Military and Civilian Efforts Must Work Together to Keep Nation Safe

Washington, DC —General Michael Hagee, USMC (Ret.) and Admiral James Loy, USCG (Ret.) released this statement as co-chairs of the USGLC’s National Security Advisory Council:

“As former military men, we salute General Jones and the new National Security Strategy for recognizing we live in an interconnected world and must use all of the tools at our disposal to keep our nation safe.  That means having our civilian-led development and diplomacy efforts front and center alongside our military assets in meeting the foreign policy challenges we face today.

“Our diplomats and development experts must be empowered to do their jobs.  National security is a joint effort, and our civilian and military operations must work together to ensure we get it right.  This new Strategy sets us on the path to do just that.”

###

The U.S. Global Leadership Coalition (www.usglc.org) is a broad-based influential network of 400 businesses and NGOs; national security and foreign policy experts; and business, faith-based, academic and community leaders in all 50 states who support a smart power approach of elevating development and diplomacy alongside defense in order to build a better, safer world.