Aim high, airmen. Aim high. Now it is my honor and privilege to welcome our commanderinchief, the president of the United States, president barack obama. [applause] president obama hello, air force. Thank you so much. Thank you. It is wonderful to be back at the United States air force academy. Thank you, secretary james, for your service to our air force and to our nation. Governor hickenlooper, academy leaders, faculty and staff, especially your outstanding superintendent, Lieutenant General michelle johnson. And most of all, congratulations to the class of 2016. [applause] as he prepares to conclude a remarkable 40year career in the air force, a career that started on this day 40 years ago, please join me in saluting someone who many of you look up to and whose counsel ive relied on as well, chief of staff general mark welsh. Thank you, mark. [applause] thank you, mark, and thank you, betty. And although hes not here today, i am proud to have nominated another academy graduate, and
Military. And we make a as you know, our Quarterly Report is the largest data call that goes out every year to the u. S. Government, or every quarter on whats going on. When we ask these questions, were not getting answers anymore because stick ka, because our resources in the field are not there to answer them. Youre on to a very important part that goes beyond the literacy issue. It goes to the heart of the issue and that is do we have adequate resource to understand the capabilities of the andsf. Thank you. Anyone else want to comment on that . Compared to two years ago i think if threat to our personnel who are serving in afghanistan has grown. And im particularly concerned about our embassies wity and th inability of our personnel to move around the city of kabul or even well or anywhere else. So my first question is, do you think that the danger there has increased, and what if anything can we do to mitigate those concerns . So, since the drawdown of u. S. And Coalition Forces, t
Hopefully you are also a wise group as well. We are all in for a treat this evening with our speaker the turnout is a testimony of what obviously is the speaker and a testament to our patrons the paolucci who gave us this idea of the dual book award to celebrate the best and highest quality conservative book of conservative thought to elevate the debate is in order to continue that tradition that they started. I know they would be very happy this evening because of the Long Association with william f. Buckley, jr. Who was the first Vice President but also very involved with National Review and the conservative party of new york. Also the paolucci were involved with very for many decades. Were also happy to have to or three longtime friends of the paoluccis here. Two of whom are of the Book Selection Committee onetime york state senator and his wife in the long time secretary of the york states and executive director with a council of national literature. I encourage you to take a coupl
General grant, effectively ening the civil war. Well be live this afternoon for the next three hours as the commemoration continues today with reenactments of the gun stackings that took place on this day in 1865, when more than 22,000 general lees infantry troops turned over their weapons and battle flags. Also, later in our program, youll hear remarks from historian david bliegt who talks about the legacy of appomattox here at the park. Bru, first, we joined by the two men who played a starring role in thursdays ceremony, the surrender ceremony that you just saw here. We want to invite you to be part of the conversation. Glld what were you thinking as general lee rode away . Sadness. I felt for the confederate soldier. I knew they were suffering with the surrender after they had fought so hard for four long years. I felt the most climatic, the silence, no guns, no shouts, no battle songs. The silence was a sound that we had not heard for four years. And it occurred to me. General, yo
Positions. This hour is the top and 10 minutes. This talk is an hour and 10 minutes. Mr. David goetz is our speaker tonight. He owns the mosby leadership tours. He has published the hell is being a republican in virgina the postwar relationship between john mosby and ulysses s. Grant. He is the descendent who served the General Johnson and army of virginia in 18611862. He is the past commander of the black wars can 780 sons of the camp 780 sons of the confederate veterans and logic county. He has a professional background in public relations, sales, and marketing. He holds undergraduate degrees in english from bellarim university, and a masters of science degree in Community Development from the university of louisville. He is a u. S. Army veteran and lives in warrenton, virginia. Lets give a hand for dave goetz. [applause] thank you. It is a joy to be back here. It is a joy to see these faces. I am so happy so many of you came out tonight. I am grateful. Im going to do a little bit of