Remarks by the Vice President to Marines and Families at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Quantico, Virginia

THE VICE PRESIDENT: How we doing? (Applause.)

AUDIENCE: (Inaudible.) (Applause.)

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Oorah, Marines! How we doing?

AUDIENCE: Oorah!

THE VICE PRESIDENT: It's great to be here. It's great to be in Quantico. You know, as a proud member of the E-4 Mafia, I had never --

AUDIENCE: Oorah!

THE VICE PRESIDENT: -- I had never made it to Quantico myself. But, you know, it's one of the reasons why I wanted to run for vice president. I thought maybe it was time for the colonels and generals to listen to the corporals for a change. How's that sound? (Applause.)

So, you all know how -- how big of a -- of a part of -- of the Marine Corps was of my life and how important it was for me. And I just wanted to say, from the bottom of my heart, from one Marine to another, thank you for your service. We're proud of you, and I'm proud to be here with my fellow Marines. God bless you guys.

AUDIENCE: Oorah!

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Now, some of you may know that the Marine Corps actually -- there are a lot of good things the Marine Corps did for me. When I joined the Marines back in 2003, you know, I was just a -- a kind of directionless kid. I didn't want wh- -- know what I wanted to do with my life. And, as you all know, the Marine Corps is good at giving direction to -- to 18-year-old kids.

But it also saved me from making one of the worst financial decisions that I have ever made. And as you guys probably appreciate, there are often these, you know, used car dealerships outside of Marine Corps bases. (Laughter.) You know what I'm talking about?

And I remember when I was, probably, a 19-year-old kid, I was going to buy a used Honda Civic at one of those used car dealerships, and the dealership was kind enough to offer me the low, low interest rate of 21 percent to buy that used car. (Laughter.) And it was a Marine Corps gunnery sergeant, Gunny Arledge, who said, "You know what? Why don't you stop being an idiot? Go to Navy Federal Credit Union, and get a better deal." And Gunny Arledge saved me from making a terrible mistake.

And that's what the Marine Corps does. That's what you all do. From the NCOs to the officers here, you guys help form our young people into United States Marines, and that is, I think, the best thing the Marine Corps does for the United States of America.

I'm proud of all of you. As -- as General Chuck Krulak said, the Marine Corps does two things: It wins battles, it wins wars, and it makes Marines. And that's a pretty good damn thing to do for the United States of America.

So, I'm proud of you guys. I'm proud to be here. I'm proud of what you do. And -- and most of all today, I'm proud that I think, under new leadership, the Marine Corps and the entire United States mili- -- military is headed in the right direction. And that's why I'm here today, to talk a little bit about what we're going to do, talk a little bit about President Trump's vision for the United States military, and, importantly, after I do that and I serve some chow at the chow hall, I'm going to go shoot some guns. Right? Because --

AUDIENCE: Oorah!

THE VICE PRESIDENT: So, here's the thing. Under President Trump's leadership, we believe in a very simple principle. We don't care who you are, where you came from. We don't care what skin color you are. We care about excellence, and we care about patriotism.

And if you are awesome and you are a patriotic young Marine, then we are going to do everything that we can to make you the most lethal fighting force the world has ever seen, and that is what we're doing every single day.

No more quotas. No more ridiculous mumbo jumbo. No more diversity trainings. We believe the real strength and the real diversity in the United States Marine Corps is that you all come from every walk of life, come from every corner of America, and you have got the strength and the purpose to win the nation's wars. And that is what the Marine Corps is going to do, just like it's done for damn near 250 years.

AUDIENCE: Oorah!

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Now, speaking of that, as my -- as my dear friends, and as -- as a lot of you know -- well, maybe you don't, because loo- -- there's a lot of young faces out here. That's -- that's the thing. You know, I'm 40 years old now, and I realize that, compared to when I joined the Marine Corps, I'm an old-ass man now.

But here's the thing, yo- -- the best friends that I've ever made in my life, I've made in the Marine Corps. People I -- people who came to my vice presidential inauguration and the president's inauguration just a couple of months ago are people that I first met in boot camp or first met in follow-on school, first met at my -- my first duty station; people who have held my children when they were -- when they were little babies; people who I've helped welcome new children into the world.

You guys have no idea that the people standing to your left and to your right, these are lifelong friends. They're going to follow you around, whether you want to or not, for the rest of your life. And I think that's one of the great blessings of the United States Marine Corps.

And one of the things I learned from my great Marine friends -- they remind me -- is that, this November, of course, our great Corps is going to celebrate 250 proud years. And as I know, because I've been to a few Marine Corps birthday balls myself, I'm sure it'll be a total sober, no-alcohol celebration -- (laughter) -- for the Marine Corps's 250 -- 250th birthday.

But from -- from one Marine to another, let me just say that we are excited to celebrate the Marine Corps's 250th anniversary -- 250 years of winning wars, 250 years of kicking ass and taking names.

AUDIENCE: Oorah!

THE VICE PRESIDENT: So, here's the basic plan. Here's what we're going to do. We're going to invest in the Mari- -- in the Marine Corps and the entire United States military like we never have before. Over a trillion dollars, we're going to invest in building up the manufacturing base of this country so that you guys, when -- when you do go to war, when you have to go to war, you've got the best weapons anywhere in the world.

We know, from the long history of the United States of America, that while the leading edge of American power is you all, it really matters what you guys have in your hands and what you guys have on your backs when you go to war. And so, I promise to you, from the president of the United States, we are going to send you, if we have to send you to war, with the best equipment, the best ammunition, the best weapons. And we are going to empower you guys to win when you have to. That's the purpose the United States Marine Corps. Am I right?

AUDIENCE: Oorah!

THE VICE PRESIDENT: So, that's what we're going to do. And, of course, I got some good news. You know, over the last few years, some of the military branches had some recruitment problems. Not the Marine Corps, actually. The Marine Corps was the one branch that consistently met its recruitment goals, and that probably has something to do with the fact that the Marine Corps is a little bit smaller, as you all know.

But this year, now, we have got -- every single branch of the United States military, for the past two months, has been meeting its recruitment goals, because I think -- I see and I see in your faces what we're seeing all across the country: a renewed sense of patriotism, a renewed commitment to excellence, and that is what is going to make the United States military the strongest fighting force anywhere in the world.

So, thank you all. Thank you for being part of it. Thank you for being part of 250 years of great American tradition. Thanks to you guys for being able to -- being willing to put on the uniform and serve your country.

You know, I always say that the most important thing that we have in this country, the most valuable natural resource -- we got plenty of oil; we got plenty of natural gas; we got great mines and minerals -- but the most valuable resource that we have in the United States of America is you all. It's young people who are patriotic and dedicated, who are willing to put on the uniform of the United States and risk your lives to defend your fellow citizens. That's an amazing thing.

I know it's easy to forget when you go about doing your jobs and you're just worried about getting through the day, worried about, you know, getting to the -- to the next week, worried about doing the good job that all of you do, that what you are doing is an amazing thing. And it's easy to forget that because, you know, you don't always have the vice president dropping in to say thank you.

But I want you to remember that whether you serve another couple years in the United States Marine Corps, whether you're at the beginning of a 20- or 30-year career, that we respect you, we thank you. And this vice president and the president of the United States know that you guys are the most important resource that we have in the United States Marine Corps -- or, excuse me, in the United States of America.

So, thank you all. And God bless you.

AUDIENCE: Oorah!

THE VICE PRESIDENT: And the final thing I want to say here is I was actually -- and I -- I know I was late. (Laughter.) You know, it's funny, what a --

AUDIENCE MEMBER: (Inaudible.)

THE VICE PRESIDENT: (Laughs.) That is not Marine Corps time, my friends. I remember Gunny Arledge always told me, you know, if you're -- if you're 5 minutes early, you're 10 minutes late. I'm sure you guys have heard that phrase.

Well, what does it mean when the vice president is -- is two hours late?

AUDIENCE MEMBER: You're on time.

THE VICE PRESIDENT: I guess I'm on time, because who the hell is going to get me in trouble, right? (Laughter.)

But here's the thing, my -- my friends, is -- is I left the -- the reason I was a little bit late is because I was in the Ovial [Oval] Office talking to the president, and I stood up and I said, "Sir, I know we're in the middle of something, but the -- the Marines at Quantico are waiting on me." And he said, "Oh, I didn't realize that. You got to get out of here. You got to get out there." And I said, "Do you have a message you want me to deliver?"

And the president of the United States said he wanted me to tell you two things. First of all, that he loves you and, second of all, that he's proud of you.

So, let me echo the president. Let me hec- -- echo a -- a grateful nation. You guys just keep on doing what you're doing.

We love you, we're proud of you, and we're going to support you every single step of the way.

God bless you, Marines. Semper Fidelis.

AUDIENCE: Oorah!