By Cheryl Pellerin
American Forces Press Service
ABOARD A MILITARY AIRCRAFT, April 25, 2014 – At the second
North American Defense Ministerial, with his counterparts from Canada and
Mexico, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel urged a quick start to trilateral work on
continental threat assessment and cybersecurity, and closer work among the
three nations on humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.
The secretary also offered to host the next defense
ministerial in Washington in 2016 to continue the important trilateral
dialogue.
Meeting in Mexico City yesterday during his first forum with
Canadian Defense Minister Rob Nicholson and Mexico’s Secretary of National
Defense Gen. Salvador Cienfuegos Zepeda and Naval Secretary Adm. Vidal
Francisco Soberón Sanz, Hagel observed in prepared remarks that a dynamic
defense partnership that builds on successes and shared interests, and respects
sovereignty concerns, will create a more resilient North America.
“Our presence here today and our commitment to advancing our
defense partnership is a recognition that together we can more effectively
address the complex security threats facing our countries,” the secretary said
during the ministerial plenary session.
Beginning with common challenges, Hagel said the ministers
should support a Canadian proposal to produce a digest of collective defense
activities and policies.
Similar to an effort begun after the inaugural 2012 North
American Defense Ministerial to develop an updated continental threat
assessment, he added, such a digest could provide a starting point to
coordinate efforts to avoid duplication and maximize scarce resources.
The initial effort to develop a continental threat
assessment was a good start to identifying common threats and interests, the
secretary said.
“There is merit to updating that assessment to reflect
current and future threats and deepen our understanding of our security
challenges. I propose that we establish a working group to provide principals
an updated, non-binding, continental threat assessment within a year after this
ministerial,” Hagel said. “It’s something we can assess when we next meet at
the ministerial level.”
Cybersecurity is another common challenge that knows no borders,
the secretary said.
Each U.S. defense institution works individually to address
potential cyber threats, he said, adding that the Defense Department has worked
to elevate the importance of cybersecurity in the National Security Strategy.
In its recently released Quadrennial Defense Review, the
department said it would dedicate more resources to cybersecurity, Hagel noted.
“While our defense institutions do not have the lead in our
respective countries for cybersecurity, we all share a common interest in
[protecting] military communications,” the secretary said. “I propose that we
establish a cyber working group to identify potential opportunities to work
together to share best practices and lessons learned.”
On humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, Hagel said
natural disasters also recognize no national borders and defense institutions
provide critical support to lead civilian agencies under such circumstances.
“Each of our nations faces constrained defense budgets [but]
the demand for military support to civilian agencies continues to increase as
we experience more frequent and larger-scale natural disasters,” the secretary
said.
“This was a key … subject of discussion at the [Association
of Southeast Asian Nations, or] ASEAN Defense Ministers meeting I attended
earlier this month in Hawaii. We are making important progress with our
Southeast Asian partners in coordinating military responses to disasters,”
Hagel told the ministers, “and I am pleased that we are beginning to do the
same in our hemisphere.”
Recalling relief efforts after Hurricane Mitch in 1998, the
2010 Haiti earthquake and the 2004 Indonesian 9.1-magnitude earthquake whose
Indian Ocean tsunami killed as many as 230,000 people, the secretary said these
natural disasters demonstrate the challenges any one country faces in trying to
meet enormous demands for humanitarian assistance in the wake of such events.
The capabilities and experience militaries collectively
bring in response to natural disasters can’t be overstated, he added.
“I would like to see our three countries work more closely
together in the area of humanitarian assistance and disaster relief,” Hagel
said.
“We should commit to focusing attention on developing our
capacity to coordinate, with a goal of maximizing our resources,” the secretary
added. “This is an area that would benefit from establishment of a permanent
working group tasked with identifying areas of cooperation and implementing
coordination protocols as we move forward.”
During their meetings, the ministers agreed with a working
group determination that combating transnational crime at the strategic level
is best addressed by the security group under the North American Leaders Summit
process.
But, Hagel said, “We need to ensure that coordination at the
tactical and operational levels continues.”
A Canadian proposal to establish and serve as the initial
chair of a permanent secretariat was an important step toward
institutionalizing the North American Defense Ministerial, Hagel said.
As members of a regional organization, the secretary said,
the ministers should work individually to strengthen hemispheric forums such as
the Organization of American States’ Inter-American Defense Board, an
international committee of defense officials who develop collaborative
approaches on defense and security issues facing North, Central and South
American countries, and the Conference of Defense Ministers of the Americas,
created in 1995 to provide a forum of debate for Northern Hemisphere countries.
“The upcoming October conference of defense ministers in
Peru will address hemispheric defense cooperation in key areas such as
humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, search and rescue, and military
health,” Hagel added.
After the meeting, in comments to the press, Hagel said,
“These kinds of dialogues and conferences are important for many reasons but
especially important it gives the ministers themselves an opportunity to
personally exchange ideas and thoughts about our world, about our common
interests and about our common challenges.”
The secretary said he and the other ministers have tasked
their defense agencies to go forward and put together plans and programs based
on initiatives agreed to during the meeting.
After the ministerial, Hagel joined Zepeda and Sanz at a
somber wreath-laying ceremony for some of the 250,000 Mexican citizens who
served in the U.S. armed forces during World War II.
The memorial to El Escuadron 201 in Mexico City's
Chapultepec Park celebrates the 36 experienced combat pilots and the 250 or so
electricians, mechanics, radiomen and armament specialists who made up the
ground crew of Mexican Fighter Squadron 201, called the Aztec Eagles, who
fought alongside U.S. troops in the last months of World War II in Europe.
The squadron left Mexico for the United States in July 1944
and received five months or more of training at facilities around the country.
It was the first time Mexican troops had been trained for overseas combat.
The 300 volunteers of the Aztec Eagles were attached to the
U.S. Army Air Forces 5th Air Force's 58th Fighter Group during the liberation
of the main Philippine island of Luzon in the summer of 1945.
The pilots flew P-47D "Thunderbolt" single-seat
fighter aircraft, carrying out tactical air-support missions, according to a
2003 American Forces Press Service article and interview with former Aztec
Eagles pilot, retired Mexican air force Col. Carlos Garduno, who said the
pilots flew close-air support missions for American and Filipino infantry
troops on the ground.
The Aztec Eagles flew 59 combat missions, totaling more than
1,290 hours of flight time, participating in the allied effort to bomb Luzon
and Formosa, now Taiwan, to push the Japanese out of those islands.
Immediately after the wreath-laying ceremony, Hagel told a
press gathering that the memorial is “a pretty special monument to a country
that participated with the allies, with the United States, in World War II.”
He added, “[It was] a brave thing that Mexico did. The
service rendered, represented by this memorial, should be remembered.”
The secretary said he was honored to be part of the ceremony
and shared a personal connection to the Aztec Eagles and their service to the
nation.
“I know what memorials mean to countries and how they
reflect their history and their sacrifices, Hagel said. “In fact, the 201st …
that represented the expeditionary force of Mexico was attached to an Army Air
Corps unit in the Pacific that my father served in, in World War II, with the
13th Army Air Corps.
“So I have some family and special recognition as to what
this unit meant and also a personal appreciation,” he continued. “And on behalf
of the United States I want to thank the country of Mexico for their
contributions to all of our efforts in World War II.”
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