Commander, U.S. Pacific Fleet Australian （美国太平洋舰队司令澳大利亚）.pdf

Commander, U.S. Pacific Fleet Australian Strategic Policy Institute Canberra, Australia Admiral Harry B. Harris Jr. 31 March 2015 As delivered Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, good evening. How about that cricket match two days ago! And happy birthday of the Royal Australian Air Force, which turns 94 years young today. Folks, it’s a great pleasure for me to be back in Australia and back in Canberra. I have to tell you that I was excited to speak at ASPI last year, but Im doubly so to be invited back this year. This rarely happens, so I attribute this to either desperation or curiosity, or both. At any rate, Im glad to be here. This is my fourth trip to Australia as the U.S. Pacific Fleet Commander. I’ve visited no other country more in my 15 months on the job. It’s wonderful to be here in this magnificent Australian War Memorial, a truly fitting place to acknowledge the deep friendship and powerful alliance between Australia and the United States. And it’s also a fitting place to underscore this year’s 100th anniversary of the Gallipoli Campaign and the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, whose sacrifices are forever remembered here. We can’t say thank you enough. Ladies and gentlemen, I’m happy to see a big crowd here tonight, and Im told the event organizers didn’t expect this many people. Turns out that Winston Churchill once addressed a large crowd in the United States and a member of the audience cornered him and by way of a compliment said, “Doesn’t it thrill you Mr. Churchill to know that every time you make a speech the hall is packed to overflowing?” “It is quite flat