Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel gave a speech before the Association of the United States Army (AUSA) in Washington, D.C., Wednesday, October 15, 2014.
Some of his remarks are included below:
“We are at a time of great transition for the Army, and the nation it serves. In December, as we responsibly end our combat role in Afghanistan and transition to a train-advise-and-assist mission, the Afghan National Security Forces will be fully responsible for their country’s security – an accomplishment made possible by the tremendous sacrifices of American troops, our ISAF partners, and the Afghan people.
As the Army emerges from over 13 years of large-scale combat operations – the longest in its history – it faces new challenges. The world is becoming more volatile, less predictable, and in many ways, more threatening… at the same time, our defense budgets are declining.
The theme that you’ve chosen for this year – “Trusted Professionals: Today and Tomorrow” – is well-suited to describe the kind of soldiers America will need as we navigate this period of change and uncertainty.
Before I address where the Army is and where it’s going, we should remind ourselves – and the American people – of where the Army is coming from.
Over the past 13 years, more than 1 million soldiers deployed to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. One out of six of these soldiers was deployed to both countries. More than half a million soldiers – 30 percent of them Guardsmen and Reservists – endured multiple deployments… and as ground forces, they shouldered a very heavy burden. They fought in the mud, in the sand, in the streets – doing most of the fighting and dying, and adapting under fire to a kind of conflict far different from what the Army trained and prepared for during and after the Cold War.
Seventy percent of U.S. personnel wounded in action over the last 13 years were from the U.S. Army, and countless soldiers have come home with visible – and invisible – wounds of war. Our enduring obligation to take care of them, and their families, is a sacred responsibility that we must always uphold.
Through the crucible of combat and a grinding counterinsurgency campaign, the American soldier fought on, and as a result, today’s Army is as battle-tested as it’s ever has been. Of all the soldiers who served in Iraq since 2003, nearly half are still on active-duty or in the Guard and Reserves. Of those who served in Afghanistan, almost two-thirds are still in the Army…”
Source: http://www.defense.gov/Speeches/Speech.aspx?SpeechID=1894
See related video: Cost Of Iraq & Afghanistan Wars (not including the cost in blood) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AeYSC5ijAEs