AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo — Vice President Joe Biden told Air Force Academy graduates Wednesday their country still needs them, and not just in battle.

“You do it all. You’re going be asked to do more,” Biden told about 1,000 graduating cadets. “You are relevant.”

Biden talked about meeting Air Force officers in Iraq and Afghanistan but told the cadets that their challenges will be go beyond enemy states and terrorists.

He urged them to “think beyond the theater of battle” and spoke of other challenges including global warming and improving education and health care.

“A modern military needs great warriors, yes. But it also needs strategic thinking,” Biden said.

He said the Earth is “a planet in peril, set in a direction that must be altered.”

Biden told the graduates and their families that the administration considers their safety and care upon coming home from war a top priority. President Barack Obama made similar remarks last week at the Naval Academy.

“Without you, we cannot survive,” Biden said.

Biden, whose son Beau is an Army National Guard captain serving in Iraq, called taking care of the troops an “obligation that exceeds any other.”

When Biden’s teleprompter failed, he poked fun at Obama, who’s known for relying on teleprompters for his speeches.

“What am I going to tell the president? Tell him his teleprompter is broken? What will he do then?” Biden joked.

The Air Force Academy had 1,046 graduates this year — 874 men and 172 women. The class included six international students. American graduates are 2nd lieutenants who will serve at least five more years in the military.