I knew early I wanted to follow my father into the military. He did a full 30-year career and retired as a full colonel in the Marines after graduating from Allentown H.S. and later from Cornell University.

The most important thing I learned was the value of personal friendships and working cooperatively with your peers - the Academy has a saying, 'cooperate to graduate,' and that remains a very important central core in my thinking today.

After 37 years in the Navy, there were no further jobs in uniform, and it was my time to transition. But I wanted to continue to mentor and educate young people, which is, of course, a big part of being a senior officer in the military.

James G. Stavridis Quotes