 resourcing and equipping our army 03:44.440 --> 03:47.180 reserve because if we don't do that , 03:47.180 --> 03:49.180 we can't , we can't do that . First 03:49.180 --> 03:51.347 priority . And then probably the third 03:51.347 --> 03:53.458 priority is to just make sure that we 03:53.458 --> 03:55.180 try to gain efficiencies as we 03:55.180 --> 03:57.402 streamline the army reserves to be more 03:57.402 --> 03:59.402 supportive to our army . But at the 03:59.402 --> 04:01.458 same time recognized that the public 04:01.458 --> 04:03.458 rightfully so expects us to be more 04:03.458 --> 04:05.458 efficient with our taxpayer money . 04:09.640 --> 04:12.260 The first thing I'll say is every 04:13.140 --> 04:15.280 officer is a soldier and every non 04:15.280 --> 04:17.502 commissioned officers and soldiers . So 04:17.502 --> 04:19.724 I said first , we have to remember that 04:19.724 --> 04:21.669 we're soldiers and what a soldiers 04:21.669 --> 04:21.090 needed to be . They need to be 04:21.090 --> 04:23.330 physically fit . They need to look like 04:23.330 --> 04:25.360 a soldier . They need to act like a 04:25.360 --> 04:27.416 soldier . They need to live the army 04:27.416 --> 04:29.890 values . They need to understand how 04:29.890 --> 04:31.890 special it is to be a member of the 04:31.890 --> 04:33.860 profession of arms and all of that 04:35.140 --> 04:38.030 important culture that we have in our 04:38.030 --> 04:40.086 army . That's the starting point for 04:40.086 --> 04:42.141 all of us , regardless of our rank . 04:42.440 --> 04:44.218 And so from a soldier rightness 04:44.218 --> 04:45.996 perspective , that's that's the 04:45.996 --> 04:47.718 physical , the emotional , the 04:47.718 --> 04:50.900 spiritual uh , the means of being able 04:50.900 --> 04:53.067 to perform our duties as individuals . 04:53.067 --> 04:55.067 Then we get to the leader readiness 04:55.067 --> 04:56.900 which involves of course are non 04:56.900 --> 04:59.178 commissioned officers and our officers . 04:59.178 --> 05:01.344 And that is making sure that we pursue 05:01.344 --> 05:03.870 aggressively the right educational 05:03.870 --> 05:06.550 requirements at our appropriate rank , 05:06.550 --> 05:08.439 whether it be in SEO or officer , 05:08.590 --> 05:10.534 making sure that we're getting the 05:10.534 --> 05:12.757 right level professional development as 05:12.757 --> 05:14.979 an officer or as an N . C . O . Or even 05:14.979 --> 05:17.201 together when we join those and call it 05:17.201 --> 05:19.312 leadership professional development . 05:19.312 --> 05:21.423 That's critical . Making sure that we 05:21.423 --> 05:23.590 don't wait for the army to give us the 05:23.590 --> 05:25.701 right assignment that we aggressively 05:25.701 --> 05:27.757 go after the right assignment to get 05:27.757 --> 05:29.701 the right balance between um staff 05:29.701 --> 05:31.812 assignments and command assignments . 05:31.812 --> 05:33.868 And then making sure that the reason 05:33.868 --> 05:36.034 we're a leader and the reason we're an 05:36.034 --> 05:37.812 effective soldier is because we 05:37.812 --> 05:40.034 represent the best and the brightest in 05:40.034 --> 05:41.979 the private sector and we're using 05:41.979 --> 05:43.757 those seven acquired skills and 05:43.757 --> 05:45.534 bringing them into our military 05:45.534 --> 05:45.330 capability and our leadership . When 05:45.330 --> 05:47.441 you put all that together , you get a 05:47.441 --> 05:49.663 really powerful force and that's called 05:49.663 --> 05:49.360 the Army Reserve . 05:55.140 --> 05:59.100 My expectations are simply that we in 05:59.100 --> 06:01.267 the army reserves , do a better job of 06:01.267 --> 06:03.730 acknowledging and empowering our 06:03.740 --> 06:06.570 civilians to do what they do best , 06:06.570 --> 06:09.720 which is provide that continuity that 06:09.720 --> 06:11.553 we need so much an army reserves 06:11.553 --> 06:13.776 without our full time support , whether 06:13.776 --> 06:16.480 they be military or civilian , we might 06:16.480 --> 06:18.480 as well just close the doors and go 06:18.480 --> 06:20.702 home without them . We can't do what we 06:20.702 --> 06:23.390 have to do . And so I think first off 06:23.390 --> 06:25.223 as we need to do a better job of 06:25.223 --> 06:27.112 rewarding and acknowledging their 06:27.112 --> 06:29.112 contributions to our army reserve . 06:29.112 --> 06:31.300 Secondly , we need to make sure that 06:31.310 --> 06:33.660 command teams understand that a command 06:33.660 --> 06:35.830 executive officer , the C . X . So the 06:35.830 --> 06:38.052 senior civilian and commands as part of 06:38.052 --> 06:40.170 that command team and we need to do 06:40.170 --> 06:42.610 more to empower them to help the 06:42.610 --> 06:44.666 commander . The commands are major , 06:44.666 --> 06:47.580 the command warrant . Um all of those 06:47.580 --> 06:49.691 other critical members of the command 06:49.691 --> 06:51.691 team . We need to make sure that we 06:51.691 --> 06:54.070 don't neglect that C . X . O . As he or 06:54.070 --> 06:56.490 she is reaching out to help us properly 06:56.490 --> 06:58.580 lead and manage as commanders , the 06:58.580 --> 07:00.524 civilians that are critical to our 07:00.524 --> 07:01.524 organization . 07:06.340 --> 07:09.900 Lynn is going to be very active as mrs 07:09.900 --> 07:12.640 stoltz was and family programs and lots 07:12.640 --> 07:14.900 of issues outside of family programs in 07:14.900 --> 07:17.610 the army reserves and and as I or in 07:17.610 --> 07:19.666 the army reserve . And as I said , I 07:19.666 --> 07:21.832 think to another form , you know , I'm 07:21.832 --> 07:23.832 pretty good but my wife is twice as 07:23.832 --> 07:25.832 good as I am anybody gets to meet , 07:25.832 --> 07:28.500 linda will see how she is remarkable 07:28.500 --> 07:30.860 and her ability to engage and get to 07:30.860 --> 07:33.750 know soldiers and their families at all 07:33.750 --> 07:35.972 levels throughout the organization . So 07:35.972 --> 07:37.917 I think what you'll find is she'll 07:37.917 --> 07:39.972 she'll certainly be evolved inactive 07:39.972 --> 07:41.972 and family programs but I think you 07:41.972 --> 07:44.194 could expect her to be out there really 07:44.194 --> 07:46.361 focused on those areas where which she 07:46.361 --> 07:48.361 thinks members of the families have 07:48.361 --> 07:50.620 been disadvantaged in terms of 07:50.630 --> 07:52.852 opportunity or in terms of just getting 07:52.852 --> 07:54.963 the right information and getting the 07:54.963 --> 07:56.963 right assistance that they need . I 07:56.963 --> 07:59.130 can't tell you specifically what she's 07:59.130 --> 08:01.186 gonna do because that's her decision 08:01.186 --> 08:00.550 and not mine , 08:06.140 --> 08:08.362 listen to your command , Sergeant major 08:09.540 --> 08:12.140 remind him or her that their job is to 08:12.140 --> 08:16.090 train officers and help the officer 08:16.090 --> 08:17.923 be a better officer and a better 08:17.923 --> 08:20.257 commander . That would be the first one . 08:20.720 --> 08:23.500 I think the second one is to you have 08:23.510 --> 08:27.360 two ears and one mouth . Listen more 08:27.360 --> 08:28.360 than you speak . 08:33.540 --> 08:37.050 Rally .32 is merely my 08:37.050 --> 08:39.970 attempt as a starting point to provide 08:39.970 --> 08:42.550 guidance and direction to the force , 08:42.560 --> 08:44.740 both at the strategic level as the 08:44.740 --> 08:47.280 chief of the Army Reserve and at the 08:47.280 --> 08:49.280 operational level as the Commanding 08:49.280 --> 08:51.336 general , Army Reserve command . And 08:51.640 --> 08:54.180 the first thing I'd ask is it's very 08:54.180 --> 08:56.800 short and there's something in there 08:56.800 --> 08:59.490 for everybody . So if you are somehow 08:59.490 --> 09:02.600 affiliated with the Army Reserve , I'd 09:02.600 --> 09:05.490 ask read it . It's a short read . It's 09:05.490 --> 09:07.930 got lots of pictures . It's graphic and 09:07.930 --> 09:10.041 I bet you it will help you understand 09:10.041 --> 09:12.670 how the Army Reserve is critical to 09:12.670 --> 09:14.837 enabling our army in the Joint force . 09:19.840 --> 09:22.007 The way that we can have the best army 09:22.007 --> 09:24.062 reserves we can have is for our Army 09:24.062 --> 09:26.007 Reserve soldiers to focus first on 09:26.007 --> 09:28.790 their families and second on their 09:28.790 --> 09:31.120 employers , those civilian employers 09:31.120 --> 09:33.750 that pay the mortgage that provide the 09:33.750 --> 09:36.580 ability for them to financially be able 09:36.580 --> 09:39.670 to afford to be an Army reserve ist . 09:39.760 --> 09:41.982 And then the third is to be a soldier . 09:41.982 --> 09:45.000 So Prioring one family priority to to 09:45.000 --> 09:46.833 be the best and brightest in the 09:46.833 --> 09:48.889 private and public sector , whatever 09:48.889 --> 09:51.056 that civilian employment is . And then 09:51.056 --> 09:53.167 third to put that Army reserve is the 09:53.167 --> 09:55.222 third priority in their professional 09:55.222 --> 09:57.333 and personal life . If they do that , 09:57.333 --> 09:57.160 then we're going to get soldiers in the 09:57.160 --> 09:59.327 army reserves that represent truly the 09:59.327 --> 10:02.430 very best at home , the very best in 10:02.430 --> 10:04.780 our civilian employment communities . 10:04.790 --> 10:06.679 And then that will make them more 10:06.679 --> 10:08.840 valuable to us as soldiers . And so I 10:08.840 --> 10:10.951 would argue that's that's what I mean 10:10.951 --> 10:13.007 by having the right balance . If you 10:13.007 --> 10:15.062 have somebody that puts all of their 10:15.062 --> 10:17.173 energy and focus and just one thing , 10:17.173 --> 10:19.173 instead of keeping that balance , I 10:19.173 --> 10:21.173 think what we'll do is they'll do a 10:21.173 --> 10:23.284 disservice to themselves and to their 10:23.284 --> 10:22.940 families , their civilian employers and 10:22.940 --> 10:25.280 we'll get a less capable soldier and 10:25.280 --> 10:26.280 Army reserve 10:31.540 --> 10:33.651 For 10 years . You know , we've we've 10:33.651 --> 10:35.984 been focused on doing what we had to do , 10:35.984 --> 10:38.096 which was meeting the requirements of 10:38.096 --> 10:40.096 those missions to support the force 10:40.096 --> 10:43.850 that's been engaged in combat and will 10:43.850 --> 10:45.961 continue to have those requirements , 10:45.961 --> 10:47.906 although our expectations as those 10:47.906 --> 10:50.900 requirements should decrease along the 10:50.900 --> 10:53.470 way because of that , we have a force 10:53.470 --> 10:56.380 in the army and the Army reserve that 10:56.390 --> 10:59.800 perhaps doesn't have the experience of 10:59.800 --> 11:01.856 how to do training at home station , 11:02.240 --> 11:04.250 how to properly 11:05.540 --> 11:09.360 train and plan and execute , I 11:09.360 --> 11:11.360 should say plan , train and execute 11:12.600 --> 11:14.656 individual and collective training . 11:14.940 --> 11:16.829 And so I think there's gonna be a 11:16.829 --> 11:18.996 relearning that we're going to have to 11:18.996 --> 11:21.218 do within our army and our Army Reserve 11:21.218 --> 11:23.440 to help people just getting back to the 11:23.440 --> 11:25.607 basics . We're not going to have a lot 11:25.607 --> 11:24.840 of time and we're not going to have the 11:24.840 --> 11:27.580 same level of resourcing so we 11:27.580 --> 11:29.580 shouldn't make it hard . Let's just 11:29.580 --> 11:31.910 focus on our ability to shoot . I be 11:31.910 --> 11:33.743 able proficient with our weapons 11:33.743 --> 11:36.021 systems that we have in our formations . 11:36.021 --> 11:38.243 The second is to move , which means not 11:38.243 --> 11:40.466 only move physically as an individual , 11:40.466 --> 11:42.521 which means more pt drill sergeant , 11:42.521 --> 11:44.410 but also to make sure that we can 11:44.410 --> 11:46.577 convoy from point A to B in a tactical 11:46.577 --> 11:48.632 environment and along the way we can 11:48.632 --> 11:50.688 communicate , which means commanding 11:50.688 --> 11:52.521 control systems , making sure we 11:52.521 --> 11:54.521 understand mission command . If you 11:54.521 --> 11:56.577 just do those three things which are 11:56.577 --> 11:58.760 pretty hard in today's battlefield , 11:59.140 --> 12:01.362 you'll be a hero , will be successful . 12:01.362 --> 12:03.251 And so if we just focus on that , 12:03.251 --> 12:05.418 everything else will work itself out . 12:09.540 --> 12:13.320 We've focused historically over a 12:13.320 --> 12:15.990 model called R fridge in the army force 12:15.990 --> 12:19.000 generation model , which is really a 12:19.000 --> 12:21.290 model that provides progressive 12:21.290 --> 12:23.970 readiness and so the future is no 12:23.970 --> 12:26.230 different . We don't need to make sure 12:26.230 --> 12:28.430 that all of the army reserve is ready 12:28.440 --> 12:30.840 all at the same time . We just need to 12:30.840 --> 12:32.673 make sure that we're providing a 12:32.673 --> 12:34.840 progressive level of readiness . So we 12:34.840 --> 12:37.062 provide the right level of readiness at 12:37.062 --> 12:39.284 the right time to meet the needs of the 12:39.284 --> 12:41.396 army in the nation . And so I think , 12:41.540 --> 12:43.762 you know , we've been doing pretty well 12:43.762 --> 12:45.818 in that department over the last few 12:45.818 --> 12:47.762 years in the army reserves , but I 12:47.762 --> 12:47.420 think what it's going to require is for 12:47.420 --> 12:49.840 us just acknowledging the fact that we 12:49.840 --> 12:52.050 won't be able to be resourced at the 12:52.050 --> 12:54.490 level that we might like to . So we're 12:54.490 --> 12:57.620 going to have to say let's make the 12:57.620 --> 13:00.130 tough decisions and set priorities and 13:00.140 --> 13:02.362 after all , that's what leaders do . So 13:02.362 --> 13:02.350 we can do that . 13:07.440 --> 13:09.440 Currently the plan is for our force 13:09.440 --> 13:12.320 structure to go down to 205,000 , where 13:12.320 --> 13:14.690 was at 206,000 And we're already at 13:14.690 --> 13:18.360 205,000 . And so if anything , we can 13:18.360 --> 13:21.170 afford to be more selective that we 13:21.170 --> 13:23.059 have been in the past in the army 13:23.059 --> 13:26.030 reserves because we can reduce our 13:26.030 --> 13:28.270 numbers even further , not in terms of 13:28.270 --> 13:30.326 in strengths , but in our ability to 13:30.326 --> 13:32.381 capture those superstars who will be 13:32.381 --> 13:34.437 coming off the active duty that have 13:34.437 --> 13:36.492 lots of combat experience . And so I 13:36.492 --> 13:38.603 think General stoltz had commented on 13:38.603 --> 13:40.826 this and I think he had it right . Um , 13:40.826 --> 13:42.826 what we want to be able to do is be 13:42.826 --> 13:42.570 able to bring into our formations , 13:42.570 --> 13:44.820 those mid level careerist from the 13:44.820 --> 13:46.931 active Army who have decided to leave 13:46.931 --> 13:49.264 the regular Army as it as it draws down . 13:49.540 --> 13:51.651 But we want them to continue to serve 13:51.651 --> 13:53.873 their country and their nation and it's 13:53.873 --> 13:55.984 an army reservist . And so we're in a 13:55.984 --> 13:55.910 great position . We'll be able to pick 13:55.910 --> 13:57.590 up that , that talent , both 13:57.590 --> 13:59.830 technically and tactical talent at the 13:59.830 --> 14:01.830 same time , so to speak , raise the 14:01.830 --> 14:04.052 standards and raise the bar in the army 14:04.052 --> 14:06.690 reserves , which which makes the army 14:06.690 --> 14:09.140 reserves an even better opportunity for 14:09.140 --> 14:11.196 investment for the american people . 14:16.140 --> 14:18.251 Well , I would say like everything we 14:18.251 --> 14:20.418 do in the army reserves , it should be 14:20.418 --> 14:22.473 what what we do should be because it 14:22.473 --> 14:25.440 benefits our army . And so I wouldn't 14:25.440 --> 14:27.607 put it in terms of benefiting the army 14:27.607 --> 14:29.273 reserves . It should be about 14:29.273 --> 14:29.250 benefiting the army because that's who 14:29.250 --> 14:32.190 we work for continuous services , a 14:32.190 --> 14:34.301 business process , my way of thinking 14:34.301 --> 14:36.523 and it's a business process that allows 14:36.523 --> 14:38.746 the best and the brightest and the Army 14:38.746 --> 14:40.912 Reserve and the Active Army to go back 14:40.912 --> 14:43.980 and forth between the components so 14:43.990 --> 14:46.390 they get to serve when and where they 14:46.390 --> 14:48.880 get they want to serve , which means we 14:48.880 --> 14:50.936 actually have people serving because 14:50.936 --> 14:53.260 they want to be there . What a great 14:53.710 --> 14:55.890 idea . What a great concept . So an 14:55.890 --> 14:58.112 example that I've used recently in some 14:58.112 --> 15:00.334 discussions in the pentagon was so flex 15:00.334 --> 15:02.390 senior leaders is you have technical 15:02.390 --> 15:04.390 people and certain regiments in the 15:04.390 --> 15:06.279 active component . Let's focus on 15:06.279 --> 15:08.501 engineers and they go and study and get 15:08.501 --> 15:10.446 a degree in engineering . But then 15:10.446 --> 15:12.668 through no fault of their own , they're 15:12.668 --> 15:14.890 focused on combat effects formations in 15:14.890 --> 15:17.223 the Engineer corps which is appropriate . 15:17.240 --> 15:19.073 But at the end of the day , they 15:19.073 --> 15:20.907 eventually want to practice some 15:20.907 --> 15:23.018 engineering because they got a degree 15:23.018 --> 15:25.184 in engineering , but there won't be as 15:25.184 --> 15:24.820 many opportunities for them to do that , 15:24.820 --> 15:26.820 say in construction effects units , 15:26.820 --> 15:28.931 because those units are predominately 15:28.931 --> 15:30.931 in the Army Reserve . So continuous 15:30.931 --> 15:33.042 service might allow that in this case 15:33.042 --> 15:35.153 this example engineer officer to come 15:35.153 --> 15:37.376 from the active component into the Army 15:37.376 --> 15:39.209 Reserve , go into a construction 15:39.209 --> 15:41.320 effects battalion , for example , get 15:41.320 --> 15:43.376 technical construction experience in 15:43.376 --> 15:45.376 the army , maybe pick up a master's 15:45.376 --> 15:47.264 degree at the same time and get a 15:47.264 --> 15:49.376 broadening experience by being in the 15:49.376 --> 15:51.598 army reserves , which is something that 15:51.598 --> 15:51.410 the Chief of Staff of the Army , 15:51.410 --> 15:54.110 General Odierno is appropriately 15:54.110 --> 15:57.100 pushing . So this is a win for 15:57.100 --> 15:59.156 everybody . The same thing works the 15:59.156 --> 16:01.322 other way , we have certain skill sets 16:01.322 --> 16:03.156 in the Army reserve , there's an 16:03.156 --> 16:05.433 opportunity to go into the active Army . 16:05.433 --> 16:07.544 All I would say is let's just open it 16:07.544 --> 16:09.489 up and allow people to go back and 16:09.489 --> 16:11.544 forth . It makes good business sense 16:11.544 --> 16:13.489 and it puts the best and brightest 16:13.489 --> 16:15.711 people in our army , regardless of what 16:15.711 --> 16:14.960 component there in 16:20.540 --> 16:23.650 any time that somebody wants to copy 16:24.240 --> 16:26.890 or utilize something that you've 16:26.890 --> 16:29.420 developed . That's a compliment and I'm 16:29.420 --> 16:31.364 not referring to plagiarism that's 16:31.364 --> 16:33.531 wrong , but in this case the employers 16:33.531 --> 16:35.753 partnership program that General stoltz 16:36.340 --> 16:38.460 spearheaded , which was brilliant to 16:38.460 --> 16:42.290 use a british term . Um , it was so 16:42.290 --> 16:44.123 successful that our army and our 16:44.123 --> 16:46.346 department offense has , of course , as 16:46.346 --> 16:48.290 you know , incorporated that , and 16:48.290 --> 16:49.957 that's become somewhat of the 16:49.957 --> 16:51.846 foundation as I understand it for 16:51.846 --> 16:53.957 heroes to hire , which is wonderful . 16:53.957 --> 16:56.179 So I think that's that's a huge step in 16:56.179 --> 16:58.401 the right direction . Where I'd like to 16:58.401 --> 16:58.220 take it to . The next step is to do 16:58.220 --> 16:59.942 partnerships with professional 16:59.942 --> 17:01.942 organizations and societies that do 17:01.942 --> 17:03.950 credential . E So just like we have 17:03.950 --> 17:05.783 employers out there that want to 17:05.783 --> 17:08.006 provide opportunity for our soldiers to 17:08.006 --> 17:10.220 work in their organizations . Now we 17:10.220 --> 17:12.387 want to bring in , I think the special 17:12.387 --> 17:13.887 professional societies and 17:13.887 --> 17:15.720 organizations that provide those 17:15.720 --> 17:17.720 special credentials that tend to be 17:17.720 --> 17:17.690 associated with those technical skill 17:17.690 --> 17:20.370 sets that are predominantly in the 17:20.370 --> 17:22.370 enabling forces we have in the army 17:22.370 --> 17:24.460 reserves . Now , what we're doing is 17:24.460 --> 17:26.182 we're making that soldier more 17:26.182 --> 17:28.690 marketable in the civilian sector by 17:28.690 --> 17:30.801 being a member of the army reserves , 17:30.801 --> 17:32.801 which is a positive thing for their 17:32.801 --> 17:34.968 family and for that organization . And 17:34.968 --> 17:37.190 they in turn are making themselves more 17:37.190 --> 17:39.301 positively or more marketable for our 17:39.301 --> 17:38.560 army . 17:44.140 --> 17:46.251 I think the issue is soldier right in 17:46.251 --> 17:50.170 his gets the resiliency . And what 17:50.170 --> 17:52.226 we need is we need to make sure that 17:52.226 --> 17:54.059 we're doing everything we can to 17:54.059 --> 17:56.281 promote resiliency and our soldiers and 17:56.281 --> 17:58.560 their families and and that's when you 17:58.560 --> 18:01.370 look at soldier comprehensive fitness , 18:01.380 --> 18:03.380 it's really soldiers , civilian and 18:03.380 --> 18:05.480 family comprehensive fitness and it 18:05.480 --> 18:07.536 pulls together all those , all those 18:07.536 --> 18:09.369 things that you mentioned that I 18:09.369 --> 18:11.480 mentioned earlier . It's the it's the 18:11.480 --> 18:13.591 physical , it's the mental , it's the 18:13.591 --> 18:15.758 emotional , it's a spiritual . And the 18:15.758 --> 18:17.869 reason I think that's so important is 18:17.869 --> 18:20.091 because that's our ability to survive , 18:20.091 --> 18:24.090 adapt , overcome and be successful 18:24.270 --> 18:26.350 in the army reserve and in life in 18:26.350 --> 18:28.590 general and a common . I made to some 18:28.590 --> 18:31.990 of the groups this morning is in a 18:31.990 --> 18:34.157 conversation with General Austin , our 18:34.157 --> 18:36.268 vice Chief of Staff of the Army . One 18:36.268 --> 18:38.046 of the conversations we had was 18:38.046 --> 18:40.157 reference to the suicide issue in our 18:40.157 --> 18:43.590 army and he is a great warrior 18:44.140 --> 18:46.370 and a great professional and one of the 18:46.370 --> 18:49.670 comments he made to me was that 18:49.670 --> 18:52.430 suicide was the most complex enemy he 18:52.430 --> 18:54.980 had ever faced . And I thought that was 18:54.980 --> 18:58.410 very profound . But I think it's really 18:58.410 --> 19:00.299 important because I think soldier 19:00.299 --> 19:02.560 raining biscuits to that issue . If 19:03.440 --> 19:05.162 tallies opinion which could be 19:05.162 --> 19:07.710 completely wrong is our army is a 19:07.710 --> 19:10.000 reflection of society . No , I don't 19:10.000 --> 19:12.070 have any scientific evidence on this 19:12.070 --> 19:14.126 and I don't know that there is any . 19:14.126 --> 19:16.390 But I think that people today in our 19:16.390 --> 19:18.860 society have less ability to cope . 19:19.240 --> 19:21.920 There's less coping skills than perhaps 19:21.930 --> 19:24.720 we've had as a people and as a nation 19:24.730 --> 19:27.560 in the past . And yet society has 19:27.560 --> 19:30.520 become far more faster and more complex 19:30.640 --> 19:32.862 and yet we seem to have less ability to 19:32.862 --> 19:35.150 cope . I think it's that lack of coping 19:35.150 --> 19:37.450 skills that correlates to people 19:37.940 --> 19:40.270 unfortunately turning to drugs , 19:40.280 --> 19:43.330 alcohol , financial challenges , 19:43.340 --> 19:45.840 relationship issues and all of that 19:45.840 --> 19:48.380 couple together unfortunately results 19:48.390 --> 19:50.223 in the most tragic thing we call 19:50.223 --> 19:53.090 suicide . And so I to me , soldier 19:53.090 --> 19:55.860 readiness is not just about having 19:55.860 --> 19:57.804 resilient soldiers , civilians and 19:57.804 --> 20:00.027 families , it's about really making you 20:00.027 --> 20:02.220 more resilient as a citizen . And so 20:02.220 --> 20:04.276 it's a win for us and it's a win for 20:04.276 --> 20:06.498 our communities if we can find a way to 20:06.498 --> 20:08.553 focus a little more on that physical 20:08.553 --> 20:10.609 fitness is a critical part of that . 20:10.609 --> 20:10.270 But it's not the only part 20:16.740 --> 20:18.980 the message I'd like to give to our 20:18.980 --> 20:21.580 soldiers that are in the army reserve 20:22.440 --> 20:26.400 is that sometimes we can look at our 20:26.400 --> 20:28.511 experiences as a reserve soldier as a 20:28.511 --> 20:31.180 time of woes woes because we're 20:31.180 --> 20:33.780 struggling to balance that family life 20:34.340 --> 20:37.210 with that civilian employment life with 20:37.210 --> 20:39.670 the life of being an Army reserve 20:39.670 --> 20:42.490 soldier . But it's not a time of woes . 20:42.490 --> 20:45.170 It's a time of opportunity because we 20:45.170 --> 20:47.880 have this wonderful , wonderful 20:47.880 --> 20:50.970 opportunity to seek out and be the very 20:50.970 --> 20:53.340 best and brightest . We can be in 20:53.340 --> 20:55.580 civilian employment and the public or 20:55.580 --> 20:58.230 private sector and be whatever we want 20:58.230 --> 21:00.970 to be at the same time , we have the 21:00.970 --> 21:04.030 blessing of getting paid to be soldiers 21:04.030 --> 21:06.390 and leaders in our army and we get to 21:06.390 --> 21:09.760 do both . And so it can be a time of 21:10.840 --> 21:13.300 friction and a time of challenges . But 21:13.300 --> 21:15.633 it's really a time of great opportunity . 21:15.633 --> 21:17.960 And I would just ask as Army reserve 21:18.150 --> 21:21.660 soldiers , we should really understand 21:22.540 --> 21:24.540 what a blessing it is to be an Army 21:24.540 --> 21:26.707 Reserve soldier , to be able to have a 21:26.707 --> 21:30.050 great and successful civilian career , 21:30.640 --> 21:32.862 but at the same time have the privilege 21:32.862 --> 21:34.580 of being a soldier and leading soldiers .