- 10 months ago
DHS Sec. Kristi Noem speaks at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy’s 144th Commencement Ceremony.
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00:00Commencement speaker, Secretary Kristi Noem.
00:12Well, good morning. It is an honor to be with all of you.
00:15You are rock stars. Thank you so much for all that you've done
00:19to step up and to serve our country and to lead with vision.
00:23Years and years ago, I had a gentleman tell me,
00:25never get angry on behalf of someone, or never get angry on behalf of yourself.
00:31Always get angry on behalf of other people.
00:34And he also said to me in that same conversation that I had with him,
00:38he said, a leader with no followers is just a man out for a walk.
00:43And when I look out at this crowd of leaders,
00:46I want you to know that you will have an opportunity that few people get in this world.
00:50You will have an opportunity to lead and to cast a vision.
00:54And we all know that scripture tells us that without a vision, the people perish.
00:59You are people that are stepping into a time of consequence.
01:03You will be people of significance.
01:05You will be people that will change people's lives because of what you have the opportunity to do,
01:11how you will serve them, and how you will make sure that when consequences come
01:16that affect your people, that affect the United States of America,
01:19you will get angry on their behalf.
01:21That you will step up and that you will lead and that you will present the vision
01:26that the United States of America is.
01:29This day today is a very big deal.
01:31It's a very big deal for all of you, but for your families, but also for this country.
01:36Today you graduate after years of hard work, after surviving the swab summer,
01:42setting sail for weeks on Eagle, Physics 2,
01:44and what may have seemed like endless hours of drill on the parade field.
01:49You are more than just a graduating class.
01:53You're commissioning into the Coast Guard at the most exciting
01:56and at the most promising time that we've seen in decades.
02:00You're the first graduating class of a brand new Coast Guard.
02:04You're the next generation of Americans that are the finest maritime fighting force
02:10that we've had or that we've ever seen before.
02:13But this moment means so much more than just a diploma and a handshake.
02:18You know, when President Trump asked me to serve as the Secretary of Homeland Security,
02:23the goal was very simple.
02:24Our mission is to make America safe again and to do so with honor and with integrity.
02:29A top priority of that goal is transforming the United States Coast Guard.
02:34In fact, I remember having many conversations with President Trump
02:37and one of them most recently about the Coast Guard.
02:41And he said to me, Christy, as we sat in the Oval Office, what do they need?
02:44And I said, sir, they need everything.
02:46They've been neglected for too long.
02:48They need cutters.
02:50They need airframe.
02:51They need infrastructure that supports that.
02:54They need training and equipment.
02:55They need more Coasties out there serving alongside of them.
02:59And, sir, they are the point of the spear in our national defense.
03:03They are the key elite group that will lead our other military branches into the future
03:09and secure our country, not just here on our coastlines participating with our military,
03:14but they will lead across the world in how they conduct missions with our Navy, our Army,
03:20our defense forces, everywhere that they go.
03:22And he said, Christy, make sure we get them what they need.
03:26Get them the future that they need.
03:29Now, I want to share with you...
03:30I want to share with you today what part of President Trump's vision is for the future of this force.
03:43With your help, President Trump and I are going to make America's Coast Guard the strongest,
03:48the most capable, the also most effective military service in the entire government.
03:54I have traveled across the United States, and I've seen the Coast Guard at work.
03:58They've been protecting our country from Alaska to Miami, New York, San Diego.
04:03I've met with many Coast Guard men and women.
04:05And I've heard from them about your heritage, your dedication, your patriotism, and all of your devotion to duty.
04:13I've also gained an understanding of what you need.
04:16And I've heard it from people on the front lines, people that are doing the work every single day to provide security.
04:21Those needs represent the biggest Coast Guard readiness crisis that we have seen since World War II.
04:28You were 10% short of your enlisted workforce.
04:33Ships we had sailing was 75% of their crew.
04:36Many of these ships are old, they're outdated, they have obsolete technology.
04:41Aircraft were grounded because we operated them long past their service life, and shore infrastructure was crumbling.
04:49Ladies and gentlemen, that may have been the Coast Guard of the past, but that will not be the Coast Guard of the future.
04:55A new chapter for America's Coast Guard, one like we have never seen before, starts right now.
05:10Under my confirmation, I directed the service to begin the largest transformation since the modern formation of the service was established in 1915.
05:19We call it Force Design 2028.
05:21Force Design 2028 is our roadmap to revolutionize the Coast Guard.
05:27And today, we're going to begin implementing that bold blueprint.
05:32Force Design 2028 focuses on four different campaigns.
05:36On people, organization, acquisition, contracting, and technology.
05:42We're going to build a more agile, capable, and responsive fighting force.
05:46To do this, we will improve training systems, we'll boost access to medical care, modernize both the Coast Guard Reserve and the civilian management system.
05:56We will reorganize the service, and we're going to be more effective and capable in ensuring that the Coast Guard will always be ready to meet the challenges of the 21st century.
06:04As part of this campaign, the service will reduce the number of its admirals by 25% so that we can return the decision-making to the front line, where it belongs.
06:16We will develop a high-velocity acquisition and contracting system.
06:21This new system will rapidly deliver equipment and resources to the services that needs it to fulfill its commitment to the American people.
06:28We'll accelerate the adoption of secure, cutting-edge technologies that are fit for the challenges of our future.
06:34And these changes will define the Coast Guard that you will lead.
06:40You're coming into the Coast Guard at a better time in history than it's ever seen before.
06:46Now, President Trump and I are deeply committed to protecting and to defending this nation.
06:52We recognize that the Coast Guard's vital role in our safety and security is paramount.
06:56We are growing the number of icebreakers to meet the demands associated with the Arctic region.
07:02And we're focusing on recruiting, and we're succeeding.
07:06Admiral Lundy tells me that the Coast Guard has already exceeded its annual recruitment goal by 108%.
07:13So far this year, the Coast Guard has recruited more than 4,700 new members.
07:251,200 more than the same time last year.
07:29And over the last four years and the next four years, we will grow the service by at least 15,000 new personnel.
07:36There's never been a more exciting time to enter the fleet.
07:40So I'd like to offer you something as you step forward today.
07:44Five different reflections from me personally.
07:46Lessons that I have learned over my lifetime that I wish I would have known at your age.
07:52And lessons that I hope you carry forward with you in your noble service.
07:57Number one, that you are needed.
08:00Now, I would say that as I was growing up, I grew up as someone who didn't necessarily know I had any gifts or talents to offer the world.
08:07But I want each of you to know that you do.
08:10Each of you brings something special and unique to the Coast Guard.
08:14I realize that our armed forces prioritize discipline, precision, unity.
08:19But each of you has a special gift, a unique talent.
08:23Use those.
08:24Let those shine.
08:26Use those to serve others and to do your job and your duty that you have assigned to you within this Coast Guard fleet.
08:33Use your talents to find special ways to contribute to our nation's safety, our security, and our prosperity.
08:40And of that note, I do want to give a couple of shout-outs to some of the incredible achievements that we've seen out of this class.
08:47I know Parker Madden and Wyatt Duthu both reached 100 career hits in baseball.
08:52Where are they at?
08:54I heard they...
08:55Stand up.
08:57Be recognized.
09:00Awesome.
09:03You guys aren't a little competitive, are you?
09:07You're sitting a little far apart.
09:11Declan Rooney reached 1,000 career points in basketball and was named to the NEWMAC All-Conference Team.
09:18Where is he at?
09:20Stand up.
09:21Nice work.
09:25In women's basketball, we had Glory Bethan set the Coast Guard record in career blocks.
09:31Where is she at?
09:32Nice work.
09:34Nice work.
09:38And Caitlin Coates set school records in goals scored and points in women's lacrosse.
09:44Stand up.
09:45This year, Samuel Humphries received the Dale G. Gable Scholarship Award for the highest proficiency
09:57in math, science, and engineering coursework.
10:01Where is he at?
10:02Nice.
10:04Nice.
10:04And the Fulbright grant to attend graduate school at the Arctic University of Norway went
10:15to Elise Boshiman.
10:16Is she here?
10:17You're all a bunch of overachievers.
10:28Thank you so much for setting the bar so high.
10:31Whether your accomplishments are in sports, academia, or something else, your skills will prove valuable
10:37in your service.
10:38There will always be a role for you to play.
10:40It may be something that you don't even expect, but it will be exactly what you were meant to do.
10:47Number two, the second thing I'd like to leave with you today is I wonder if any of you have ever
10:52been in a vehicle driving down the road and you realize your car is not functioning properly.
10:58It jerks, something's wrong, you're not quite sure why, you can't turn the corners properly, it's sticking,
11:07something's wrong, and then you look down and you realize you have the emergency brake on.
11:11Have anybody ever done that before?
11:13I have.
11:14Come on, be honest, you can't lie at your own graduation.
11:18And then you take the emergency brake off and you're just shocked at how well your car drives.
11:24It's like it's amazing and you just can't believe that you just did that.
11:28Well, I want to encourage you in life to take your emergency brake off.
11:31There's so many things in our lives that hold us back.
11:34It might be our insecurities, maybe we think we aren't smart enough, strong enough, or outgoing enough.
11:40There's something in your life that always causes you to hesitate to take that next opportunity,
11:45go for that leadership position, take on that new challenge.
11:49Whatever it is in your life that is your emergency brake, I'm going to encourage you to take that off today.
11:55Let it go.
11:56Whatever opportunity comes your way, just say yes.
11:58Go do it.
11:59You have no idea what will happen to you if you attend that meeting, take on that assignment,
12:05that new challenge leadership role.
12:07You might learn that you have a gift or talent you didn't know that you had before.
12:11You might meet somebody there that changes your life forever.
12:14It might be your business partner someday, your new husband or wife or somebody that becomes your mentor.
12:20Take off your emergency brake and go and enjoy life and have confidence in who you are and what you have to offer.
12:27Now, Johann von Goethe, a great German author and statesman once wrote,
12:32Dream no small dreams, for they have no power to move the hearts of men.
12:38This country was founded by brave men and women who dreamed the huge dream of a nation founded on the principle of freedom.
12:46This Coast Guard has been built and strengthened by the dreams of men and women working to save lives.
12:52So what will you dream?
12:55What will you build, invent, create, fix, teach, heal, or protect?
13:00The Coast Guard needs you to dream those big dreams.
13:04Our nation needs you to build and to dream those big dreams.
13:08What dream will come next for you?
13:10Only you get to decide that.
13:12That's the power and the duty of freedom.
13:15Now, number three, quit being in such a hurry.
13:21Lessons that you have every single day that were taught here,
13:27you wanted to hurry up and get through them because they were challenging,
13:31because they were something that you wanted to get on to the next big thing.
13:36But not being in a hurry allows you to learn more, to build relationships,
13:41and to be people that aren't constantly rushing to get to the next thing,
13:45but are fully present in what they're accomplishing that day.
13:48I'm fascinated by the story of Edith Monroe.
13:51Now, you all know the story of her son, Douglas Monroe,
13:54the only Coast Guardsman to ever be awarded the Medal of Honor.
13:58But just as incredible in its own way is the fact that his mother, Edith,
14:02decided to join the Coast Guard after he gave what President Lincoln called
14:07the last full measure of devotion to this country.
14:12Edith Monroe took the oath to join the Coast Guard's Women's Reserve just two hours
14:17after she accepted the Medal of Honor on her son's behalf for President Franklin Roosevelt.
14:23She was 48 years old when she joined.
14:26When asked why she decided to join the Coast Guard, she said,
14:31We are a Coast Guard family through Doug.
14:34He loved his service, and I am very happy to be eligible to serve in it.
14:38She was certainly in no hurry to join the Coast Guard,
14:41but she joined when she knew it was the right thing to do.
14:45She didn't think it was too late.
14:47You will do great things.
14:49You might feel called, but you might not feel ready to be sent yet.
14:54Like Edith Monroe, your moment will come.
14:57It might be today.
14:58It might be when you're 28.
14:59It might be when you're 48 to take on that next challenge.
15:03But when that moment comes, seize it.
15:06Grab it.
15:07Take a hold of it, and you will win and win that challenge.
15:12Now, number four, life is built on the power of relationships.
15:17You may have had people in your life that have told you your entire life
15:21that education is the most important thing that you could accomplish.
15:24They may tell you that whatever job is out there
15:27or what you will do will define who you are.
15:30What I will tell you is that the world still moves on relationships,
15:35that the people that you meet, that you spend time with,
15:38will help you make the connections that will make you be successful.
15:42I want to tell you a story about a very special woman to me
15:45that I met years ago when I was at a meeting in Montana.
15:49She walked up to me, and we were having a nice conversation,
15:53and she happened to have on this beautiful bracelet that had pearls on it,
15:58and I commented on it, and I said, I like your bracelet.
16:01And she said, well, let me tell you about why I always wear pearls.
16:05She said, I wear pearls because they're the only precious gem
16:10that's made from a living creature.
16:12She said, and it's made from going through something hard.
16:15When the oyster gets a piece of sand into it, it hurts.
16:20It causes it great pain.
16:22But it works on that hard pain and challenge to form something around it
16:28that ends up turning it into something that's beautiful,
16:31turns it into something precious.
16:33And she used that opportunity to tell me about her Christian faith
16:38and about how Jesus can take your life that's hurtful and painful and challenging
16:43and turn it into something beautiful.
16:45But I also have applied that to things in life that are hard and difficult.
16:50I happened to be raised by a father who's a cowboy, who gave us impossible things to do.
16:56And many days I thought, he's not trying to raise us children.
16:59He's trying to kill us children with all the work that he gave us.
17:02But I realized years later that the reason that dad gave us so many hard things to do,
17:08because when we accomplished those impossible tasks, we became problem solvers.
17:14And when we got through a challenge that was difficult we didn't think we could do,
17:18it gave us the confidence to take on the next hardest thing.
17:22For some reason, this generation of Americans has decided that going through hard things is bad or wrong.
17:29I would tell you the exact opposite thing.
17:31Hard things are good.
17:33Challenges teach you who you are.
17:36They turn you into being a problem solver.
17:38And they give you the confidence to take on the next difficult thing.
17:42So whether it is something that you have in your life that you carry with you,
17:47for me, ever since that lady told me the story, I've always born something that has a pearl on it.
17:53To represent that life is hard.
17:56Sometimes my job is hard.
17:58Sometimes our family has challenges.
18:00But we can take those hard things and turn something precious into it.
18:04Something that living creatures go through that we can turn into something that will be cherished forever
18:10and that we can use as a testimony to the kind of people that we can be if we accomplish them and persevere through them.
18:17It's people more than tasks or titles that are going to shape your journey in life.
18:23Take on the challenges and make sure you build those relationships.
18:27The last thing I want to leave you with today is to always remember to say thank you.
18:32You all have professors here.
18:34You have parents and family members, other loved ones who helped you make it to this point.
18:40You all have classmates and peers who stayed up late.
18:43They helped you study for tests.
18:45They helped you get over some kind of an obstacle in training.
18:48And there's someone that you need to thank today.
18:51Maybe when you leave here you pick up the phone and call that individual.
18:54Think of the one person who kept showing up for you even when you doubted yourself.
19:00So find that person today whether they're here or if you need to write them a letter or call them on the telephone.
19:07Say a heartfelt thank you.
19:09Gratitude is powerful and it pays dividends.
19:13Because we woke up in this country today we are more blessed than 99% of the people in this world
19:20because we woke up in the United States of America.
19:23Now our nation is facing unprecedented threats to our national security.
19:27With incredible men and women like you joining our Coast Guard, I am confident that the American people will be safe.
19:35Take these lessons as you become officers in a military service that is more in demand than ever before.
19:41The American people expect you to win and they need our country to win.
19:46When you stop deadly drugs from reaching our shores, you save Americans from addiction and overdose.
19:52And you spare families from being ripped apart.
19:55When you work to secure our maritime trade from the threats of communist China, you not only protect our nation's economy, you secure our future.
20:03When you rescue those stranded at sea, you save lives.
20:08And when you sail icebreakers into the harsh and the unforgiving Arctic, you make our nation more secure.
20:16Your bravery, your dedication, your selflessness are reflected in your motto.
20:21Semper Paratus.
20:23Always ready.
20:25Whether you leave here today to go to a cutter, if you go to flight school, a sector, defend our nation, maybe in the cyber domain area or anywhere else, you will be challenged.
20:36But leadership is not for the faint of heart.
20:39Second Timothy tells us that God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and a sound mind.
20:48He has given you sound minds that make good decisions. Use them. And then look out on this field.
20:55I am confident that each and every one of you will rise to the occasion and that you'll meet those challenges.
21:00As you graduate today, know that you are ready and that we need you to be.
21:05Our Commander-in-Chief President Donald J. Trump supports you.
21:10As your secretary, I will always have your back.
21:14And I'm confident that you will support the American people.
21:17May God bless you and God continue to bless the great United States of America.
21:24Congratulations.
21:25I want you to stay standing for a moment because I've got a big announcement to make.
21:50We were not planning to do this yesterday, but we did get approval from President Trump in the Oval Office yesterday to announce the new leadership team that will be leading the Coast Guard into the future.
22:03This is exciting news for all of you as this leadership team has the vision to implement Forest Design 2028 and to be examples to all of you as you take on this unprecedented time in Coast Guard history.
22:17I'm proud to announce that today, Admiral Kevin Lunday will be the new Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard.
22:24From the Commandant.
22:26Congratulations, Commandant.
22:36Thomas Allen will be the Vice Commandant of the Coast Guard.
22:42Recommended for promotion to Admiral.
22:45Give him a round of applause.
22:47Today, I'm also privileged to announce a promotion of Deputy Commandant for Operations Vice Admiral Nathan Moore.
23:12And Joanne Burdian as Atlantic Area Commander.
23:16Recommended for promotion to Vice Admiral.
23:18Congratulations, Joanne Burdian.
23:19As your new Pacific Area Commander recommended for promotion to Vice Admiral, Joseph Bozella.
23:33And for the new position of Chief of Staff recommended for promotion to Vice Admiral, Douglas Schofield.
23:48I learned long ago that leadership has consequences.
24:05It matters who's in charge.
24:07It matters not just to the people that they lead, but it also sets an example for others across the communities, the states, and the nation in which they serve.
24:18These leaders have the full faith and trust of me.
24:22They have the full faith and trust of the President of the United States, and I am certain that they will not let us down.
24:28Congratulations to all of you, and welcome to your new leadership roles.
24:48Will the audience please be seated.
24:53On behalf of the Coast Guard Academy, thank you, Madam Secretary, for being with us here today and honoring the Academy and the Coast Guard with your presence.
25:01I would now like to present the United States Coast Guard Band conducted by Captain Adam Williamson, who will perform the Armed Forces Medley as arranged by Chief Musician Sean Nelson.
25:11All past and present members of the military invite to stand as the band plays their respective anthem.
25:21The United States Army.
25:31The United States Army.
25:56The United States Army.
26:15The United States Army.
26:20The United States Navy.
26:50The United States Air Force.
27:20The United States Navy.
27:50The United States Navy.
28:20The United States Coast Guard.
28:32The United States Navy.
29:02The United States Navy.
29:32The United States Navy.
29:34The United States Navy.
29:38The United States Navy.
29:40The United States Navy.
29:44The United States Navy.
29:46The United States Navy.
29:50The United States Navy.
29:52The United States Navy.
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