Thank you very much John. 

I am truly honored to receive this award tonight.  More importantly, I’m hoping this gala goes a long way toward helping the children of the fallen CIA officers.  It is not only a noble cause; a cause for which we should all be thankful that we can contribute, but with the world in such chaos, it is essential that we recognize the future will be no less secure for those in harm’s way.  We must continue to provide for those who need it the most.  I thank all of you for your support to this incredible cause.

In 1962, the first James Bond film, Dr. No, hit the movie screens.  Like any kid my age I was a big fan of James Bond.  But, while I liked Bond, the guy I liked even better was Felix Leiter.  Felix Leiter was the CIA agent who always seemed to be there when Bond got in trouble.  Surrounded by large breasted women in bikinis and always driving a small European convertible, Leiter was really cool.  And—he was American.

Of course, Bond only seemed to get in trouble in places like the Bahamas, Jamaica or the French Riviera. So, as a kid I imagined that’s what life in the CIA was like--good looking women, fast cars, fancy suits and five star hotels on the beach. 

However in the last 37 years in military I have worked with hundreds of CIA officers.  Never once were they in five star hotels.  None of them drove fancy sports cars and other than the great ladies of the CIA--most of the other women were wearing Burkas.  In those 37 years and particularly the last 15 years I saw the real CIA.  The CIA that frankly is far, far better than anything portrayed in the movies.

In those years I learned a lot about the men and women of Langley who serve this great nation.  I learned that these men and women are chosen from the very best in the nation.  That they are hand-picked for their intelligence, their ability to handle pressure and their determination. I learned that they train with an intensity that mirrors some of the toughest special operations courses in the service.

Living with them in Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, North Africa, and Asia, I watched them labor under the most austere of conditions searching for just the right intelligence---intelligence that would save the lives of thousands.  I learned they are relentless in their pursuit of good intelligence.  In the deserts outside Fallujah and the mountains of the Hindu Kush, I watched them fight alongside my soldiers.  They were shoulder to shoulder, unyielding in their pursuit of the enemy--never giving quarter in a battle.  I learned they are tough fighters.

On the ramp ceremonies marking the loss of one of our fallen, they were always there. I learned they are caring, compassionate teammates who grieved at our every loss.  I have learned in my time with the Agency that the men and women who serve her are a breed apart.  They are patriots like none other in our history.  They wear no uniforms to display their victories.  There are no parades to acknowledge their service.  There are no graveyards that bear witness to their sacrifice.  They live quietly with the satisfaction of a job well done—a nation well served—a people well protected.

What kind of person sacrifices so much for their country and asks nothing in return? Well, its people like Alex. Whose name has been changed to keep me out of jail.  Alex, a former Marine who was everywhere there was trouble.  Year after year after year he deployed forward to Afghanistan, Iraq and Yemen.  He is the toughest man I have ever known.  Smart, experienced, and fearless.  He moved to the sound of the guns in a way that inspired all around him; myself in particular.  Whatever success our special operations forces might have had in far away places, was directly attributable to Alex and men and women like him.

Then there was John.  A pain in the ass if ever there was one.  Anti-social, abrasive, parochial, arrogant—and without a doubt one of the finest officers the agency has ever produced.  Without him, the safety of this nation would have been challenged many, many times over.  John earned the respect and admiration of every soldier in special operations.

There was James.  A brilliant mind.  A quick wit.  A deep understanding of the enemy.  Never without a kind word.  A little bit heavy, but lite on his feet when it came to chasing bad guys.  It was James, who like many in the Agency spent decades tracking bin Laden and who bonded with the special operators and went out of his way to help us.  He was always the guy we turned to when we needed a friend.

And Mary.  Who only slept four hours a night for the past 15 years.  No one has done more to protect American from al Qaida than Mary.  She will live in CIA lore as the one of the most lethal women ever to serve at Langley.

And then there are the foot soldiers.  Those case officers who lived with the tribes in Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, North Africa, and all the other garden spots around the world.  Those unsung heroes who found a way to get the intelligence that saved the lives of thousands upon thousands of Americans and our allies.  I watched with tremendous pride as these young American’s dealt with the most complex problems imaginable. Yet somehow they always seemed to find the right solution.

How many of them do you know?  How many statues adorn the parks of their hometown?  How many schools are named after them?  How many parents tell their children the tales of these incredible patriots?  And yet, their legacy of sacrifice and service is no less remarkable than those that wear the uniform.  They are patriots like no other. 

And since 9/11 all these remarkable Americans were led by some of the finest Directors in CIA history.  George Tenant, Porter Goss, Mike Hayden, Leon Panetta, Dave Petraeus and now John Brennan.

I watched with great admiration as George Tenant broke down the barriers between the military and the CIA.  Assigning CIA officers to ever level of command—always working to ensure the soldiers had the intelligence they needed. 

Porter Goss, who elevated special operations to a new level when he hired a Navy SEAL to be his Deputy Director. 

Mike Hayden, who brought with him military experience and began to expand CIA’s reach in the fight against terrorism. 

Leon Panetta, who put aside all his personal, professional and organizational ego in order to work together to bring the world’s most wanted man to justice. 

Dave Petraeus whose energy, intensity and unparalleled experience helped prepare the agency for life after bin Laden. 

And John Brennan who today is reshaping the agency to fight this metastasizing cancer that continues to threaten our way of life.

Each director, at some point in his tenure, had both exhilarating successes and crushing defeats. Like the military, which has been shaped by its victories and its tragedies, the men and women of Langley also have their moments that define their character.

In the past fifteen years I have seen both the victories and the heartbreaks.  I have marveled at the agencies humility in the face of success and been equally inspired by their determination in the face of adversity. 

 There have been few successes quite like the raid to get bin Laden.  I believe that the raid will go down as one of the greatest intelligence operations of all times. 

But what was truly remarkable, in addition to the incredible intelligence work—was the unprecedented level of cooperation between the CIA and the military.  There was no organizational ego.  There was no worrying about who would get the credit.  There was no infighting, no rancor, no posturing—there was only a desire to do right by the nation.  How many leaders, how many institutions when given the biggest mission of their time-- would willingly embrace another partner--willingly share the glory?  They are patriots like no other. 

And never was that patriotism more on display than when seven CIA officers were killed at Forward Operating Base Chapman in Dec 2009.  The entire nation mourned their loss.

And while their names will forever be shrouded in secrecy, seven new stars etched into the granite memorial at CIA headquarter will remember their ultimate sacrifice.  To honor those fallen at Chapman, the officers across the CIA rededicated themselves to winning this war.  They doubled their effort to gather intelligence, kill or capture the terrorist leaders and take the fight to the enemy.

The past fifteen years have brought with them countless victories for the CIA and one too many tragedies.  But the next fifteen years could be equally challenging and we will need these American patriots more than ever before. 

Across the Middle East, the barbarians of ISIS continue to murder, rape, plunder and terrorize populations from Iraq, to Syria, to North Africa.  Al Qaida and their franchises are targeting the American homeland and our interests abroad.  In Somalia, al Shabbab is training hundreds of fighters in camps all across the failed state.  Boka Horum continues its rampage across northern Nigeria, abducting young women and conducting mass executions.  Iran is fueling the civil war in Yemen and threatening its neighbors with new ballistic missile tests.  Kim Jung Un remains an unstable leader in an unstable country—a country that could soon possess a nuclear warhead.  Russia continues to prop up the Syrian regime and threaten old alliance partners with invasion.  And the Pacific is no longer the peaceful ocean it use to be.

All around us there are threats to America.  But, the men and women of the Agency continue their unrelenting pursuit of those that would harm us.  Just last week an Agency officer stopped by my office in Austin to inform me that one of my former teammates—now working for the Agency—had been seriously wounded in a mission in Afghanistan.

For those in the Agency the battle for fate of the civilized world continues.

As WWII was ending, a young Navy Lieutenant named Richard Helms slipped into Hitler’s Chancellery in Berlin and stole the fuehrer’s stationery.  Later that day he wrote a letter to his three year old son, dated V-E day.  It began, “Dear Dennis. The man who might have written on this card once controlled Europe.  Today he is dead, his memory despised, and his country in ruins.”  The letter ended, “The price of ridding society of bad is always high.” 

The men and women of the CIA have always known that the price of ridding society of bad is high.  Some of them have paid the highest price of all, but all of them have paid something. 

To the men and women of the CIA it has been my greatest honor to have served with you.  There are no better teammates, and no finer American’s. You are patriots like no other in history.

Thank you for all that you do for our Nation!