MARK ESPER

I've stepped down from jobs that paid me well more than what I was working anywhere else. And each time, it was to serve the public good and to serve the young men and women of our armed services.

At the age of 18, I went to West Point, and I swore an oath to defend this Constitution, and I embraced a motto called duty and honor and country. And I've lived my life in accordance with those values ever since then.

When I went to West Point, I was there with cadets from 50 other states and territories. Cadets from other countries, and you learn all of these things about our country, about our culture, our heritage, our ethnicity. At the end of the day, you come back, we all wear green, and we all consider ourselves an Army.

President Trump has called on other nations to do more, and they have responded. By the end of 2020, our NATO allies will spend an additional $100 billion on defense, an unprecedented increase that will make the alliance stronger.

We do not want war with Iran.

If you talk to any senior Army leaders, you'll find one, if not all, their children are in the Army.

I've been studying China for quite some time now, and I'm big on China as well. And I think we need to be very concerned about Chinese technology getting into our systems or the systems of our allies.

AI will allow the soldier to act and think much more quickly. Whoever gets to AI first, I believe, will have dominance for many years afterward.

Now, 'high-intensity conflict' is a fancy word for saying tanks on tanks, aircraft shooting each other out of the sky, a great deal of violence at a level we haven't seen since probably the Korean War or World War II, where you have big armies facing off against one another.

We certainly have the best special operations forces in the world and know how to do counterterrorism extremely well.

In many cases, the reason why our child development centers are not at full capacity is that we have an insufficient number of providers.

Child care is very important, so I want to put dollars there, and I want to make sure we get the policies right.

The surest way to deter adversary aggression is to fully prepare for war.

We may be a little bit late - we are late - coming to the recognition that we are in a strategic competition with China.

One of the key challenges the military has faced - and the Army, in particular - is defining our requirements and keeping them stable.

The Army I grew up in was focused on high-intensity conflict against a peer competitor called the Soviet Union.

It's my commitment to the nation's security, it's my commitment to the men and women in uniform that drives me. Not anything else.

If you see something that doesn't make sense, ask. Change it. Think about dollars, think about your soldiers' time, think about efficiency.

I think artificial intelligence will likely change the character of warfare, and I believe whoever masters it first will dominate on the battlefield for many, many, many years.

Stay focused on your mission, remain steadfast in your pursuit of excellence, and always do the right thing.

I raised the standards on recruiting.

I felt that I had, again, great freedom to do what I wanted to do. I felt that I was trusted to train my soldiers, and I was accountable for it.

The biggest challenge is clearly China, in the years 2035 and beyond. I mean, the size of the country, its economy, and everything - they're - it is a big strategic competitor for the entire Department of Defense and country.

Our legacy platforms have served us well for decades, but we're running out of upgrades that will keep us ahead. Technology is changing too fast, and our enemies are too adaptable.

Seventeen consecutive years of irregular war, extended years of budget uncertainty, and an increasing complex security environment have eroded our competitive edge.