MILCOM 2006 Conference

Thank you Dave [Major General (ret) Bryan] for the warm introduction ... It is delightful to be with you all today. I congratulate the organizers--you have done a marvelous job all these years. Congratulations to all of you on the Silver Anniversary of this event!

At the very beginning--I do want to recognize a few people, from the senior leadership of the Department of Defense--especially John Grimes, the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Networks and Information Integration. A few days ago, I went to a special event at the Army Navy Club. He was given an award by the Russian Technical Expert Delegation--did I get that right, John?--who came from the Kremlin and the Ministry of Defense. They gave him a medal for a lifetime of dedication to US/Russian communications--the hotline we've had all these years. They gave him paintings, plaques, accolades, and even a sword, and John--you richly deserved all of it! Thank you for the great job you do for the Department of Defense and the Nation.

Also, Lt. Gen. Charlie Croom is here today. He heads up the Defense Information Systems Agency, and he, too, is providing important leadership. Also, LTG Steve Boutelle, the G6 and Chief Information Officer of the Army is here. Thank you for everything you do, wearing the uniform of our Nation--thank you for what you do.

Now this is an organization that I can personally relate to. It's been a fascinating 45 years since I graduated with a BSEE in 1961. My career has literally encompassed the entire micro-electronics generation. In my senior year of college, the university offered, for the very first time, a transistor course. Literally, a transistor. This was about a decade after the first practical, point-contact transistors were built at Bell labs. Even though I'm pretty old, it's still an extraordinarily short period of time for all the micro-electronic changes that have happened since then--especially in area of net-centric design.

I'm not a designer any longer but I still have a keen interest in net-centricity--since it's the backbone of everything we do in the Department. On behalf of all Service members who wear the uniform of this Nation and put their lives on the line every day, I do thank you all for your leadership and innovation, and what you do every day to provide capabilities to the warfighter, at a time when our Nation faces multiple threats.

In these early days of the 21st century, America and our friends and allies face a much, much broader array of challenges and greater uncertainty than ever before.

Now, for the Department of Defense, the top priority is the war on terror. Terrorists are determined to destroy our very way of life--and of all who love freedom and liberty.

This is an adversary that cannot challenge us with conventional methods, so he makes full use of asymmetrical and irregular approaches. Terrorists hide themselves among civilian populations, they target civilians directly, they target the economic infrastructure that supports developed civilizations, and they disdain and despise the international laws of war.

And terrorists are technologically very savvy--they adapt to new conditions extraordinarily quickly. Though they aim to undo centuries' worth of progress, they are not at all reluctant to take full advantage of that progress. They use the latest technological innovations to communicate, recruit, and transfer money. They keep websites, and they update them in real time, to share their lessons learned.

The very technologies that you develop and the technologies that make globalization possible are used by terrorists throughout the world against freedom-loving nations. In fact, they have it much easier, since late-comers can take a short-cut. To use cutting edge technology, it's no longer necessary to study for years and complete a Ph.D.--nowadays you can now just download almost any technology from the Internet.

Globalization is creating vast new opportunities for economic growth, and it's extending the marketplace of ideas. But at the same time, all of those opportunities and ideas are equally available to our adversaries. The challenges of rapid technological change, and the ways that change might be abused, face all of us--the United States, and all of our friends and allies around the world. This is the fundamental technical and operational challenge of our time.

International terrorism is absolutely ruthless, and no one--no nation--is immune. As the President said a few weeks ago, this is a struggle "that will set the course for this new century, and determine the destiny of millions around the world." This is the fundamental strategic challenge of our time.