What's interesting, and I heard the introduction about five minutes ago about public opinion, is that the only institution right now that still has a majority of support, faith, trust, and confidence is the military.
Doesn't matter whether you're a Democrat or a Republican or an Independent.
It is the most trusted institution in America today, and I'm determined to keep it as such.
Keep out the politics, keep out the partisanship.
We don't trust our schools.
We don't trust our health care.
Obviously, we don't trust politicians anymore.
But we believe that the military serves us, and it's selfless service, and we're grateful.
And in fact, the thing that I want to emphasize as a very first way to kick this off is when you thank someone in uniform for their service to the country, do more than say thank you.
Buy them a meal.
I know they won't take it, but buy them a meal, pat them on the back, give them a first-class seat on the plane.
Do something meaningful, measurable, and tangible to express your appreciation.
Because let's face it, our democracy exists because of the men and women in uniform.
You said you want to keep out politics and partisanship, and I want to ask you about President Trump's appearance at Fort Bragg.
The military.com is reporting that there was quite a bit of politics and partisanship there.
There's a quote here I want to share with you from a commander at Fort Bragg, and he is anonymous to avoid retaliation.
He said this, this has been a bad week for the Army, for anyone who cares about us being a neutral institution.
He said this was shameful.
I don't expect anything to come out of it, but I hope maybe we can learn from it in the long term.
And this is in response to the people being, the soldiers, being screened for their political affiliation, for booing President Trump's political opponents, and for cheering for his politics.
I was there at the speech that he gave to the West Point cadets.
And I think for the first time ever, he invited cadets to come up on stage and be recognized for their service, be recognized for how outstanding they were.
And that's what I would prefer.
I would prefer it to be a celebration and a recognition of things that are exceptional and extraordinary.
As I said to you off air as we were talking, I will not do politics here.
I will not mention the president's name because I think today is essential that we maintain the commitment of the military to defend the Constitution.
And that's what people don't know.
And I say this to you all watching.
They don't swear an oath to the president.
They don't swear an oath to the United States of America or to the people.
Their oath is the Constitution.
And that is why they've been so successful.
That's not why they've been successful, but it's why we've been successful.
The Constitution above all, regardless of who sits at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
I don't know if you're a mom, but when moms hear warrior, they get nervous.
They love the service.
They love the character.
They love the sacrifice.
They love the selflessness.
But warrior concerns them, but that's their job.
And as someone who's an instructor there, who's, I guess, my title is senior fellow, I watch how this develops.
And I'll say this to you, and this should give you a sense of safety and security.
Not only are they developing a warrior ethos, but it's with character.
It's selfless service.
It's relentless.
It's all the attributes, discipline, determination, focus, kindness.
These are people who are being required to do the ultimate sacrifice.
But they have a heart and they have a soul and they love their country.
And what they appreciate more than anything else is the commitment to each other, to the man or woman to their left, to the man and woman to their right, to always have their backs, to always be there for them.
All the attributes, character traits that we really want in our young people, it's what's being taught at West Point and in our service academies.
So yes, they use the word warrior, but please include the fact that these are young men and women of character, of sacrifice, of commitment.
And one last thing.
A cadet cannot lie, cheat, or steal, or tolerate those who do.
Isn't that what we want in society?
Isn't that what we want for our kids, for our parents, for the people we work with?
These are attributes that we should be celebrating in addition to the warrior ethos.
And through those tests, we kind of gain confidence and realize where we're at and what we need to improve.
And that's how we know if we're ready or not.
To win this competition, we have a series of alumni that are out in the big army that are doing a lot of great things, serving their country.
And they put invested great amounts of time to this organization and to win it.
And so there's a culture that we create of winning.
And so this year, our task is the same as it's been for the last nine years: win the competition, because that's what you do, and that's the person you are for the alumni.
And expand this to the country.
What does it mean to America?
It showcases America is ready to go.
It showcases our lethality.
It shows that we're ready to support and defend the United States of America and its people.
And invites teams, obviously, from West Point, from the ROTC units across the country.
Usually they have more than a dozen of them.
There are often 15, 10, or 15 countries that are represented.
And here's what's interesting: competing in this tournament, in this competition where teams from Germany, Italy, and Japan, our enemies who we are killing 80 years ago are now on side competing peacefully, physically, emotionally, militarily.
This is to me the greatest success that these sworn enemies of our grandparents are now our allies.
And the competition, I got to read them to you: tactical combat care, grenade assault, land navigation, rifle marksmanship, weapons assembly, all sorts of fitness tests and obstacle courses, machine gun deployment.
And it's physical, it's mental, and it's based on team.
And all the skills that we require in the military are part of Sandhurst.
In fact, that's the whole purpose of it: to recreate those skills that they're going to need in the next 10, 15, 20 years of their lives.
I can't do any of them.
I can't even, I can't even put on a uniform, obviously.
I'm so intimidated by what they do in five minutes because it's more than I do in five hours.
The untold story of this is that I actually started at the Naval Academy before that.
And I wanted to teach there permanently because I saw that there was something different about the students.
That they were more serious, they were more focused.
They didn't ask questions to perform.
And they weren't seeking to be affirmed.
They were seeking to be informed.
But the Naval Academy never got around to it.
I have issues with bureaucracy.
It's a great academy, but it's too bureaucratic.
And West Point, in the meantime, said, why don't you come up, talk to us, do a lecture or two, which led to multiple lectures, which led to the pitch of a class.
So now I teach a course called You Are the Message.
These second lieutenants have to be able to communicate.
They have to be able to deliver orders, to be able to explain why you have to charge that hill, why you have to stand up when you'd rather sit down or go forward when you'd rather go backward.
And so I get a chance every semester to teach language.
I don't think I'm going to be too much longer, but it has been the greatest experience of my life over the last 30 years.
I haven't done anything as meaningful as this.
I actually have purpose.
I look forward to going into the class.
I look forward because I'm the worst human being in that group.
I mean, you smile at me, but I'm sitting there with 19 cadets, couple other faculty people, and I'm the worst human being of all of them.
Because I can't live, because I'm embarrassed, because I didn't, I promised I would not get emotional before I did this.
I did not serve.
Every night in college, I got to sleep in a warm bed, I got to drink, I got to do whatever.
On Friday night, this is several months ago, they're celebrating the 500th day.
They're going to graduate 500 days from then.
And I'm walking home.
It's about 9 o'clock.
It is snowing and sleeting.
And the weather is awful.
It's 30 degrees.
It's cold and wet.
And these people come pouring out of the dorms in uniforms and get up that I never saw before.
I was so intimidated.
Normally I take pictures of this.
I was so intimidated at Friday at 9 p.m., they're going to be outside for the next eight, ten hours on the ground, in the rain, in the snow, outside, cold and wet, and I'm going home to a comfortable place a mile from there.
It just doesn't seem right to me.
And they do this every day, and they do so with, they don't like every day, to be clear.
But they love what it means and they love to serve.
And these are people who would listen to the calls that you're going to take momentarily.
And frankly, I think they'd be upset.
They don't hear Democrat or Republican.
They hear America.
They don't think left-wing or right-wing.
They think Constitution.
And the three generals who run this place: General Gillen, who's the superintendent, General Garcia, who I'll talk about in a moment, because this is his program.
He's the Commandant.
And General Reeves is the dean.
These three generals have created or are stewarding a learning environment like no other.
You don't play games.
You don't perform.
You ask questions.
You're expected to challenge, but not in a way that is divisive or polarizing.
I have never had a discussion.
You know, I talk politics.
I've never had a discussion that ended with someone saying, I'm out of here.
They just don't do it.
Because they're taught respect.
And if there's one value that matters more, this is not the most important value for the military, but it's the most important value for a teacher and a professor.
Everyone doesn't love everyone, but everyone respects them.
And actually, at West Point, I made the comment before: you have to protect the person on your left and the person on your right.
It's part of the ethos of the academy.
And it's why I say to parents, don't send your kids to the Ivy Leagues.
The Ivy Leagues teach personal excellence.
West Point teaches team, teaches problem solving, critical thinking, team building, and the most important of all, which I don't get at any Ivy League, and I've taught at two of them, character development.
So you ask me what's different about West Point, it's the character.
And that is part of what the generals insist on.
It is not just military performance, it's also character.
You have to say to them, you will not do this because in the end, someone who says like six or seven or eight or ten times is not going to be a good communicator.
And that means they're not going to be a good leader.
Can I prove that if you guys back in the control room can queue up the next clip?
Because you're going to hear it from them.
They talk about this.
They, it doesn't matter whether you're West Point or the Naval Academy, if you're enlisted, and by the way, the people who I find respected the most are the leadership of the enlisted, the non-commissioned officers.
They keep our military running.
And the level of respect and appreciation is so strong, but I'd rather have the cadets explain that to you than me explain it to you.
My question is, with all the damage the left wing in this country has done to Democrat, progressive, liberal, leftists, with everything from DEI to the riots in Los Angeles to putting in this admirable, this fruitcake, lunch, whatever his name, whatever his name is, where do these soldiers stand when it comes down to a civil war with red states and blue states?
unidentified
Where do they stand?
Because it's inevitable that there could possibly be a civil war with the way things are going, with the left just keep pushing it, pushing it, and pushing it, pushing it, poking the bear.
To the West Point cadets, there are only the United States.
They don't see it.
They don't have glasses or edits that make them left or right, Republican or Democrat.
Which is probably why it's kind of weird for me to be doing this on this show, because you have a Republican line and a Democratic line to ensure that everyone gets a voice.
And that's really cool.
That's very important.
By the way, I do.
Your bosses here gave me the C-SPAN shirt.
I don't know if it's on camera, but I love this place because everyone gets heard.
At West Point, it's the Constitution.
And the Constitution doesn't have an R or a D after its name.
It's how they can applaud a Democrat and a Republican at the same time, how they can engage.
I think that we have issues, divisiveness, and an unwillingness to hear each other.
We do get our news to affirm rather than inform.
We don't hear the other side.
And the problem is we don't seem to want to anymore.
I teach my cadets to sit around people who you don't necessarily agree with, who don't look like you, who don't sound like you, and get the experience.
We just brought them to Europe for 10 days.
They got to meet four British prime ministers.
They got to meet the commander of NATO, General Cavoli.
They got to meet the head of the Finnish military.
They got to meet the leader of the European Commission military.
They got the broadest understanding of what Europe thinks right now.
And they look at us and they don't understand why we're doing what we're doing.
Europe looks at us and says, why are you so chaotic?
Why are you such a mess?
And please don't bring that mess to us.
And the cadets, the questions that they asked and the knowledge that they got from this isn't tinted based on partisanship.
It's focused on the facts.
And everyone, we all are told you teach a fact-based approach.
The goal of it was to ensure that people saw individuals who look like them.
So we got female leaders advanced and got promotion and people who might have otherwise been excluded.
But the highest priority for people who lead us and who serve us, whether in the military or the police or the fire or health care, education, all the things that matter in society, it's about merit, about performance.
Did you actually earn it?
Who you look like, what you look like, is not as important as what you know, as what you do, and the record that you've had, whatever track record you've had.
But I am becoming more and more dismayed with the tenor of the military and some of the thoughts that some of the military leaders and some of these bases and some of these enlistees, senior enlisted and military officers display.
Shift In Perspective00:07:11
unidentified
You know, Frank, I used to really like to listen to you and enjoy some of your discussions, but the more I listened, the more I felt that you're becoming a little bit more toward the right and having some kind of very distinct focus.
And you said that you were not going to be discussing the politics of the day and all.
But when you say that West Point tries to implement DEI, which stands for diversity, equity, and inclusion, which means that we want to include everybody who can be of value to us in leadership roles.
I don't see that.
You see where we have a president who came in and one of the most, two of the most educated and most brilliant military minds, was it C.K. Brown from here in this area here?
The idea of the cadets, and by the way, there's one more segment that you've got that I really want you to show of the video before we run out of time.
I appreciate the caller's point of view.
They talked about that there.
The president talked for a long time, much longer than the president usually talks.
So while he did not hand out the diplomas, he did engage them in what he was thinking about at the time.
So I find it very hard to criticize him for not devoting enough time when he actually spent an hour engaging them in his commentary and recognizing half a dozen of them for exceptional service.
I was going to say another thing that kind of changed me was like not to be afraid of suffering.
I think the best moments in my life have been while I've been suffering the most, like especially with your team.
When you're suffering the most is when your team, people do dumb stuff and funny things.
People say something funny and it's just, it's honestly, in that moment, the most hilarious thing in the world.
And when you look back on it, it's still the most hilarious thing in the world.
And that suffering is the only reason why that moment was so great.
And so I think suffering really like, it has such a negative connotation as regular society, but I think here is what brings us all together and it's kind of what makes Sandhurst such an awesome thing that we come back for and want to do again.
And it's so difficult now that I'm going to stop doing them shortly because it depresses me so much.
People are so mean.
You've had it on your phone calls before I came on, that they're looking to own people.
To them, the best thing that they can do is get on the air in front of a million or two or five million people, whatever many are listening, and just damn the other side.
We don't need to do that.
We all have faults.
None of us are perfect.
I go back to admitting mistakes and seeking the truth.
That's the way to live.
That's the way these West Point cadets live.
That's the way the military.
You see them on your camera shot right now.
The military is truly committed to the pursuit of perfection and the pursuit of the truth.
And I think that that's why they're exceptional and extraordinary.
I'm grateful for the callers who call in because that's what democracy is about.
And for those of you who've served in any branch, in any way, bless you.
Be healthy and be happy.
unidentified
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