Good morning, bonjour, and aloha. Thank you very much.

And thank you to our very gracious hosts — Minister McGuinty, and for the clarity of your comments. Thank you very much, Minister. And my very dear friend, General Carignan, whose leadership and hospitality has set the tone for this important gathering. And not withstanding also the delivery of such wonderful weather here in Victoria and a one-of-a-kind time. It’s just such a great honor to be here.

To General Caine, the Chairman, thanks for gracing us with your presence. The leader of the United States Joint Force. One can scarcely imagine the demands on his time, but the Indo-Pacific is so important to General Caine that he's taken this out of his body to come out here and be with us too. Thank you very much to General Caine and Fleet Master Chief Isom, the SEAC [Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Chiarman]. I always call you the Fleet Master Chief because he's a Navy SEAL. Thanks, thanks to you both for being here too.

To the Chiefs of Defense — thanks very much for your friendship and your continued commitment to deter aggression. As discussed last night, our senior enlisted leaders are here too, and I acknowledge Chief Bob McCann, my great karaoke partner from last year, from the stage for co-leading with Sergeant Major Eric Cook. Thanks very much for being here. Our senior enlisted leaders are the standard bearers for our troops, and they are the heart and soul of our military force.

To the spouses, thank you for leading our spouse program to Mrs. Rowell and to Eric. Thank you very much, and for all the spouses that are here. This is the heart and the soul and the quiet strength of the joint force.

Many thanks, and as all have mentioned last night, taking a moment to offer condolences in light of the disaster in Nepal, and to put it into a human scale, there are [5,000] plus human beings who are still missing. As I utter these words, my dear friend General Sigdel couldn't be here because he's in Kathmandu leading disaster response and Major General Ghimire joins us here. Thank you, General, for being here very much.

As we come together, this disaster reminds us of what we all have very much in common, which is that each of us answered a call. Each of us raised a hand and took an oath, and that selfless service to our nations is the commitment and the experience that each and one of us all shares. We all share a restlessness to refuse to become complacent in our readiness, in our forces, we refuse to become complacent in ourselves. Always seeking the peace, our respective governments demand it, and the safety of the security of the people we defend depend on it.

The nature of war continues to be the continuation of policy by other means, but as each speaker has so eloquently stated, the character of war is changing quickly. And that comment, I think, I'll steal for a lifetime to Mr. McGuinty and to all is just how quickly it's all changing. This is what it means to be restless in the 21st century: we must adapt before crisis forces us to. Not every crisis turns into a conflict, but every conflict begins with a crisis. Would-be aggressors must see that the cost of aggression outweighs any perceived benefits.

That same restlessness drives us to fulfill our highest duty, and that is deterrence. That combination of capability and will that must be visible to all. Deterrence upholds the principles we're here to defend: respect for sovereignty, faith and trust in international law and solidarity among nations. When we operate together, deterrence just doesn't grow by addition; it compounds.

And as we move through this week, let’s let that restlessness drive hard conversations — about the changing character of war and how to strengthen relationships.

We should be uncomfortable at times. First, in the military, we ain’t comfortable unless we’re uncomfortable, and that means tough, direct questions, which is the hallmark of professionals that can deliver without emotion, and we can confront issues.

And as Jennie said, let’s find areas where our interests and capabilities overlap, and let’s go shoulder to shoulder into that.

Let us leave Victoria with a better understanding of each other, and stronger relationships than we had when we arrived.

In this Indo-Pacific Century, what we do here carries across the globe and carries across generations.

My dear friends, thank you all very much. Merci. Thank you. Mahalo. Let’s get to work this week. Thank you.