A day earlier, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta offered his public support for Clinton, calling her the most qualified candidate ever to step into the White House. Moments after Allen’s endorsement, retired Army Capt. Florent Groberg \u2014 who earlier this year received the Medal of Honor for valor in Afghanistan \u2014 offered similar praise for Clinton.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“She has been training for this moment for decades,” he said. “In the Senate, she worked across the aisle to support wounded warriors and our families. As president, she’ll reform the VA, not privatize it. And as commander\u00a0in\u00a0chief, she will defeat ISIS.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Retired Army Capt. Florent “Flo” Groberg addresses delegates on the final day of the Democratic National Convention on July 28, 2016, in Philadelphia.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n Photo Credit: Saul Loeb\/AFP via Getty Images<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n Allen\u2019s endorsement of Clinton was notable not only for his status as a respected former Marine Corps leader, but also because <\/span>of his known friction with President Barack <\/span>Obama.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The two sparred over the speed of the drawdown of troops from Afghanistan, and Allen abruptly quit his ISIS envoy post in September 2015 amid reports he disagreed with defense officials about the strategy to defeat the terrorist group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But the retired four-star general unequivocally backed Clinton as a leader who will keep America as an “indispensable, transformational power” for the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “We will lead and strengthen NATO \u2026 and America will stop the spread of nuclear weapons and keep them from dangerous states and groups,” he said. “Our armed forces will be stronger. They will have the finest weapons and equipment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “They will have the support of the American people, and the American military will continue to be the shining example of America at our very best.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Allen’s speech also included a number of thinly-veiled shots at Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump without naming him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “With her as our commander\u00a0in\u00a0chief, our international relations will not be reduced to a business transaction,” he said. “Our armed forces will not become an instrument of torture, and they will not be ordered to engage in murder or carry out other illegal activities.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Last week, at the Republican convention in Cleveland, Trump adviso<\/span>er and former Defense Intelligence Agency director retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn gave a starkly different take on the presidential election, label Clinton as an “Obama clone” who will follow the same failed foreign policy decisions. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n “Under Barack Obama, we have no coherent strategy to protect our citizens, and under Hillary Clinton, it will be more of the same,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n National security is expected to remain a key focus of the remaining months of the presidential campaign, with both candidates promising solutions to defeat ISIS and secure the homeland against foreign terrorist attacks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Leo Shane III covers Congress, Veterans Affairs and the White House for Military Times. He can be reached at lshane@militarytimes.com<\/em>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Allen, who led troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, called Clinton the responsible choice to be the next commander in chief<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":99525,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":15,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[15,88],"tags":[],"coauthors":[1908],"class_list":["post-106919","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-your-military"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"6ANRF33DBFBOFIBOFXSQN6E2SM","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/2016\/07\/29\/marine-gen-john-allen-clinton-will-keep-us-safe-and-free\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/636053394695411897-gettyimages-584275114jpg.jpg\")