you morning you already fortune left to have me introduce the deputy secretary defense because if general milley was up here for the next five minutes you'd be hearing about the red sox and the fact that they've gone on to the american league championship series but  state of washington or pacific northwest university of washington graduate then went on to earn to graduate degrees messed you see through technology he progress through the ranks very quickly through the ranks of the one corp managing helicopter programs helicopter as well as other complex weapon systems like your more laser mid course missile defense made the leap from the defense side of boeing to the commercial side stints running the seven eight seven seventh's three seven programs on the hill winning our office calls with senators conducting murder boards during the crucible of confirmation he's dry sense of humor keen intellect and always kept things like very very stressful time for fourteen months we've served together we've had the privilege of working very close with him on a wide range of issues he's tried one of the most aggressive management agendas for the part in our history secretary mattis has tapped and the army leadership team helping us develop our modernization strategy and he remains our staunchest advocate for the army future command as we approach the final weeks of a four twenty program review this fall so to shannon will continue to lead the department fences must be budget season right there oh thank you thank you ryan and a general ham thank you for hosting what is proving to be one of the more conservative out of work that goes into putting most displays in place and really being able to educate the folks that don't have the time always to see your hard work and  capabilities let me do a couple of just think used before i get into my remarks first maybe call it as a thank you to the chief for not talking about boston sports i didn't realize the red sox played last night but the real message i want to make about the chief and the secretary is they are tremendous partners and i think what i appreciate most is that are unwavering in their commitment and when you talk about tenacity and energy and really driving the machine your your work is remarkable i don't know i know i ran and sergeant major dale he was modeling a new uniform it's an honor to be a part art of this team particularly given my longstanding connection to the army and i think ryan pointed that out to a certain degree but i spent many years building the helicopters so many of you have flown in ghana sta all the soldiers in the audience today regular national guard reserve civil service and their families thank you for your service i'm honored and humbled to serve at the department of defen and i serve as a chief operating officer my job is to execute the national defense strategy which is characterized by three lucky ones of effort one build a more lethal force by restoring readiness and modernizing key capable abilities strengthen our alliances and attract new partners because we are more lethal when we fight with them and three reach reform the department for greater performance accountability and affordability in that role i mean i'm focused on improving our performance and delivering the war fighting capability we need to win and i'll just repeat that again i am focused on improving our performance and delivering the warfighter capability we need to win when it comes to performance the question is not are we getting better it's are we good enough to win we must win against our competitors so every day wake up and ask your self what will it take to win before i dive into my remarks on martha's ation i'd like to foot start up general milley as a secretary espers comments on readiness and reform be easy to gloss over the details but that this isn't about chick changing a test or ordering bullets generating readiness is complex and multi dimensional and involves everything from recruiting  training to equipment immunizations i'd like to commend the army for their holistic integrated approach to ensuring soldiers are mentally and physically fit and  lethal as they can be the army has more than a bit vision and a strategy they have a plan and that plan gets better every day when it comes to reform from the army  serious and focused instead of saying slow down they're pushing to go faster and secretary mccarthy step the tone it's greatly appreciated army leadership is taking new approaches to health care the t and logistics and scrubbing each and every army program to ruthlessly priority ties pending and invest in modernization this is the kind of focus we need to see throughout the department the same is true of the army when it comes to marjah zation which is where i'd like to focus my remarks today because this is a heavy lift is where we must concentrate our collective efforts modernization is about retooling for a new era of great pow competition muscles we haven't used in quite a while in contrast our competitors have spent the last last thirty years studying our way of war and building systems and doctrine to thwart it eroding our conventional overmatch that means it's time for us to get it back in the weight room and back in the classroom some of our old playbook will work but we have to deal with two new war fighting domains cyber and space and an increasingly blurred line between competition and combat and as pressing as the threat is we will not be handed a blank check fiscal discipline and performance will determine whether we will be able to execute our strategy to develop the next generation doctrine if abilities to deter russians and chinese the army created future command and placed it under the command of general murray whose experience uniquely meets this for taking on this enormous response i may not have been here when the cavalry resisted replacing horses with tanks and episode in d o d history the secretary mentioned on monday but i witnessed the struggles of the few which are combat systems and i'll never forget the day the command she was cancelled so just a general milley is shape successfully executing a program of record getting that mix right is what futures command is all about it and in designing it the army has drawn upon lessons learned for the past seventeen years we have focused on the fight against violent extremists organised nations a focus that has driven efficiency and stovepipes with requirement its development testing acquisition and production more federated than integrated in order to modernise guys we are restructuring that system and with army futures command we will integrate technologists operators acquisition professionals on to cross functional teams focused on one of the army these cross functional teams work together ensuring performance execute the ability of affordability kudo's for the army for retooling its traditional structure to create something new that's said it will take more than a thoughtful organization design mind to succeed i've been fortunate to spend time with general m and while we've discussed many ways to make futures command successful i'd like to share a few key areas where i've come to providing personal attention and support first we must focus on product and performance and only pursue capabilities that will dominate great power competition and with dominate and when to ensure this we must engage the soldiers early and often issue for the development cycle better is the enemy of good enough i'm always in my mind of the approach to developing the i phone apple is obsessive lea focused on the user experience driving the product while others is focused on technology as the priority we must be guided by what combination of man and technology generates the most lethality never forgetting that man and technology are intertwined this is not about developing the perfect weapon system this is about delivering the thousand to our soldiers as quickly as possible which whenever possible means leveraging existing technology in new ways second we must recruit the right people we've all heard that before but a handful of people will determine the outcome is the most critical responsibility they have leadership and more important than technology their caliber judgment and diversity of ideas is paramount and sets the culture for our generation futures command can't be everyone's first rodeo we need people that have successfully given birth to something new with the knowledge and experience to in a date make decisions and execute a successful program those who are not afraid of bad news problems and hard decisions leaders who run to the sound of gunfire technical programatic people experience leaders who can deal with ambiguity in technical detail and banding stakeholders and risk we need leaders who can nurture a twenty five year old and a wild idea into disruptive reality and produce this that idea at industrial scale affordably finally we must make the acquisition system we have worked for us well in lords leadership the department will continue to improve but we can't use this to fish and seize as an excuse we must use our acquisition system to solve problems army futures command is about our future gen murray is our leader we must do everything in our power to help and support him and his team i've asked pentagon leaders to take the role of supporting command with arm somebody has made it we need people suited up on the field tackling bringing general murray solutions instead of problems to congress thank you for your trip bust confidence as support you are an important partner in ensuring future commands of success of all shapes and sizes help us innovate and scale affordably to the army and all members of the d o d family integrate futures command into your processes relentlessly hunt for the talent they need remove obstacles from their path advocate and build momentum for them within the building throughout the government on the hill and with industry and focus on their output not their process this isn't just general murray's project or the armies this is about defending the nation to get your helmet put in your mouth guard get on the field and tackle and when you get knocked down get back up and tackle again because when we play together as a team we win thank you