Obama Pledges Support for Troops, Veterans
(August 23, 2009) |
|
| WASHINGTON, Aug. 17, 2009 – America's men
and women in uniform have done their duty and fulfilled
every responsibility that's been asked of them, President
Barack Obama said today.
“And now,” he said, “a grateful nation must fulfill ours.”
Obama offered high praise for the troops, calling them the
heart and soul of the world's best military during a speech
at the Veterans of Foreign Wars' annual convention in
Phoenix.
“It's not the powerful weapons that make our military the
strongest in the world. It's not the sophisticated systems
that make us the most advanced,” he told the veterans. “No,
the true strength of our military lies in the spirit and
skill of our men and women in uniform.”
Obama said he recognizes his responsibility to “America's
most precious resource” and vowed to be deliberate in how he
commits them.
“I will only send you into harm's way when it is absolutely
necessary,” he said. “When I do, it will be based on good
intelligence and guided by a sound strategy. And I will give
you a clear mission, defined goals, and the equipment and
support you need to get the job done.”
Obama promised to ensure troops have the resources,
equipment and strategies they need to succeed in the current
conflicts as well as future ones. “We need to keep our
military the best-trained, best-led, best-equipped fighting
force in the world,” he said.
The president outlined some of the initiatives under way to
support this goal:
-- Growing the Army and Marine Corps, and halting reductions
in the Navy and Air Force to increase time between
deployments, reduce stress on the force and bring an end to
the Army's stop-loss, an involuntary extension program;
-- Providing more assets to support current operations:
helicopters and crews; intelligence, surveillance and
reconnaissance capabilities; special operations forces; and
armored vehicles and protective gear;
-- Conducting a top-to-bottom review of military priorities
and posture to develop a new blueprint for the 21st century
military the United States will need;
-- Balancing military capabilities to face unconventional as
well as conventional threats;
-- Modernizing the force by investing in new skills and
specialties as well as new technologies; and
-- Reforming the way the Pentagon does business to reduce
waste and get the most capability out of every defense
dollar.
Obama also recognized the country's responsibility to take
care of its men and women in uniform, as well as veterans.
He noted that his fiscal 2010 budget funds “increasing
military pay, building better family housing and funding
more childcare and counseling to help families cope with the
stresses of war.”
In addition, big increases will be devoted to providing
wounded warriors treatment centers, case managers and better
medical care, he said. These resources, he told the
veterans, will ensure wounded warriors get the care they
need so they “can recover and return to where they want to
be: with their units.”
Obama also noted the billions of dollars in the new budget
that will go toward treating post-traumatic stress disorder
and traumatic brain injuries that have become the defining
wounds of today's wars.
Increased funding will provide more treatment and
mental-health screening to reach troops on the front lines,
and more mobile and rural clinics to reach veterans who have
returned home, he said.
“We are not going to abandon these American heroes,” Obama
said. “We will do right by them.”
America's commitment to its troops will continue when they
become veterans, he said, noting significant funding
increases for Department of Veterans Affairs programs.
“Whether you left the service in 2009 or 1949, we will
fulfill our responsibility to deliver the benefits and care
that you earned,” the president promised the veterans.
Even during tough economic times, Obama said the country
can't shirk from its responsibilities to servicemembers and
veterans.
“Let me be clear,” he said. “America's commitments to its
veterans are not just lines in a budget.
“They are bonds that are sacred – a sacred trust that we are
honor-bound to uphold.”
| |
By
Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service
Copyright 2009
Comment on this article |
|
