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SIMI VALLEY – U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND), member of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC), participated in the 10th annual Reagan National Defense Forum in California which brings together political leaders and stakeholders in the defense community to discuss ways the U.S. can strengthen its national defense and global leadership. The forum is centered on President Reagan’s doctrine of “peace through strength.”
During the forum, Senator Cramer joined a panel to discuss increasing national service, boosting recruitment, and ensuring military readiness. The panel featured Under Secretary of the U.S. Army Gabe Camarillo, Chief of the U.S. National Guard Bureau General Daniel Hokanson, and former Deputy Chief of Staff to President George W. Bush, Karl Rove. The panel was moderated by Ben Kesling of the Wall Street Journal.
“Good recruitment is based on a sense of mission. Whether it is the national guardsman serving their neighbor during a flood or a Marine seeking to be a member of an elite group of fighters, both are aspirational. Public leaders need to stop focusing on what divides and be driven by the mission of sustaining the most lethal fighting force in the world and deterring our adversaries. Recruiting should be focused on the continuum of a career so young men and women see their best options at the beginning and understand they won’t be forgotten at the end. The cumulative positive reputation of military service is incumbent on all of us.
“I’d like a president like Ronald Reagan who won the Cold War. He convinced the public we should go into debt to do it, and won it decisively by identifying the adversary, inspiring the solution, having a strategy, and communicating it every single day in a positive, cheerful manner. He won the war without ever firing a single shot.”
The panelists highlighted the similar challenges America’s all-volunteer force faced in 1973 after the U.S. withdrew from Vietnam. At the time, the U.S. military failed to meet recruitment goals and maintain morale within the armed forces. Through their respective spheres of influence, the panelists discussed how they are working to improve the perspective Americans have of the armed forces and encourage more people to answer the call to serve.
Click here to watch the full panel.