Have general john allen, United States marine corps retired, fourstar general, former commander of Nato International Security Assistance force in afghanistan. It is my great pleasure to introduce you general john allen, United States marine corps. [applause] got an ambush and already this morning. [laughter] cadet kim was going to introduce me. I think we have got all the introduction we need outoftheway. It is an honor to be with you and incredibly humbling to come in behind a couple tuskegee airmen. Be a bad asked. I am not sure how you do better than that. Badass. I am not sure how you can do better than that. I would like to do some q a. We will talk about major points. One. Your oath of office. This is a moment where our constitution is constantly in peoples minds. It is an issue being debated, what the intent of the framers was. There is no doubt about where it fits in the context of the oath of office of those of you who will lead our troops in combat. Speaking about the oath o
Manpower and morale after tet rather than the us via us war in vietnam, did something change . In the months and years that followed, media documented a growing crisis. Frequent stories of malaise and desertion, drug use, combat refusal, challenges to legitimate authority along with scandals and atrocities most infinite infamous was the massacre. Documents tell much the same story. In thinking about what happened after the tet offensive we suggested things were different in the period before 1968. As we Start Talking about post tet i thought i would give you a quick picture of pretran2. The most common claims the most common claims that are made within the military and circulated is that in vietnam the United States had the best trained, best equipped, best disciplined force in its history, one of high morale. Speaking in may 1966, exceeding my expectations. I have also the journalist peter arnett in 1966 say remount morale is remarkably high. Heres sla marshall former combat historian
Announcer coming up next, author Sharon Tosi Lacey talks about american strategy in the pacific. Highlighting the battle of saipan. She explains how u. S. Army soldiers and marines worked together during the campaign. She described their successes and failures. The event ran an hour and a half. It was hosted by the new York Military affairs symposium. Sharon tosi lacey thank you very much for having me. I want to thank my mom, daughter and husband for being here to support me. One of the earlier mend mentioned that there were four general smiths in the pacific. 3 were involved in the operations. I titled that chapter a tale of three smiths. I will talk to you about the battle of saipan. I look at the Lessons Learned as the military drove through the Central Pacific in world war ii. We traced their development and amphibious warfare as they go from the canal to the gilberts and ultimately a chronology. Trying to build on the mistakes they continued to make. Saipan is the most interestin
Announcer coming up next, author Sharon Tosi Lacey talks about american strategy in the pacific. Highlighting the battle of saipan. She explains how u. S. Army soldiers and marines worked together during the campaign. She described their successes and failures. The event ran an hour and a half. It was hosted by the new York Military affairs symposium. Sharon tosi lacey thank you very much for having me. I want to thank my mom, daughter and husband for being here to support me. One of the earlier mend mentioned that there were four general smiths in the pacific. 3 were involved in the operations. I titled that chapter a tale of three smiths. I will talk to you about the battle of saipan. I look at the Lessons Learned as the military drove through the Central Pacific in world war ii. We traced their development and amphibious warfare as they go from the canal to the gilberts and ultimately a chronology. Trying to build on the mistakes they continued to make. Saipan is the most interestin