Hugh Shelton Quotes

I had seen the films out of World War II, the great 82nd Airborne, the 101st, and all of those of you in the greatest generation and the service that you had provided.

We came back right over the World Trade Center, and could see, even from that altitude the devastation, the smoke that was coming up. It was obvious it was going to be horrible.

Well, it has been rather hectic since the 11th of September, and even before then it was quite busy.

They were involved in a firefight and felt they were surrounded. Whether they escaped from that and were fleeing and went in the wrong direction, we don't know.

But it's been a great, humbling - and I've been very honored to have the opportunity to serve and to lead and to be the representative of our soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines who are in Washington. And it's been the greatest honor of my life.

The first truth for special operations is that quality is more important than quantity.

Those are the things that, in the wrong hands - and certainly in our war on terrorism we also must attack proliferation and those nations that proliferate with chemical, biological and nuclear type devices, because that can cause the most catastrophic results.

I jumped out of perfectly good airplanes and it's a great thrill, and it allows me to share in the dangers that the great men - our great men and women in uniform share in on a regular basis.

I believe that this is a different war than America has ever fought in the past. It is a nonconventional war. It means that you've got to use every tool you've got available to you...

I always concentrated on doing the very best that I could in the job and the duties that I was assigned.

My goal was to make first lieutenant. I never spent a lot of time worrying about what came after that.

I, first of all, felt a great sense of loss, a sense of condolence for the friends that I had that were killed in that, for the loved ones.

Well, I enjoy sharing in the dangers that we ask our men and women in uniform to share in almost every day.

Our people are working overtime. I say "our people": our federal agencies in this regard. And that I'm confident that the way that you can stop this and make Americans the most protected for this is to take it to the terrorist groups.

I feel very confident that Americans flying in the air are safe, and that only under the most dire of circumstances would our pilots even request permission to do that.

Whether or not you could actually increase the size of the force is something that will have to be determined.

But, the other thing is, is that I feel very confident in the individual pilots. They are tremendous individuals. They are individuals that have sworn to protect and defend our very citizens. That is why we served...

And occasionally some of the - some of the nations that you will have to - that will be partners in this would probably not be in terms of passing a pure human rights check, be - have everything going for them that you would like to have.

It is changing the face of terrorism. It is basically bringing it to the United States, to our great citizens. It is -- we know terrorists are barbaric, and murderers that attack innocent civilians, as they did in this case.

But again, we, I think, over the years have set the example for a lot of nations that may not have had the same values, the same type of coming out of the same culture that we as Americans have and enjoy. But we can be an example, a role model to them.

And so I'm still giving some thought. I will transition, hopefully, into the corporate world. And I look forward to getting involved in several other areas that I have a great interest in.

I think that the American people should rest assured and be assured that every federal agency that has a role to play in this terrorism is working overtime now. They are taking every necessary action to protect our great citizens.