Military Must Adapt to Terror Era, Bush Says

ANNAPOLIS, Md. — President Bush told U.S. Naval Academy graduates Friday that the war on terrorism has heightened the need to transform the military by closing unneeded bases at home, adopting new deployment strategies abroad and spending more on advanced weaponry.

Bush said much had changed since he spoke to graduating midshipmen in May 2001, four months before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. At the time, he called for a sweeping military overhaul to “to help us keep the peace” in the post-Cold War era.

In Friday’s address to the class of 2005, Bush said that the U.S.-led offensives in Afghanistan and Iraq had underscored the importance of building a “21st century military” that relied more on mobility, speed and technology than on sheer size and strength.

“We need you to take on two different missions at once,” Bush told the 976 new Navy and Marine Corps officers, who were dressed in starched white uniforms and sitting in folding chairs on the grass playing field of the Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.

“We need you to defeat the terrorists who want to destroy what we stand for and how we live,” Bush said. “At the same time, we need you to transform our military for the 21st century, so we can deter and defeat the new adversaries who may threaten our people in the decades ahead.”

A necessary part of that process, Bush said, was the closing or consolidating of dozens of military bases across the country, even over the objections of communities that rely on the facilities for employment and economic activity.

Two weeks ago, the Pentagon proposed closing 33 major domestic bases and downsizing 29 others. It presented its recommendations to the independent Base Realignment and Closure Commission, which is to refine the list after visiting the sites and hearing from officials there. The final roster will go to Congress, which will be permitted to accept or reject it in its entirety but not to amend it.

“The military services have each done a review of their requirements, and they have concluded that we have more bases than we need,” Bush said. “Supporting these facilities wastes billions of taxpayer dollars, money that can be better spent on giving you the tools to fight terrorists and confront 21st century threats.”

Compared with four previous rounds of base closings dating to 1988, California would fare well under the latest Pentagon recommendations. However, many other states and communities are protesting the economic hardship they would incur under massive closures.

Bush said he knew firsthand the trauma of base closings because he was governor of Texas when the last round shut down bases in Lubbock, Laredo and Austin. He promised that this year’s round of base closings would be “impartial and fair” and that they would save $48 billion over the next 20 years.

“We’ll do everything possible to help affected communities make the transition as smoothly as possible, by providing economic development aid, job training and assistance with redevelopment plans,” he said.

In his remarks, Bush sought to restate, in the context of the war on terrorism, the military transformation campaign he outlined four years ago.

The president said the plans involved the gradual reduction of Cold War-era troop deployments overseas and increased spending on high-technology weapons.

The Iraq war called into question some of the assumptions underlying the administration’s initial restructuring mandate. Bush came into office eschewing the kind of peacekeeping missions that characterized the Clinton era. Yet in Iraq, the Pentagon found it needed more troops for a longer period of time than initially envisioned.

In a sign that his remarks were intended for a broader audience of U.S. military officials, some of whom had questioned the wisdom of the overhaul launched by Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, Bush said the changes he had in mind required a new attitude on the part of the officer corps.

“Transformation requires more than high-tech weapons,” he said. “It requires creativity, ingenuity and a willingness to try new things. All the advanced technology in the world will not transform our military if we do not transform our thinking.”

Bush praised the valor of several members of the 2001 graduating class, including Midshipman Bobby Rashad Jones, the designated “anchorman” because he had the lowest grade-point average. Jones went on to serve as a deck officer on the amphibious assault ship Germantown, which ensured the safe landing of Marines during counter-terrorist operations in the Philippines, Bush said.

Jones, who gave the president an unexpected bear hug after receiving his commission in 2001, attended Friday’s ceremony. “Four years later, my ribs still hurt,” Bush told him. “So don’t get any ideas.”

After delivering his 30-minute address, Bush spent two hours shaking hands and posing for photographs with each of the graduates as they crossed the stage to receive their diplomas. The class comprised 148 women and 828 men, survivors of an initial group of 1,239 inductees.

The 3 1/2 -hour ceremony began with a 21-round cannon salute and a low-altitude flyover by the Blue Angels flight team, and ended with the traditional farewell of the new graduates, who shouted “hip hip hurray” as they tossed their white hats into the air. Later, they were to trade their midshipman anchors for the shoulder boards of a Navy ensign or the gold bars of a Marine Corps second lieutenant.

Bush was the 17th president to deliver a commencement address to Naval Academy graduates, a practice that began in 1869 with Ulysses S. Grant.

Friday’s speech was his second commencement address this month. He had urged graduates of Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Mich., to become involved in public service by working with government, civic groups or religious organizations.

Times staff writer Mark Mazzetti in Washington contributed to this report.