COLORADO SPRINGS — President Obama on Thursday used his final commencement address to a United States military academy to urge Air Force cadets to find the right balance between force and diplomacy as they join the ranks of the country’s armed forces.
Facing 812 cadets in blue-and-white dress uniforms, Mr. Obama told theAir Force Academy’s class of 2016 that they must not allow the United States to turn away from the world, calling the isolationist rhetoric of some politicians a “false comfort” that undermines the country’s leadership in the world.
Instead, he said, the Air Force and other branches of the military must be willing to engage the country’s arsenal in defense of America and on behalf of its allies. Mr. Obama recounted the many terrorists, including Osama bin Laden, who have been killed or captured because of his willingness to deploy force.
“The list goes on because if you target Americans, we will find you and justice will be done and we will defend our nation,” Mr. Obama said, prompting some applause from the cadets and a stadium filled with their friends and family.
But Mr. Obama drew only tepid applause when he cautioned that the United States must “never celebrate war itself” and urged the soon-to-be second lieutenants to embrace the use of diplomacy and other nonlethal tools to resolve disputes around the world.
Mr. Obama said the cadets must find the way in their military careers to be both “strongheaded and bighearted,” facing a dangerous world with the realism to make compromises when necessary but to fight with idealism when needed.
The president cited his decision to negotiate with Iran to block that country’s development of nuclear weapons as an example of the progress that can be made without weapons. He acknowledged the controversy surrounding his decision not to strike in Syria after President Bashar al-Assad and his forces used chemical weapons. But he repeated his belief that the decision was the right one, and led to a more complete destruction of Syria’s chemical weapon stocks.
“Many of the threats to our security cannot be solved by military force alone,” Mr. Obama said. “We have to draw on every tool, all elements of our national power.”
As he nears the end of his time in office, Mr. Obama said he is proud of having brought most of America’s troops home from fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. He said calls from some for a deeper engagement in those countries must be fully thought through.
“How will it alter the conflict? What comes next? When we ask those questions, we prevent the kind of mission creep that history teaches us to avoid,” the president told the graduates.
Mr. Obama hailed the military’s inclusion of gays, lesbians, women, religious minorities and others into the armed forces, saying that “we are stronger” because of the diversity. He praised the hard work and perseverance of the graduates and commended to them a life of service and happiness.
“When I’m no longer president,” he said, “I will sleep well at night because I know that men and women like you serve to keep us free.”
After the ceremony, Air Force officials said that an F-16 Thunderbird aircraft that had been part of the flyover at the graduation crashed shortly afterward. The pilot was able to safely eject, the officials said, adding that he was being examined by doctors as a precaution.
Shortly after Mr. Obama arrived at the airport to fly home, he met briefly with the pilot, thanking him “for his service to the country and expressed his relief that the pilot was not seriously injured,” according to the White House spokesman, Josh Earnest. “The president also thanked the first responders who acted quickly to tend to the pilot.”
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