Groundhog Shadow Day

DEPUTY SECRETARY ARMITAGE: Well, thank you. Mr. Kelly's got a career coming in politics. He said, can I get up there? (Laughter.) So I think you'll be all right.

Good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to your Department of State. I don't know about you’all, but I've had a pretty good day today, and I'll let Mr. Kelly speak for himself a little later, if Curtis enjoyed himself. We've had a ball having you in here with us.

On behalf of Secretary Powell, let me say to you that he would be here if he were not in New York at the economic forum, the Davos economic forum, which this year is taking place in New York. This is a program that, in a very real way, with America's Promise, he has been responsible for starting. He loves it. And the reason he loves it is because he gives us an opportunity to show you what we do on your behalf, and with your and your parents and your family's tax dollars, and it gives us an opportunity to interact with you. And maybe, just maybe, if we're real lucky, we'll be able to talk a few of you into joining us in the front lines of America's diplomatic efforts around the world.

When you've been with your various shadows today, I hope you've seen that this community of ours, this Foreign and Civil Service, and the Foreign Service Nationals who work for our Department of State, are over 30,000 strong. There are 30,000 of us in 258 posts around the world. And some of those posts are mighty glamorous, like Paris and London and Berlin. And some of those posts are mighty tough, like Kabul, Afghanistan and Tajikistan, and places like that.

So your Foreign Service officers -- and they are yours -- they work for you; they represent our country. They are the first line of diplomacy; they are the people who are putting forth to the international community our values, our ideals, our way of life, our view of transparency, our attempts at racial harmony, our attempts to have a multiethnic, multi-religious society which treats everyone with respect and with dignity.

And these colleagues of ours, and maybe someday of yours, who are working for us around the globe, are not only developing relationships between nations; they're not only trying to better our relations with one nation or multilaterally with a group like NATO, or something of that nature. They are also doing many, many other things. They are trying to combat the spread of HIV/AIDS on the continent of Africa and Central Europe, in Russia, and around the world. They are providing humanitarian assistance in Afghanistan today, in Central America, in everywhere, even in North Korea, a country which is an enemy of ours.

But this nation of ours doesn't use food as a weapon. We do believe -- we feed the hungry. We may have political differences, but we feed the hungry.

Your diplomats are involved in trying to stop the scourge of trafficking in persons, the women and children who are taken across national lines for purposes of slavery or prostitution or both. Every element of life will involve the diplomatic activities of your Department of State. And we are absolutely delighted that all of you chose to spend some of your day here with us.

There are a lot of ways to serve. You can serve in the US Military, as some of us have. You can serve in the US Department of State, as we certainly hope some of you will. You can serve in public health, emergency medicine. There are a million, million ways to serve this country. And if we had the ability to leave one idea with you, it would be that as you go on in your life and as you hopefully continue your education, or whatever direction you take, remember to give a little bit back.

Now, obviously we want you to stay in school. We want you to continue on a path that will allow you to take your place in the annals of diplomatic history. We want you to make right choices. That doesn't mean that every single choice you make is right, because I can assure you Secretary Powell didn't do everything right growing up. If you read his book, you'll know that. And I can double-assure you that I didn't. If you read the newspapers, you'll know of some of my earlier life.

But the point is we try to do right at every opportunity. We try to make right choices and try to put yourselves in the position where the right choices will be easier to achieve and easier to take.

Now, Curtis and I -- I don't know how you interacted individually with your various shadows -- but Curtis and I have decided that if he's got something he wants to talk about, my door is open. I've had eight children. Every one of them, just like me, have made some good choices and some bad choices. And they are still continuing on, and just like me, they'll make good choices and bad choices. But as far as we're concerned, if there's something he wants to talk about, I'm here to talk about it, and I hope that's the case that you found with each of your shadows today. At least, that's the case that I want it to be.

And if you'd like, I'd be more than happy to try to respond to a few questions from the field, if you've got a couple. And if I can't answer it, I'll reach out to Under Secretary Greene, or maybe we'll let Curtis do it. He's just come from a television interview. He did a lot better up there than I did. So I think if it's not in politics, it might be in broadcasting will be his career.

So why don't I turn it over to you and see if you've got anything to say, any questions to ask. Please.

QUESTION: My name is Brandi West, and today our shadow, Mrs. Cunningham, and we had -- she had made me a special badge. Her Under Secretary, her friend. And she took me around and gave me -- she gave me a folder, and that's all.

(Laughter and applause.)

DEPUTY SECRETARY ARMITAGE: Well, that's all right. That sounds to me like a lot, and I know where you're going to have a career; you'll be up here in front of this microphone. (Laughter.) No problem.

Who's next? Please.

QUESTION: Today I followed Assistant Secretary Carpenter, but today he was in a meeting, so I followed an agent (inaudible). And they're in charge of the Diplomatic Security Services. Today we went -- I got to go and sit in Colin Powell's limousine.

DEPUTY SECRETARY ARMITAGE: All right.

QUESTION: I got to see his office, I got to see what the picture of his house looked like. I got to go downstairs in the basement, and that's where parts of the security, where all the cameras -- they showed me part of the -- everywhere a camera can go.

DEPUTY SECRETARY ARMITAGE: It's kind of spooky, isn't it? With everybody -- wherever you go, you're being watched.

QUESTION: They showed me -- from outside, inside, from when we had the (inaudible) show. They showed us when we were out there, even though I was outside, watching this outside.

We got to -- that's it.

DEPUTY SECRETARY ARMITAGE: Well, you know, Secretary Carpenter is the Assistant Secretary. He's in charge of Diplomatic Security. There are about 1,300 people who work for him. But they are the ones who protect us day in and day out, and they are the ones that in the wake of 9/11 were out front guarding this building, keeping us safe. You also saw the dogs, didn't you, today?

QUESTION: Yes.

DEPUTY SECRETARY ARMITAGE: We went down, and we saw the dogs who were bomb-sniffing, things of that nature. So you didn't have a bad morning and afternoon.

Yes, sir.

QUESTION: I've got two questions to ask you.

DEPUTY SECRETARY ARMITAGE: You're only one guy; how come you get two questions?

(Laughter.)

That's okay.

QUESTION: I want to know what university did you attend? And what field did you study? What field did you study in college?

DEPUTY SECRETARY ARMITAGE: I'm going to trick you with the answer, see. Some people would say I didn't have a college education, because I went to the US Naval Academy. (Laughter.) And I studied being in the military, and I studied naval engineering. And it has absolutely nothing to do with my present occupation. In fact, it's almost the antithesis, being a military officer, from the present occupation. But it was, and it did have in common, an element of service. And as I say, whether you're in the military or anything else, in the service.

You've got a follow-up?

QUESTION: What field did you study?

DEPUTY SECRETARY ARMITAGE: Naval engineering. I was an engineer.

QUESTION: I was just wondering, what's the difference between the Department of Defense and the Department of State, since you used to work in the Department of Defense?

DEPUTY SECRETARY ARMITAGE: Well, you mean in working in the Department of Defense and the Department of State? The Department of Defense is relatively -- they're excellent at what they do, but their field is relatively narrow. They are involved with the defense of this nation, whether it's in offensive operations or in defensive operations. Here in the Department of State, the field is much broader. You have to take into consideration not only relations between nations and sort of how to put coalitions together to fight wars or to prevent wars; you're involved in all the other aspects of international life -- international economics which affect us all and is being discussed by Secretary Powell in New York now.

The issues I mentioned, which we call transnational issues -- trafficking in persons, narcotics trafficking, which is a big element of our -- or at least trying to stop narcotics trafficking, a big element of our life here in the Department of State. So we're much broader and we have a much greater and larger mandate than the Department of Defense.

QUESTION: I wanted to know, did you have any Naval Seal training?

DEPUTY SECRETARY ARMITAGE: No, I was actually their instructor. I was their instructor for PT and for counter-insurgency.

QUESTION: I wanted to know how many years did you serve in the Navy?

DEPUTY SECRETARY ARMITAGE: Nine and a half, almost ten years in the Navy.

QUESTION: Since you was in the Navy, would you have rather been in the Department of Defense?

DEPUTY SECRETARY ARMITAGE: Would I have rather been in the Department of Defense? I was in both. I was in the Navy first. I went to the Department of Defense later for nine years as an Assistant Secretary of Defense.

Okay, one more and then I think Curtis is going to say a few words.

QUESTION: I know a lot of changes have been made since September 11th. Are they finished or are there still more changes to expect? Is there still a lot that is still being processed?

DEPUTY SECRETARY ARMITAGE: Yes, I think there are many changes to expect. One of the luncheon guests who sat with Curtis and I today was George Tenet, the Director of the CIA, and he would tell you that we still have a lot of threats out there; we still have a lot of adjustment to do; there are still people out there who wish us evil and wish us harm.

In the first instance, we are going to defend against those. The lessons we have learned about how to conduct ourselves against terrorism coming out of Afghanistan is going to change the way we do our business in terms of warfare and in terms of diplomacy, how we marshal these great coalitions for the great efforts of our time. So, yes, there's plenty of change and plenty more to come. And if you've flown out of an airport recently, one of our domestic airports, you'll see there are plenty changes already in place.

Mr. Kelly, would you like to take the podium?

MR. KELLY: Good evening. I had a great time here. I've been a shadow of Mr. Richard -- I call him Richard, by his first name, because we're cool. (Laughter.) So I've been in several meetings. I feel like I work here already. (Laughter.)

I've been to a luncheon today. I don't know how you all luncheon was, but mines was great. NBA All-Star Sharif Abdul-Rahim was there and the coach of the Georgetown Hoyas was also there, and we all talked and had a great time. And I just look forward to coming back here. Thank you.

(Applause.)

DEPUTY SECRETARY ARMITAGE: Thank you. Let me thank all of you for spending your time and sharing your day with us. This is a very innervating experience for those of us who work at the Department of State. I hope you will find it the same way. We are better off for you all having spent these hours here, and for that I thank you. So here's to you.

(Applause.)