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COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. -- Hundreds of military personnel were at the The Broadmoor on Friday morning for the annual Armed Forces Luncheon.

The keynote speaker, Gen. George Casey Jr., Chief of Staff for the Army, spoke about the War on Terror as well as the future of the military in this country.

He said the Army has come a long way during the past few years.

"So the bottom line for us is we are making good progress. We were able to meet the increased demands in Afghanistan without having to decrease the time soldiers are deployed," Casey said.

Casey said the future of the Army looks bright, but added he does not think the war is coming to an end any time soon.

He said trends in the global environment will most likely only make the fight more difficult.

"What I am talking about is globalization. Up until a year ago globalization was bringing prosperity to a lot of places around the world, but that prosperity was unevenly distributed," Casey said. "Technology is another one I am talking about, because it is being used by terrorists to export terror around the globe."

The two things that Casey said worry him the most are weapons of mass destruction in the hands of terrorists, and safe havens for extremists looking to destroy America.

"So as we look at those trends, we believe we are going to be in an era of persistent conflict, that we are going to have confrontations with states and individuals who are increasingly using violence to accomplish their goals," Casey said.

Casey said as Chief of Staff for the Army, he has to try and determine what ground warfare is going to look like in the later half of the 21st century.

He said Iraq and Afghanistan will most likely be at the forefront of that discussion.