FORT BENNING, Ga., (May 18, 2016) -- "We must be prepared for war every day," said retired Col. Ralph Puckett at the National Infantry Museum's third annual Korean War symposium, "Korea The Forgotten War: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow," May 13.

Puckett spoke along with retired Lt. Gen. Charles Cleveland and retired Col. Ben Malcolm as part of a panel of Korean War veterans.

Puckett talked about being selected to form, train and command the Army Ranger Company in combat. He explained the four training objectives that were used to turn a group of Soldiers into a combat unit during his portion of the panel.

First goal: Every Ranger would be a tiger. He would be in the best physical condition of his life.

Second goal: Every Ranger would know his stuff. He'd be highly qualified in the tactics and techniques of an individual Soldier.

Third goal: Each subordinate unit would be trained until it was a combat ready killing machine.

Fourth goal: Every Soldier, every Ranger would have the confidence in himself, in his leaders and in his company that made him believe that the 8th Army Ranger Company was the best unit that the Army could prepare at that time.

Retired Lt. Gen. Charles Cleveland spoke of his time as an airman in the U. S. Air Force during the Korean War.

He described the role of the Air Force during the war saying, "The Air Force didn't win that war, but the Air Force kept us from losing it."

"The Air Force came of age in the Korean War. I was proud to have played a small part in that," he added.

"Our job was to establish and maintain air superiority. That was the first mission of the U.S. Air Force," he said.

"We kept the enemy air force off the backs of the American troops," he added.

Retired Col. Ben Malcolm discussed his experiences with Special Forces and the Central Intelligence Agency during the Korean War.

Following a warning about North Korean guerrilla activity, the first Special Forces unit was formed, he said.

"That operation was classified, top secret, code word, for 40 years. It was finally downgraded in 1990, so we can now write about it and talk about it," Malcolm said.

He opened up about a number of operations that he was involved with, including flooding North Korea's market with counterfeit money.

Malcolm has written a book entitled, "White Tigers: My Secret War in North Korea" that looks deeper into his time in the Special Forces.