By working together we should be able to give both parents and students the information they need to make informed decisions. The contributions that many of you have already made in this area are producing big benefits, and I hope that many more communities will carry on the work that is already being done. In fact, given the mobile nature of our society, I think these efforts could go along way towards helping countless Americans - not just those in uniform. I mentioned those two areas not to limit the scope of your efforts, but merely to provide some examples of where the local community can work together with the military in solving problems. Our men and women serving in our armed forces today are our greatest asset - and their welfare and that of their families is a high priority for myself and the other Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Quality is more important than quantity.
And we intend to maintain a high quality force. We do need to modernize our planes and ships, but we must protect the investment in our men and women in uniform. They are a tremendous investment for America. There will be some parts of military life that never change - families will continue to move often, they will face long and lonely separations as the men and women they love leave for duty in dangerous places. We not going to change that.