The services continued to address the outsourcing of optical fabrication directed by Public Law 105-85. The contractor visited eight optical labs in two weeks and was impressed with what they saw and heard from line commanders. We intend to seek relief from the directive based on readiness requirements and cost. 6-8 Leave Keep up the good work. Over the last year we have spent a lot of time talking about the importance of the Army's values and traditions.
Few things are more important.
Sharing the Army's heritage is where we begin building great soldiers. On the 4th of July, it is particularly appropriate to recall one of the defining moments in the history of America's Army and to share this story and others like it with our soldiers - learning from the past how to set our path to the future. America had a regular army of only 3,000 men, scattered throughout the country, insufficient to deal with French raids or an invasion. To complement the regular army President Adams planned to raise a provisional army of 30,000 and recall Washington to active duty to command this force of full-time and citizen soldiers. Secretary of War James McHenry carried Washington's commission to him at Mount Vernon.