With out reservation. I will faithfully. I will faithfully. Discharge the duties. Discharge the duties. So help me god. So help me god. Congratulations, chairman. [applause] [laughter] [applause] [applause] attention. Honor guard. Attention. Ladies and gentlemen, please stand for the posting of the colors. Post the colors. [drums] please be seated. Ladies and gentlemen, general illey, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. Mr. President , mr. Vice president , secretary esper, distinguished guests, family and friends, thank you for being here today. And for your unwavering support for our men and women in uniform. We are deeply humbled by your presence. Thank you, mr. President. With the confidence you have placed in me to become the next chairman of the joint chiefs, for your personal leadership and commitment to our uniformed men and women. You can rest assured i will always provide you with informed, candid, impartial , to you, thece secretary of defense, and the congress. Secretary esper, thank you for your leadership and continued support for our soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines, and coast guard. They are remarkable and represent almost 3 million men and women in the United States armed forces. Americas uniformed sons and 24 7ters who stand watch in the air, on land, at sea, in space, and cyberspace, defending our nation and protecting the values bestowed upon us in our sacred constitution. We are deployed on freedoms frontier around the world today. Many in harms way. You keepask all of them and their families in your thoughts and prayers. Over the last four years, leading those great troops has been general jones unfurled and his wife general joe dunford and his wife. I know i have big shoes to fill. I have known joe dunford throughout my career, served with him in combat, and i consider him a close personal friend. A friendship forced with the unbreakable bonds of combat that only shared sacrifice could produce. It is truly an honor to follow general dunford to become the next in a long line of distinguished chairman. Use their example of professionalism and steady leadership as a model in the years to come. I look forward to serving with my fellow joint chiefs, commanders, and other Senior Leaders across government to address the National Security issues of the day. I see in the audience also many chiefs of defense from around the world. Demonstrates the importance of our security interests and common values. I look forward to working with all of you to ensure security. Most importantly, i am grateful for my family. My parents were part of the greatest generation and served in world war ii. My mother in the navy at a hospital on the west coast. My father was with the Fourth Marine Division making the landings at saipan and iwo jima. Although they have both passed on, i carry their example of integrity and service as an inspiration on a daily basis. I think my brother and sister for being here today. I think also my classmates and our princeton hockey team. I thank you for your continued support. I am incredibly thankful most of all to my wife for her support and inspiration during 35 years of marriage. She along with our children, like so many great military families, sacrificed so much for our nation. Through multiple moves, schools, combat tours, our family sacrificed more than most people will ever know. Our children pay the biggest bill of all. Are the rock upon which i draw strength during the inevitable dark moments ahead in military service. With the complex challenges of the environment. We stand ready to keep the peace or if necessary when the war. We have the best trained, best led military in human history. Our adversaries should know, never underestimate our skill, our capabilities, and our combat power. We will remain the worlds premier fighting force, respected by our friends and feared by our adversaries. We will do this by emphasizing readiness and the modernization of the joint force while providing unwavering support to our leadership, our troops and their families. At the end of the ceremony, you will hear an army captain sing a tribute to america. He was seriously wounded in action. Today, he represents all Wounded Warriors and killed in action of our military. Also our friends and enemies alike should know we who wear the uniform of the United States of america, the cloth of our nation, we are all willing to lay it on the line every day to risk grievous injury or death to preserve this experiment of liberty that we call america and pass it onto the next generation. Thank you, and may god bless the men and women in uniform and may god bless the United States of america. [applause] ladies and gentlemen, the honorable mark esper, 27th secretary of defense. [applause] everyone. Rning, President Trump, Vice President pence, members of congress, distinguished guests, thank you for joining us today. On behalf of the department of defense, welcome to joint base meyer. Since its establishment in 1863, this historic base overlooking our Nations Capital has housed american troops from the civil war to the present day. To all the soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines, and coast guard on the parade field, you represent the fighting spirit of the United States military that has sustained our nations security and prosperity throughout history. Thanks for being here. You look fantastic. I want to start by acknowledging eral [applause] i want to acknowledge general dunfords career. He has led troops in war and peace through some of the most Challenging Missions confronted by our military. As the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, he reoriented joint forces to prepare for this new area of Great Power Competition upon us. I have had the opportunity to get to know him over the past two years and had the exceptional privilege of working very closely with him over the past two months. The department of defense has benefited greatly from general dunfords dedication and his care for the wellbeing of our servicemembers. He will leave behind a legacy of solid judgment and sincere humility that will remain with us and inspire us long after he departs. As he announced the transition to the next phase, they will surely be missed. On behalf of the entire department of defense, thank you once again for all you have done to protect and defend this great nation. [applause] we are very fortunate to have another incredible leader, assumed the milley, chair. I had a great pleasure of working alongside general milley, and i know the talent, energy, and dedication he brings to this position. During his time as chief of staff, he was instrumental in helping to rebuild the armys ranks, which suffered from insufficient Defense Budgets. He has helped the army repair prepare. The largest organizational change in years. The president could not have selected a more confident advisor or more capable soldier to help repair our military for the challenges of the future. General milley, congratulations to you and your wife as you take on this responsibility. I have no doubt you will continue to lead our military to greatness. [applause] today, throughout the world, the United States armed forces are postured to deter aggression and protect our people and our interests. The couple should all that our nation demands of us would not be possible without the support of the American People, the congress, and an administration that places the defense of our country at the top of its priorities. The department of defense has made tremendous gains thanks to President Trump, and our strength will continue to grow under his leadership. Preserving the military might that makes us the greatest fighting force in the world requires strong, steady investments in defense. The president has delivered the Defense Budget needed to rebuild our readiness. Maintaining stability around the world requires our allies and partners to contribute more to the security. Under President Trump leadership, they are now making significant increases in defense spending. Preparing for future conflicts requires us to be ready to fight in all domains. President trump has given us the authorities needed to effectively operate in cyberspace and is positioning us to defend our interest in outer space as well. I want to thank you, mr. President , for your unwavering commitment to armed forces, our servicemembers and their families, and a Strong National defense. Thank you. [applause] sec. Esper as we transition from one chairman to another, what remains constant is the willingness of men and women in uniform to sacrifice for the good of our country. Vice president pence, the son of a soldier and the father of a marine, understands the sacrifices well. He is a steadfast supporter of our military and a strong advocate for the wellbeing of our servicemembers and their families. As we prepare for the challenges that lie ahead, it is the sustainthat will readiness and fighting spirit of our trips. Ladies and gentlemen, please join me in will coming a tremendous leader and a great friend to the armed forces, the Vice President of the United States, mike pence. [applause] vice pres. Pence mr. President , secretary esper, secretary pompeo, members of the cabinet, general dunford, distinguished guests, especially the men and women of the armed forces of the United States, it is an honor to be here at americas post, the home of the oldest activeduty infantry unit in the army, the old guard. Joint base Meyer Henderson hall. As we install the 20th chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, general mark a. Milley. [applause] today as weence mark the beginning of general , we do well to pay a debt of gratitude to a man who has served this nation with distinction for 42 years. He led troops in battle during Operation Iraqi freedom, served as commandant of the marine corps, and over the past five years, i can personally attest, during her tenure, i have witnessed his strong leadership and sound counsel at the highest levels of our military and our government. Today, we pay a debt of gratitude to general joseph dunford. Thank you for your service. Thank you for being always faithful. [applause] vice pres. Pence and to general i know i speak on behalf of your commander in chief and a grateful nation, when i say to you and your family, thank you for answering the call to serve once again. Career,r nearly 40 year you have served with courage and distinction as a green beret, you have led troops in combat in iraq and afghanistan. You served as the 39th chief of staff of the army. Begins, general, let me assure you you have the confidence of your commander in chief and you are carried with the confidence and the prayers of the American People. Thank you for your leadership and service. [applause] vice pres. Pence as your tenure as chairman begins, i know you will be pleased to know that thanks to the leadership of President Donald Trump, you are inheriting the best supplied and best trained military in the history of the world. Is United States military the greatest force for good the world has ever known. Since the first day of this administration, President Trump has taken Decisive Action to make the Strongest Military in the history of this planet stronger still. After years of budget cuts, president fought for and secured , the largest investment in our National Defense in more than a generation, including the largest payraise for troops in more than a decade. Direction, wents produce a strategy that puts america first. Initiate the modernization of our nuclear arsenal. Nato allies are contribute more to our common defense. With the strong support of leaders in congress, we are well on our way at the president s direction to establishing the six the branch of our armed forces, the United States space force will soon be a reality. [applause] finally, chairman, as you know, this summer thanks to the president s strong leadership, Congress Approved a budget deal that preserves the historic investments we have made in National Defense and ends the defense sequester once and for all. The American People know President Donald Trump has no higher priority than safety and security of this nation. Today, by providing renewed leadership to the joint chiefs in general mark milley, President Trump is proving he will provide for the common defense with unyielding strength and as he said, we will defend our people. It is my great honor to be with all of you and most especially with all of those who wear the uniform of our armed forces here today. All who are gathered here who have worn the uniform of the United States. On this momentous occasion of the transfer of responsibility to the 20th chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, it is my high honor and distinct privilege to introduce your commander in chief and a great champion of all the men and women of the armed forces of the United States past, present, and future. The 45th president of the United States, President Donald Trump. [applause] pres. Trump thank you, very much. I have to start by saying that all my life, i have heard if it rains on a big occasion, it brings luck. I think you are going to be the luckiest general in history. [laughter] pres. Trump i want to thank everybody for being here. Vice president pence. Thank you all for the incredible servicemembers. We have the finest military anywhere in the world. The American Military is the greatest fighting force, without question, in the history of the world. Today it is stronger than it has ever been, by a large factor. No one on earth can match the awesome might of the american army, navy, air force, coast guard, and marines. We gather today for a truly historic occasion. We are here to welcome our Outstanding New chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, general mark milley. I want to congratulate you. You are my friend, my advisor, and you deserve this position. I never had a doubt. Congratulations. [applause] i want to express our profound gratitude to marcs wife and his children for their selfless devotion to our country , the strength of our military is truly found in the love and support of our military family, so important. Those families are so important. We are especially honored to be joined by some of americas gold star families. Your treasured loved ones made the supreme sacrifice for our nation. They are looking down on your right now. Look up in the sky. They are looking down on you. Our debt to you is infinite and eternal. America will hold you in its heart forever, and we will never forget. We are also grateful to the many veterans here today. [applause] pres. Trump to our heroic Wounded Warriors, our nation will always her member what you did for the cause of freedom. Secretary as well our mark esper. Thank you, mark. Great job you are doing. Secretary mike pompeo. Thank you very much. Wheelernistrator andrew. Thank you, andrew. Many of our great secretaries in my cabinet and service chiefs, i know we have a couple of wonderful representatives. Seee john carter and i brad, thank you for being here, fellas. I see senators were so supportive of this administration. Senator dan sullivan, thank you. From alaska. A great job. As we prepare to welcome a new chairman, we must first pay should be to one of americas most admired and beloved military leaders, echoing joseph dunford, here today with his wonderful wife. Hails from just outside boston. His father was a marine, and a tough one who landed in korea the reservoir. He knew which branch she was destined to join. Destined to join. What do you think . Not a big decision . Into77 he was commissioned the u. S. Marine corps. In 2000 three, joe commanded some of the First American troops in Operation Iraqi freedom and very successfully commanded them. For his exceptional bravery, he received the legion of merit with combat valor. As a general, joe was promoted so quickly he was nominated for his third star before he had formally received his second. How do you do that . How do you do that, joe . Named3, he was interNational Security assistant force commander in afghanistan. He was instrumental in strengthening Afghan Security forces to share more of the burden. Today they are indeed sharing much more of the burden. Became commandant of the marine corps. The next year he was named chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. In that role, joe published the firstrate military net assessment in 20 years. We have a lot of the ideas we have brought forward and we have spent 2. 5 trillion since ive been president , 2. 5 trillion, far more than this country has ever even thought about spending, but we had to have a modern, great military with the most magnificent and the finest machinery, planes, boats, ships, weapons of all kinds. We have never had anything like we have today. When i took over, we were a very depleted military. Today, we are a level we have never come close to. Joe solidified americas competitive advantage for global integration of the joint force. He also provided critical leadership during the complete rebuilding of our military and he helped me in another way, something that probably only joe and ellen really knew. Say 2015, i sat with joe at a dinner and believe it or not, i was getting a big award from the marines. Joe was presenting the awards. I had no thought of running for president. Family,o my wife and look at that guy. Great looking guy, isnt he . He like central casting. Ray out of hollywood. He made a great presentation that night. I got to talk to him because i sat with him and ellen and his asking lots of questions about the military. I said, you really enjoy this, dont you . I love our country. I said i dont know, what do you think . Should i give it a shot . He was one of the first people i asked. I said what do you think . Do you think i would have a shot . If i get it, we are going to rebuild that military. Form an opinion. He gave me a lot of information, and he has ever since. For that, i want to thank you and ellen and i want to thank patrick. I hope i got his name right. It was a long time ago, but i think his name was patrick, right . That i do good . I do good . He provided Strategic Direction to the campaign against isis in iraq and syria. With the great courage of our fighters, i am proud to say the isis territorial caliphate has been 100 completely obliterated. Office, it was a mess. Now we have thousands of captured isis fighters and we have 100 of the caliphate. As chairman, joe has been a strong supporter and crucial advocate for creating the six the branch of the u. S. Armed forces, something im really proud about. Something, when i make these big speeches in these massive arenas loaded with people, thousands and thousands, it just about gets the number one line of applause because i say we are creating the space force in the place goes crazy. Popularity, because that is where its going to be, more and more. General, your life example five those words that beat in the heart of every marine, semper fi. America salutes your incredible legacy of noble service. You have been exceptional. Thank you very much. [applause] pres. Trump i think they like you, joe. As one exceptional chairman departs, our nation gains another. Takes generallley dunfords place as the highest Ranking Member of the most skilled military ever assembled in human history. Mark has been preparing for his. Uty his entire life like joe, he grew up in a family of patriots just outside of boston. His dad was a navy corpsman, tough as can be. Was he that tough . No games . He says no games. Strong navya corpsman, serving with the Fourth Marine Division in world war ii. A veteran of the assault landings in the Marshall Islands jima. Gn and iwo the war, marcs mother also served at a Navy Hospital in seattle, treating wounded men from the pacific. Markred by their example, chose the path of duty and a life of service. He could have done whatever he wanted. Way. S exceptional in every in 1980, he was commissioned into the army and quickly joined the ranks of its finest soldiers. He graduated from the Army Rangers School and became a master parachutist and a green beret. Mark deployed to panama, colombia, korea, somalia, egypt, haiti, bosnia, iraq, and verynistan, often seeing close up the combat. Shown immense valor on almost every continent. He is the recipient of the distinguished service medal, four bronze stars, and two awards of the combat infantry badge with degrees from princeton, columbia i didnt know you are such a great academic. More. Give you a little im impressed with that. Thats very good. And the naval war college. But i like you anyway. Mark is living proof the american war fighters are the toughest, rapist, best, and brightest by far anywhere in the world. Following four deployments to iraq and afghanistan, he became the 39th chief of staff of the army in 2015. Over the last several years, he has worked tirelessly to rebuild the depleted force into a fully manned, fully trained, fully equipped army prepared to with to achieve complete victory in the conflicts of tomorrow. When we were determining where we were going to spend these billions of dollars like you have never seen, we have never seen it in decades, i went with mark i sat . , i sat with , and i know we spent it wisely. 2. 5 trillion. We built the Army Futures Command and he created Security Forces assistant brigades to reduce the need for large deployments. When mark took over, only two brigade combat teams were at the highest levels of readiness. Today, that number stands at 28. An extraordinary turnaround. I congratulate everybody here today. [applause] pres. Trump Americas Armed forces forces are more powerful than ever and growing even stronger. We have the newest equipment and we also have equipment that we keep under wraps that nobody has ever even heard of. That we pray to god we would never have to use. Nuclear has been totally rebuilt. Some brandnew and some refurbished. But we hope to god we never have to use any of our weapons, any of our weapons. In his new role as chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, general milley will serve as my chief military advisor. I have absolute confidence he will fulfill his duty with the same brilliance he has shown throughout his very distinguished career. Bradley great general to the famed joe dunford, our nation has been blessed by the advice, counsel, and wisdom of 19 chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. Today we passed the baton to the 20th. Together, we vowed to continue the Righteous Mission that has united every chairman and every patriot ever to wear the uniform and to defend our Great American flag. We will keep america safe. We will keep america strong. And we will keep america proud so that our children and their children will forever and always be free. Thank you again, general dunford , for the incredible job you and done, into general to general mark milley, good luck, godspeed, god bless you, god bless our military, and god bless america. Thank you all for being here. Thank. Rate honor. [applause] mea pleasees and gentlemen, direct your attention to the center of the field. A u. S. Soldier severely wounded by an ied explosion in afghanistan uses Music Therapy to hisitical component healing. He will now saying god bless ngerica he will now sayini america. God bless america all right all you proud americans, please joined us in singing a stanza of this patriotic song. Bless america [applause] ladies and gentlemen, please remain standing for the playing of the songs of the armed forces. The United States coast guard. The United States air force. The United States navy. In the United States marine corps. Ladies and gentlemen, the army song. [applause] ladies and gentlemen, please remain at your seats until the departure of the official party. [applause] [applause] cspans washington journal live every day with news and policy issues that affect the you. Democrats impeachment inquiry of President Trump. And martin smith will join us to talk about his documentary on mohammad bin salman entitled the crown prince of saudi arabia. At 7 00shington journal eastern this morning. Join the discussion. Networkay on the cspan , on cspan at 7 00 p. M. Charlie cook, editor and publisher of the cook political report, talks about th election and races he is tracking. Betsy devos and Kellyanne Conway talk about scholarships. A. M. Is on cspan2 at 9 00 on cspan3 at 9 30 a. M. Eastern a forum on chinas role in the world. The Supreme Court justices return for the new term next week. The first monday in october with the Court Hearing cases on employment discrimination based on sexual orientation. The trump administrations dhaka, and state funding for religious education. Listen on cspan. Org and watch on cspan. Chairs of the Democratic CongressionalCampaign Committee and the National Republican committee take part in a forum on the 2020 election and the impact of the impeachment inquiry