Former Secretary of Defense visits Utah State

United States Marine Corps four-star General and former Secretary of Defense James Mattis talked about American leadership in the world and discussed his history with the U.S. military on Tuesday at Utah State University. 

“We have a lot of high school and college students here,” Mattis said. “You are going to be leaders someday. If you cannot create trust, you cannot create harmony.” 

Mattis said the strength of the U.S. military is in its long line of veterans, and their example provides confidence in the young men and women who are actively serving. He added that understanding how human beings put themselves on the line to fight for the Constitution and civil rights gives us a better understanding of our history.

“We make this a success by never accepting where we are at,” Mattis said. “We are always trying to be a better country, a more responsive country.”

For America’s future as a nation, and for their relationship with foreign nations, Mattis said leadership in Washington D.C. needs to listen and learn.

“What worries me more than anything is the way we are treating one another,” he said. “Are we going to have a community of shared interest, or are we going to have chaos?”

Mattis said Americans must learn to trust their leaders, because someone cannot listen to someone they do not trust.

“If we could get our leadership in Washington to be rewarded for working across party lines, you would have people willing to listen to them when they say we need allies,.” he said.

According to Mattis, when he became secretary of defense, he noticed a lack of strategy in his department. As a result, he had to create some guiding principles for “the largest corporation in the world.”

His strategies were to make the military more lethal and broaden the number of allies in the U.S. He also wanted to reform the military’s business practices, so he could look Americans in the eye and say, “We are not wasting your money.”

In terms of lethality, Mattis wanted a strong, forceful military to ensure U.S. diplomats would always be listened to. In terms of business practices, he discovered the U.S. Department of Defense had not been audited in at least 70 years.

“Some say the reasons for not auditing were valid, but my role was not to have stress, my role was to create stress,” Mattis said.

After several audits, mistakes were caught, and the department began saving money, according to Mattis. As a result, the budgets for the U.S. Department of Defense had bipartisan support from Democrats and Republicans, he added.

“Keep the faith with our system,” Mattis said. “I know it’s got a lot of challenges right now, but Americans giving a strong, logical argument can pull together.”

American allies and broadening relationships with foreign leaders took up most of his time as defense secretary.

“I have had the privilege of fighting for our country many times,” Mattis said. “In not one occasion did I fight in an all-American formation. It was always with allies.”

Additionally, Mattis said there is no simple solution for peace in the Middle East.

“I don’t believe big grand bargains are possible anymore,” Mattis said. “Until education, economic opportunity and change in practices occur in some of these nations and religions, we’re going to have to hold the line and try to make baby steps.”

Mattis also spoke briefly about his time in the Infantry Branch of the U.S. Army.

He told the crowd, although he didn’t really like his job as a young marine, fighting alongside other marines and sailors who were willing to risk their lives made serving “an absolute delight.”

“The one thing I learned there was the coequal commitment,” Mattis said. “There was no difference between an 18-year-old private and a 60-year-old’s commitment to carry out their mission.”

 Mattis also acknowledged several gold star families, or families that have lost a loved one to military service, in attendance. His new book, “Call Sign Chaos,” was available for sale at the event.

Mattis finished with a message about America’s right to exist in the world.

“We have no divine right to survive,” he said. “We’ve all got to roll up our sleeves if we want to make this thing work.”

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