Today, the President of the United States gave the Commencement Address at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs.
I almost said “my alma mater,” but I was not so fortunate as to attend that magnificent institution.
Nevertheless, I consider the Academy part of my “greater alma mater,” the U.S. Air Force.
While one can read the entire address here, I will excerpt the parts that I think best represent the spirit of the Academy, its graduates and future leaders and — hopefully — our nation.
Also the part about Edward Camacho, a graduating cadet who — like me — grew up in South America, “got on a plane with a one-way ticket to America,” who, like me, is convinced that America is “the land of opportunity,” and who “today is closer to his dream of becoming an Air Force pilot,” something that eluded me. ¡Buena suerte, Edward!
This is my second visit to the Academy. I was here in the summer of 2008, and you were getting ready to head out to Jacks Valley. So I was proud to be here when you began this journey, and I thought I’d come back and help you celebrate at the end.
It’s great to be back at a school that has produced so many of the airmen I’ve known as President. Every day, I rely on outstanding Academy graduates who serve at the White House. Some of you know that photo from the Situation Room on the day we delivered justice to bin Laden — you can see right next to me a great leader of our Special Operations forces, General Brad Webb.
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This Academy is one of the most demanding academic institutions in America. And you have excelled. I’m told you have set at least three Academy records: The largest number of graduates ever to go directly on to graduate school; the largest number of female graduates in Academy history — (applause.) You will follow in the footsteps of General Janet Wolfenbarger, who I was proud to nominate as the first female four-star general in Air Force history.
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Cadets, this is the day you finally become officers in the finest Air Force in the world. Like generations before you, you’ll be charged with the responsibility of leading those under your command. Like classes over the past 10 years, you graduate in a time of war and you may find yourselves in harm’s way. But you will also face a new test, and that’s what I want to talk to you about today.
Four years ago, you arrived here at a time of extraordinary challenge for our nation. Our forces were engaged in two wars. Al Qaeda, which had attacked us on 9/11, was entrenched in their safe havens. Many of our alliances were strained and our standing in the world had suffered. Our economy was in the worst recession since the Great Depression. Around the world and here at home, there were those that questioned whether the United States still had the capacity for global leadership.
Today, you step forward into a different world. You are the first class in nine years that will graduate into a world where there are no Americans fighting in Iraq. For the first time in your lives — and thanks to Air Force personnel who did their part — Osama bin Laden is no longer a threat to our country. We’ve put al Qaeda on the path to defeat. And you are the first graduates since 9/11 who can clearly see how we’ll end the war in Afghanistan.
So what does all this mean? When you came here four years ago, there were some 180,000 American troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. We’ve now cut that number by more than half. And as more Afghans step up, more of our troops will come home -— while achieving the objective that led us to war in the first place and that is defeating al Qaeda and denying them safe haven. So we aren’t just ending these wars, we are doing so in a way that makes us safer and stronger.
Today we pay tribute to all our extraordinary men and women in uniform for their bravery, for their dedication. Those who gave their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan to make this progress possible -— including 16 graduates of this Academy — we honor them. We will always honor them.
Around the world, the United States is leading once more. From Europe to Asia, our alliances are stronger than ever. Our ties with the Americas are deeper. We’re setting the agenda in the region that will shape our long-term security and prosperity like no other — the Asia Pacific.
We’re leading on global security — reducing our nuclear arsenal with Russia, even as we maintain a strong nuclear deterrent; mobilizing dozens of nations to secure nuclear materials so they never fall into the hands of terrorists; rallying the world to put the strongest sanctions ever on Iran and North Korea, which cannot be allowed to threaten the world with nuclear weapons.
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We’re leading on behalf of human dignity and on behalf of freedom — standing with the people of the Middle East and North Africa as they seek their rights; preventing a massacre in Libya with an international mission in which the United States — and our Air Force — led from the front. We’re leading global efforts against hunger and disease. And we’ve shown our compassion, as so many airmen did in delivering relief to our neighbors in Haiti when they were in need and to our Japanese allies after the earthquake and tsunami.
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Today, we can say with confidence and pride the United States is stronger and safer and more respected in the world, because even as we’ve done the work of ending these wars, we’ve laid the foundation for a new era of American leadership. And now, cadets, we have to build it. We have to build on it. You have to build on it.
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After Pearl Harbor some said, the United States has been reduced to a third-rate power. Well, we rallied. We flew over The Hump and took island after island. We stormed the beaches and liberated nations. And we emerged from that war as the strongest power on the face of the Earth.
After Vietnam and the energy crisis of the 1970s, some said America had passed its high point. But the very next decade, because of our fidelity to the values we stand for, the Berlin Wall came tumbling down and liberty prevailed over the tyranny of the Cold War. As recently as the 1980s with the rise of Japan and the Asian tigers, there were those who said we had lost our economic edge. But we retooled. We invested in new technologies. We launched.
I see an American Century because you are part of the finest, most capable military the world has ever known. No other nation even comes close. Yes, as today’s wars end, our military — and our Air Force — will be leaner. But as Commander-in-Chief, I will not allow us to make the mistakes of the past. We still face very serious threats. As we’ve seen in recent weeks, with al Qaeda in Yemen, there are still terrorists who seek to kill our citizens. So we need you to be ready for the full range of threats. From the conventional to the unconventional, from nations seeking weapons of mass destruction to the cell of terrorists planning the next attack, from the old danger of piracy to the new threat of cyber, we must be vigilant.
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And as our newest veterans rejoin civilian life, we will never stop working to give them the benefits and opportunities that they have earned — because our veterans have the skills to help us rebuild America, and we have to serve them as well as they have served us.
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I see an American Century because more and more people are reaching toward the freedoms and values that we share. No other nation has sacrificed more — in treasure, in the lives of our sons and daughters — so that these freedoms could take root and flourish around the world. And no other nation has made the advancement of human rights and dignity so central to its foreign policy. And that’s because it’s central to who we are, as Americans. It’s also in our self-interest, because democracies become our closest allies and partners.
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And finally, I see an American Century because of the character of our country — the spirit that has always made us exceptional. That simple yet revolutionary idea — there at our founding and in our hearts ever since — that we have it in our power to make the world anew, to make the future what we will. It is that fundamental faith — that American optimism — which says no challenge is too great, no mission is too hard. It’s the spirit that guides your class: “Never falter, never fail.”
That is the essence of America, and there’s nothing else like it anywhere in the world. It’s what’s inspired the oppressed in every corner of the world to demand the same freedoms for themselves. It’s what’s inspired generations to come to our shores, renewing us with their energy and their hopes. And that includes a fellow cadet, a cadet graduating today, who grew up in Venezuela, got on a plane with a one-way ticket to America, and today is closer to his dream of becoming an Air Force pilot — Edward Camacho. Edward said what we all know to be true: “I’m convinced that America is the land of opportunity.”
You’re right, Edward. That is who we are. That’s the America we love. Always young, always looking ahead to that light of a new day on the horizon. And, cadets, as I look into your eyes — as you join that Long Blue Line — I know you will carry us even farther, and even higher. And with your proud service, I’m absolutely confident that the United States of America will meet the tests of our time. We will remain the land of opportunity. And we will stay strong as the greatest force for freedom and human dignity that the world has ever known.
May God bless you. May God bless the Class of 2012. And may God bless the United States of America.
The author is a retired U.S. Air Force officer and a writer.