Future warfighters will always have a clear mission, with clear goals, before heading out to do the nation's business, Vice President JD Vance said today during his commencement address to the 2025 graduating class of the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.
During the ceremony, more than 1,000 uniformed young people graduated and are now bound for positions across the globe as either Navy ensigns or Marine Corps second lieutenants.
Vance addressed them to let them know what they were getting into, what he and President Donald J. Trump expected of them during their careers, and how the president's vision of American diplomacy would change how their experience in uniform is expected to be different than the experiences of those who came before them.
Referring back to the president's recent visit to the Middle East, Vance described what he considered the most significant takeaway from the trip.
"It signified the end of a decades-long approach in foreign policy that I think was a break from the precedent set by our founding fathers," Vance told the midshipmen. "We had a long experiment in our foreign policy that traded national defense and the maintenance of our alliances for nation building and meddling in foreign countries' affairs, even when those foreign countries had very little to do with core American interests."
Now, said Vance, foreign policy is changing — and with it, so does what the United States expects to do with its military.
"What we're seeing from President Trump is a generational shift in policy with profound implications for the job that each and every one of you will be asked to do," he said.
"We're returning to a strategy grounded in realism and protecting our core national interests. Now, this doesn't mean that we ignore threats, but it means that we approach them with discipline and that when we send you to war, we do it with a very specific set of goals in mind."
The vice president cited recent conflicts with the Houthis in Yemen as an example. In the Red Sea, Iran-backed Houthi terrorists had been for years attacking U.S. ships and other nations, disrupting legal commerce for seafaring nations. In March, the U.S. launched a series of attacks at key terrorist Houthi targets to put a stop to those attacks, with a clearly stated goal of securing safe shipping in the region.
"We went in with a clear diplomatic goal, not to enmesh our service members in a prolonged conflict with a non-state actor, but to secure American freedom of navigation by forcing the Houthis to stop attacking American ships. And that's exactly what we did," Vance said.
He noted that earlier this month, the Houthis agreed to stop attacking.
"We were able to reach a ceasefire in a conflict that had been ongoing for nearly two years," Vance said. "Our adversaries now know when the United States sets a red line, it will be enforced. And when we engage, we do so with purpose, with superior force, with superior weapons and with the best people anywhere in the world."
As vice president, Vance said his goal is to ensure that asking America's fighting men and women to engage will always be done judiciously and purposefully.
"The Trump administration recognizes that our most valuable resources [are] you — young people who are brave enough to put on the uniform and risk your life for this country," he said. "And we promise — I promise — to cultivate that resource, to protect it and to use it only when the national interest demands."
The vice president also addressed the changing nature of warfare.
"The era of American dominance of sea, air and space is over now," he said, adding that the United States and its military must adapt.
"Innovation, increasingly, is happening on the very battlefields that you will lead troops on, so that you are not just recipients of innovation, you're not just users of tools, you will very often be developing tools in this new century," Vance said. "Our lawmakers and military brass alike must learn to adjust to a world where cheap drones, readily available cruise missiles and cyberattacks cause extraordinary damage to our military assets and our service members. And it will be you, the graduates gathered here today, who will lead the way for the rest of us."
The vice president also reminded the graduates that on a day that is a milestone accomplishment for them, they should also remember it's an accomplishment for others as well, including parents, guardians, mentors and others who worked to get them where they are.
"All of you are the product of an incredible legacy, people who worked hard to give you a good education, food on the table and a sense of possibility. People who took you to church, to practices, to tutoring sessions. People who prayed for you when you struggled and celebrated with you at moments just like today," he said. "Most of you are fortunate enough to have someone here to celebrate with you. Some of you don't. But whether they are here with you or not, the very best piece of advice I can give you is to begin your life in the fleet with the spirit of gratitude."