On Monday morning, hundreds of servicemebers lined up outside the Carey Theater on Joint Base Lewis-McChord to attend an all-call conducted by Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

During the meeting, which was conducted in a town hall format, Mullen discussed such issues as veteran homelessness, dwell time, suicides, resiliency, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, healthcare benefits and uniforms.

He began the meeting with a short speech to thank the servicemembers for their service.

"First message is really one of incredible gratitude for who you are and what you are doing," Mullen said. "... And it's a thanks to you but it's also a thanks to your families.... Family support has never been as important as it has been the last 10 years. ... Without which we could not be the military that we are. We could not perform the missions that we've been. You've raised your right hand to serve your country in an extraordinary time -in our history. You make up a part of the best military this country has ever had, without any question."

Also, he told the servicemembers that the military is focusing on improving and changing.  The changes include everything from how units are put together, to what countries the U.S. has a presence in, and skills that are now required in the military that were not previously required and the length of dwell time. Mullen also addressed the issue of suicide among servicemembers.

"Suicide among servicemembers in every service has increased dramatically since 2004," he said. "And if I were going to talk about one area in our people's world that we've got to make sure to get right, it's that there are just too many young people - too many people not all so young - taking their lives.  We've got to get ahead of that. So we will have an opportunity here at (Joint Base Lewis-McChord) over the next two to four years to really get our arms around this. This is - and it's been a couple of years since I've been here, but there's a wonderful medical facility here in Madigan from my perspective that in many ways sets the standard."

Further, he expressed an increased need to reach out to veterans after they have left the service.

"I sleep in a very nice set of quarters in Washington," Mullen said. "And there are days in Washington, D.C., where I still see my peers sleeping on the street, Vietnam vets. And we are generating homeless vets from your peer groups and we are doing it at a rate that is unacceptable - including a dramatic increase in the number of female homeless vets. So that was another thing and the females are showing up with the children. So it's something that we just can't sit by, it's all part of who we are as a country and who we are as a military."

Following Mullen's short speech, servicemembers participated in a short question and answer period.  Troops inquired about everything from hand-to-hand combat and gays serving openly in military to the future U.S. presence in Iraq.

One soldier asked, "What, if any standardization, is being planned for branches of service, whether it be active, guard or reserve for resiliency accessible behavioral health without stigma, whether it's actual or perceived for our servicemembers' families and veterans? "

"Getting to a point where we eliminate the stigma; we are a long way off from that," Mullen replied. "We've taken some steps. Where I believe we have to go is we have to almost take the individual out of that decision so that everyone receives the kind of both training as well as opportunity for a good mental health check. And we are not there; we are not there from a capacity stand point yet, but I think that standard has to be out there."

Another soldier asked about rising costs and the future of military healthcare.

"I am concerned about the increased costs in our healthcare system," Mullen replied.  "We've got benefits for our retirees where the copays, which were put in place originally in 1995, have not gone up one nickel...I think our healthcare benefits will be terrific - active and retired - long term. But I think we've got to have a balance here because this all comes from one pot of money. And I pay for the healthcare benefits out of the same pot that I pay for operations, out of the same pot that I pay for your salaries, your other benefits, and out of the same pot that I buy stuff."

After the meeting, Mullen greeted and shook hands and passed out coins to all servicemembers in attendance.