Good evening, ladies and gentlemen.

Trish and I are honored to be here with you tonight for this milestone celebration.

It is great to have you with us this evening. To our fellow general officers, both active and retired—thank you for your continued leadership. And to the team at the National Museum of the Marine Corps—thank you for being the stewards of our story.

Tonight is more than a celebration—it’s a reaffirmation of the mission to preserve, promote, and share the legacy of our Corps with future generations. This museum is one of the most sacred spaces in our Corps, and there is no better place to reflect on where we’ve been—or where we’re headed.

Let’s also take a moment to recognize the team that made tonight possible—from the event staff to the behind-the-scenes professionals who worked tirelessly to deliver tonight and who will be closing up after the conclusion of tonight’s event. Please join me in thanking them.

Tonight, we mark 250 years of Marine Corps history. That’s two and a half centuries of standing post, answering the call, and doing the hard things that our nation has asked of us. From the first recruits gathered at Tun Tavern in 1775 to the Marines forward-deployed around the world tonight…we have never broken faith with the American people.

Walk these galleries and you’ll see it…Marines in the fighting tops under sail, storming the beaches of Nassau, fighting hand-to-hand at Belleau Wood, kicking in doors in Baghdad, and conducting counterinsurgency operations in southern Afghanistan.

Every exhibit, every image, reminds us that this title—United States Marine—isn’t given, it’s earned. And what we earn is more than a uniform. It’s a legacy. A bond. A standard that never changes, even when the battlefield does.

There’s a quote that’s etched into the heart of every Marine who’s ever passed through recruit training: "Once a Marine, always a Marine." That’s not just sentiment—it’s truth. It’s why we’re here tonight. We’re not celebrating a number. We’re celebrating a legacy of grit, sacrifice, and esprit de corps. We’re celebrating the fact that for 250 years, no matter where or when we were needed, the Marines showed up. We went first. We went hard. We answered the call. We are the first to fight.

Together, we’ll ensure that the legacy of the Marine Corps—preserved and championed by the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation—continues to inspire new generations of Americans, and that our story remains one of courage, sacrifice, and unwavering service.

Now, I’ve been asked to offer a few words on the state of the Marine Corps—and I’ll do that gladly, because I get to stand up here and tell you something simple and true: your Marine Corps is strong.

Today, more than 33,000 Marines are forward deployed or forward stationed around the world…that’s one-third of our total operating forces. Between I and III MEF, we’re executing seven multinational exercises and three Theater Security Cooperation missions—reassuring partners and deterring adversaries.

And don’t think for a moment that II MEF is any less engaged. As our service-retained MEF, it has Marines deployed across seven countries and three continents— demonstrating that posture, backed by capability, is what keeps the peace.

One of the clearest displays of global strength we have is the Amphibious Ready Group and Marine Expeditionary Unit. It’s what makes the Navy-Marine Corps Team the world’s premier expeditionary force. The ARG/MEU is the Swiss Army Knife of the Joint Force—when on station, it provides lethal response options to national decision-makers.

It creates dilemmas for adversaries. And, it supports campaigning alongside our allies. It remains one of the most flexible, mobile, and cost-effective tools in our arsenal. But since the end of the Cold War, necessary decisions and shifting priorities have led to a gradual decline in amphibious capacity.

The result: we no longer have enough ready ships to meet the operational demand. Our vision…our North Star—is to restore the 3.0 ARG/MEU presence.  That means three consistently deployed three-ship MEUs: one from the East Coast, one from the West Coast, and one forward-deployed in Japan.

That’s the minimum needed to meet the demand signal coming from combatant commanders. But today, amphibious warfare ship readiness is below 50%. Getting to a 3.0 ARG/MEU means 31 ships at 80% readiness. We need to fix what we have and buy what we need. The recent LHA/LPD block buy was a good start, but we’ve got work to do—across industry, Congress, and the Pentagon—to deliver this critical component of our national defense.

Operating inside the First Island Chain is also a challenge and demands tactical mobility platforms—and the Landing Ship Medium is the Marine Corps’ answer. It’s how Marines will sustain combat power inside contested spaces.

This isn’t a future concept—it’s our solution. We’re building it in phases.

Our near-term fix is the Littoral Maneuver Bridging Solution…using what we can get our hands on—Stern Landing Vessels, LCUs, and Expeditionary Fast Transports to get Marines moving now. LSM Block I is our mid-term solution…a no-frills, non-developmental vessel that can maneuver and persist inside the weapons engagement zone, enabling Stand-in Forces and closing the mobility gap. We are cautiously optimistic we may start bending steel within the next year.

And finally LSM-Next, our long-term solution, evolves with the threat—using spiral development to keep us ahead of the fight. This is how we close the mobility gap and sustain pressure forward. The threat environment demands it, and we’re delivering it.

The Marine that is forward deployed also needs the tools to prevail in the future fight. That’s why we are continuing to modernize across the entire Marine Air Ground Task Force—to ensure Marines are equipped to deter, and if necessary, defeat a peer threat.

We are now going into our sixth year of Force Design, and we are well into the implementation phase.

The Fleet Marine Force is receiving the capabilities we envisioned, and formations are reorganizing to match the fight ahead.

This is happening time now—across the Marine Air Ground Task Force, the MEUs, and the MLRs.

We’ve doubled down on small unmanned aerial systems—fielding quadcopters and hand-launched drones at the squad, platoon, and company levels to give every Marine unit the eyes and reach to win the reconnaissance and counter-reconnaissance fight.

It’s a lesson from both our own Campaign of Learning and from the real-world battlefields of today. This is how we make smaller units more lethal, more survivable, and less dependent on heavier joint enablers.

You can see this modernization playing out in the Marine Littoral Regiments—3rd MLR in Hawaii and 12th MLR in Okinawa—purpose-built to fight and persist in contested maritime terrain. Both are equipped with G/ATOR radar for enhanced surveillance and targeting inside the weapons engagement zone. During Resolute Dragon 24, we forward-deployed one of those radars to Yonaguni, just 68 miles off Taiwan—in a bilateral evolution with our Japanese allies. That’s the kind of presence that gets noticed.

3rd MLR has also received NMESIS, Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System—our land-based, remotely operated missile system that lets Marines hold ships at risk from shore. 12th MLR is next, and we’re on track to triple the number of NMESIS batteries across the force in the next few years.

We’re also fielding MADIS—the Marine Air Defense Integrated System. It’s mobile, it’s lethal, and it gives our formations the ability to detect and defeat both drones and fixed-wing threats, using kinetic and non-kinetic fires.

But let me be clear—these capabilities are not exclusive to the MLRs. Force Design is modernizing across the Marine Air Ground Task Force. The ARG/MEUs, and the broader Fleet Marine Force are all receiving these same tools.

Every forward-deployed formation needs to bring modern capabilities to a modern fight.

Because deterrence only works when you have the right tools for the job.

We’ve also integrated cutting-edge systems, refined our training, and flattened the distance between field and flag officer feedback…building a Campaign of Learning that pushes innovation from the bottom up.

You can see it in the infantry battalion. We’ve pulled 81mm mortars, organic precision fires, and the Scout Platoon out of Headquarters and Service Company and combined them into a dedicated Fires and Reconnaissance Company…merging sensing and strike functions and putting more capability directly into the hands of maneuver commanders.

You can see it at the squad level, too—in our return to the 13-man rifle squad. Driven by force-on-force reps and refined by the Marines who lead in contact, we’re pushing capability to the lowest level and making small units more lethal, more connected, and harder to kill.

Make no mistake: we are ready. Ready to deter, ready to campaign, ready to fight…ready to win. But none of it matters without the Marine. The character of war changes—new technology, new domains—but its nature does not. It still demands grit, toughness, and the will to close with and destroy the enemy.

That’s why who we recruit—and how we train them—matters more than ever. Over the last year—and I’m extremely proud of this—we’ve hit every one of our recruiting and retention goals. Our recruiters are crushing it—and we’re doing it without lowering our standards. We never will. In fact, I believe that’s exactly why the best young Americans keep raising their hand to try out for the title of Marine.

And once they make it—once they earn that Eagle, Globe, and Anchor—they find themselves in a Corps that is investing in them like never before.

First, we’re addressing 20 years of deferred investment in our barracks. We are not apologizing for past decisions, but the bill has come due, and we’re paying it—knocking down what’s beyond repair and rebuilding where it counts.

We’re also expanding Warrior Athlete Readiness and Resilience Centers—WARR Centers—on every base and station. Every Marine will have access to strength coaches, nutrition experts, and mental health professionals to stay in peak condition. As Sergeant Major Ruiz says, if we expect Division I performance, we need Division I preparation.

And we’re supporting families—expanding access to on-base childcare, reimbursing licensure costs for spouses, and opening more doors to meaningful employment.

Because we recruit the Marine, but retain the Family

As we mark 250 years, we don’t know exactly what the next fight will look like. But we do know this…Marines will be there. We’re still America’s 911 force: first in, first to respond, and built to hold the line.

Whether it’s kill chains, loitering munitions, or autonomous platforms—our Marines are proving that innovation starts in the field, not in labs. That’s why we invest in people. Because our Marines—trained hard, held to high standards, and backed by their families—remain the decisive edge.

We didn’t get here by accident. Generations of Marines stood the line and left the Corps better than they found it. Our charge is to do the same.

Every one of us has a role in that. Whether you wear the uniform now, wore it 50 years ago, or never wore it at all—if you care about this Corps, you are part of this legacy. Look around this room. You’ll see Marines from World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Desert Storm, Iraq, and Afghanistan. You’ll see spouses who carried the weight of long deployments. You’ll see industry leaders who ensure our warfighters are equipped to win.

You’ll see donors and historians and advocates…people who preserve the stories that might otherwise be lost to time. You’ll see the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation…quiet professionals who’ve dedicated themselves to telling our story, preserving our past, and ensuring that future generations understand what it means to earn the title Marine. And you’ll see the next generation…the young Marines just starting their journey, inspired by the legacy they’re inheriting.

This museum tells their story. But more importantly, it challenges us to keep writing it.

We are stewards of something sacred—not just a military service, but an identity.

A promise. A legacy of honor, courage, and commitment that binds us across generations. And as long as Marines stand watch—on land, at sea, in the air, and increasingly in cyberspace—we will continue to live up to that promise.

We don’t know what the next century holds. But I can guarantee you this: the next time our Nation needs strength, resolve, and a rapid response, it will still be a Marine that answers the call.

Thank you for standing with us.

Together, we’ll ensure the next 250 years of Marine Corps history are as powerful as the first.

Semper Fidelis.