WEBVTT 00:04.213 --> 00:06.212 - Well, in a couple ways. 00:06.212 --> 00:10.379 First and foremost a lot of combat, or a lot of operations 00:11.169 --> 00:13.017 end up being de-centralized. 00:13.017 --> 00:16.210 And it ends up being what we call, a squad level fight, 00:16.210 --> 00:17.729 or a platoon level fight. 00:17.729 --> 00:20.593 And when you talk about a commander trying to expand 00:20.593 --> 00:23.498 their influence in an area of operations they are operating 00:23.498 --> 00:27.086 in, they get a better return on that investment 00:27.086 --> 00:30.086 of empowering enlisted by allowing those leaders 00:30.086 --> 00:32.126 to execute mission command out there. 00:32.126 --> 00:36.293 So empowering enlisted leaders allows that commander to 00:37.282 --> 00:39.690 expand their influence, and be able to get more 00:39.690 --> 00:43.013 efficiencies out of what they are trying to do. 00:43.013 --> 00:47.180 The other thing about that is, what we've seen is that 00:49.697 --> 00:51.828 our greatest competitive advantage as the United States 00:51.828 --> 00:54.417 Military is our empowered enlisted leaders. 00:54.417 --> 00:58.250 And if you look around the world where 177 of the 196 00:58.250 --> 01:00.787 countries we got troops in these areas, 01:00.787 --> 01:02.505 a lot of those are enlisted leaders that 01:02.505 --> 01:04.125 are executing commanders intent, 01:04.125 --> 01:06.586 applying discipline initiative and agile 01:06.586 --> 01:08.694 and adaptive thinking, and getting after 01:08.694 --> 01:10.827 the mission and accomplishing it. 01:10.827 --> 01:13.354 Now that just doesn't happen, that comes through 01:13.354 --> 01:16.687 training, education, and there by trust. 01:17.076 --> 01:18.603 So that's what's important about 01:18.603 --> 01:21.520 having an empowered enlisted force. 01:26.304 --> 01:28.914 - [Interviewer] Why is it important for the US to work 01:28.914 --> 01:31.293 with other nations militaries to build the capacity 01:31.293 --> 01:32.663 of their enlisted forces. 01:32.663 --> 01:35.396 - So our Secretary of Defense, his line of every number 3 01:35.396 --> 01:39.563 is to strengthen our alliances, but attract new partners. 01:39.842 --> 01:42.792 When we look at what we're trying to do in terms of peace, 01:42.792 --> 01:44.410 global peace and security, 01:44.410 --> 01:47.610 we can't as the United States Military do it alone. 01:47.610 --> 01:51.110 And when we're looking at taking care of our interests 01:51.110 --> 01:54.180 and our freedom at home, but also our interests abroad, 01:54.180 --> 01:57.381 we have to leverage our partners and our alliances 01:57.381 --> 01:58.951 to make sure we're getting after that. 01:58.951 --> 02:03.118 Second of all, with us being in 177 of the 196 countries 02:03.799 --> 02:06.470 in the world, no other nation in the world gives 02:06.470 --> 02:09.039 that kind of global commitment to global peace and security. 02:09.039 --> 02:11.930 So these other countries that are allies or partners, 02:11.930 --> 02:14.720 they want United States help out there. 02:14.720 --> 02:17.463 So it's important for us especially with threats 02:17.463 --> 02:20.050 like violent extremists, or any of these nation states 02:20.050 --> 02:22.950 that might be executing malign influence, 02:22.950 --> 02:25.382 that we continue to leverage our partners, 02:25.382 --> 02:28.109 and they continue to leverage us to make sure that we 02:28.109 --> 02:30.959 can either disrupt, degrade or in the end defeat 02:30.959 --> 02:34.290 whatever those activities those other nation states, 02:34.290 --> 02:37.207 or violent extremists may be doing. 02:38.340 --> 02:42.051 It's extremely important because so guys like me, 02:42.051 --> 02:44.970 guys like Chief Master of the Air Force Kay Right and the 02:44.970 --> 02:48.960 other comabt and command senior enlisted leaders; 02:48.960 --> 02:52.840 we influence the senior officers, or the senior leaders 02:52.840 --> 02:55.007 of our defense department. 02:55.042 --> 02:58.700 Who in turn advise our commander in chief, our President 02:58.700 --> 02:59.959 of the United States. 02:59.959 --> 03:04.126 So what we bring to this is what we do to get after our 03:04.421 --> 03:07.793 bosses, in my case the chairman of the joint chief staff 03:07.793 --> 03:10.102 and secretary of defense, their vision and priorities. 03:10.102 --> 03:14.269 Bringing the African nations senior enlisted leaders in 03:14.562 --> 03:17.373 shows the confidence of their Chief of Defense, 03:17.373 --> 03:19.834 or their Ministers of Defense may have in that senior 03:19.834 --> 03:23.448 enlisted leader to come, learn, and bring that information 03:23.448 --> 03:24.523 back to them. 03:24.523 --> 03:27.553 So I think it's important that we partner together so that 03:27.553 --> 03:28.386 we can say, 03:28.386 --> 03:31.456 "Here's what I do as a senior enlisted leader. 03:31.456 --> 03:32.951 Here's how I can help you." 03:32.951 --> 03:35.629 But as important what are some of the things they're 03:35.629 --> 03:39.698 doing in their country that we can take as a walk away with 03:39.698 --> 03:42.897 and potentially make our enlisted force better. 03:42.897 --> 03:43.738 So I think it's important that 03:43.738 --> 03:46.238 we have both of us here today. 03:48.286 --> 03:52.226 So this is extremely important because a lot of these 03:52.226 --> 03:56.393 countries in Africa that are porous in just the basic 03:57.744 --> 04:00.911 needs and services that citizens like, 04:01.303 --> 04:03.726 in the United States take for granted. 04:03.726 --> 04:06.853 These African citizens in some of these nations don't 04:06.853 --> 04:07.686 have that. 04:07.893 --> 04:10.554 And so when you talk about how violent extremism 04:10.554 --> 04:13.285 is born, or how it spawns, it's because of 04:13.285 --> 04:15.450 weak or porous governance. 04:15.450 --> 04:19.617 It's because citizens don't have basic goods and services, 04:20.652 --> 04:21.644 or needs and services. 04:21.644 --> 04:25.343 And when these violent extremist organizations come in, 04:25.343 --> 04:28.773 it kind of attracts these young men who may be 04:28.773 --> 04:31.311 disenchanted with what their government is doing, 04:31.311 --> 04:32.943 or how their daily life is. 04:32.943 --> 04:36.240 So it's important that we partner with these nations 04:36.240 --> 04:38.489 and look at how we can continue to build up their 04:38.489 --> 04:41.011 military through security force assistance. 04:41.011 --> 04:43.511 Build capacity in them to one, 04:43.729 --> 04:46.126 kind of deliver the goods and services to their 04:46.126 --> 04:49.129 citizens that they need, but two, assist not only 04:49.129 --> 04:50.728 in their military, but their governements 04:50.728 --> 04:53.165 with getting better at what they're expected to do 04:53.165 --> 04:55.756 for the citizens of that country and in the end 04:55.756 --> 04:58.436 build that capacity in them that they can defeat 04:58.436 --> 05:00.926 these kind of violent threats that will come in and be a 05:00.926 --> 05:03.676 threat to stability and security. 05:05.700 --> 05:08.523 I just want to say, give a shout out to the 05:08.523 --> 05:11.071 Africom command senior enlisted leader, 05:11.071 --> 05:14.661 Chief Master Sergeant CZ Calone Lopez, for his efforts. 05:14.661 --> 05:17.620 It started as a vision that he had about a year ago. 05:17.620 --> 05:21.120 His efforts and the Africom staff efforts, 05:21.620 --> 05:23.697 but most importantly the African nations that 05:23.697 --> 05:26.452 have made this commitment to come together this week 05:26.452 --> 05:27.962 and put this conference together. 05:27.962 --> 05:31.273 39 African senior enlisted leaders from 20 05:31.273 --> 05:32.873 different nations are here. 05:32.873 --> 05:34.507 I'm here, the Chief Master Sergeant 05:34.507 --> 05:35.340 of the Air Force is here, 05:35.340 --> 05:37.753 the SOCOM, UCOM senior enlisted leaders, 05:37.753 --> 05:39.714 the NATO senior enlisted leaders. 05:39.714 --> 05:41.243 This is a big deal. 05:41.243 --> 05:43.543 And as we move forward, we have to continue to grow 05:43.543 --> 05:46.663 and develop this so that 10 years from now, 05:46.663 --> 05:50.013 we've had 10 Africom senior enlisted leader conferences 05:50.013 --> 05:53.814 and we've taken some lessons learned, and we've applied it, 05:53.814 --> 05:56.303 and we've continued to build not only the partnerships 05:56.303 --> 05:59.605 between the U.S and the African nations, 05:59.605 --> 06:02.003 but more importantly we've built capacity in their 06:02.003 --> 06:04.095 enlisted forces, they move forward. 06:04.095 --> 06:06.005 So hats off to him, and it's just 06:06.005 --> 06:08.255 an honor for me to be here.