Former Joint Chiefs of Staff, Navy Admiral (Ret.). Mike Mullen made these comments in a commencement address at National Defense University (2009):
When speaking to the graduates about commanders accomplishing their mission he reminded the graduates that the commanders “need to be able to question like you did, and debate like you. Their ability and desire to think critically will begin with you as their leader. And like you, their opinions matter.” He asked the graduates to advance the fundamentals of learning that they had enjoyed in their classes at the university, saying: “You will recall how you were inspired to think critically and to question without fear, to seek out radically different solutions and to voice them without reprisal, to read widely and deeply, and to examine without end and grow intellectually. What I ask is this: pass it on.”