The ability of Fort Knox, Ky., to support a wide spectrum of training makes it an “incredible installation” that plays an essential role not only for the Army but for the entire U.S. military, Defense Secretary Ash Carter says.

Carter recently visited the post to speak to Army ROTC cadets going through summer training. “The reason that we have the finest fighting force the world has ever known is because of our people,” he said. “And for commissioned officers it starts, importantly, for 40 percent of the Army, in ROTC.”

In talking to the cadets, whom he called “spectacular young people,” Carter said the conversation covered “why they joined, what they thought we are doing right, what we could improve, how they saw their lives going forward, how we can continue to keep, retain and develop the best among them.”

“All of that was a very important opportunity for me as we constantly rethink how we manage our personnel in the Department of Defense, to hear directly from these young cadets,” he said.

Carter reiterated his view that Fort Knox is a “tremendous training facility.”

“You see it used around the calendar … across the spectrum of conflict,” he said. “It’s unique in the breadth and scale of the training environment it provides.”