One of the key challenges the military has faced - and the Army, in particular - is defining our requirements and keeping them stable. Mark Esper More Quotes by Mark Esper More Quotes From Mark Esper Stay focused on your mission, remain steadfast in your pursuit of excellence, and always do the right thing. Mark Esper do-the-right-thing focused excellence Clearly, we need a strong economy to build a strong military. Mark Esper strong-economy need strong military 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. Mark Esper intelligence change character believe 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. Mark Esper challenge everything big country The National Defense Strategy remains our guiding document, and everything we do should support its stated objectives. Mark Esper everything strategy support defense It is an honor of a lifetime to be appointed secretary of defense and to lead the greatest military in history. Mark Esper lead military honor history Together, we will remain the most ready and capable military force in the world, which is what our nation expects and deserves. Mark Esper nation will together world If you see something that doesn't make sense, ask. Change it. Think about dollars, think about your soldiers' time, think about efficiency. Mark Esper think you change time Good alliances are made of strong, capable partners. Mark Esper good capable strong made Child care is very important, so I want to put dollars there, and I want to make sure we get the policies right. Mark Esper child care important want The Brits are escorting their ships, and we will escort our ships, and I assume other countries will escort their ships. Mark Esper assume our will ships Seventeen consecutive years of irregular war, extended years of budget uncertainty, and an increasing complex security environment have eroded our competitive edge. Mark Esper uncertainty security environment war 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. Mark Esper enemies will legacy technology Our warfighting doctrine is that we don't want to be in a fair fight, and we want the fight to always be tilted in our favor. Mark Esper fair fight always want In the Army, I grew up with this view that you're asked to do anything that is illegal or immoral or unethical, then that would be the point at which you have to consider resignation, and you'd be willing to do that. Mark Esper view you resignation army A collective security relies on everybody doing their fair share. Mark Esper fair doing security share The Army is a big mixing bowl, and we know that we wear one uniform. We identify with one set of Army values. We serve one Constitution, and we see ourselves as one team. Mark Esper uniform constitution army team In my day, we had mastered high-intensity conflict, which is why I think we were so successful in Desert Shield, Desert Storm, and then eventually the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Mark Esper day think desert storm The Army I grew up in was focused on high-intensity conflict against a peer competitor called the Soviet Union. Mark Esper against focused conflict army 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. Mark Esper great you sky war