By Army Sgt. 1st Class Tyrone C. Marshall Jr.
DoD News, Defense Media Activity
WASHINGTON, Jan. 22, 2015 – Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel
today expressed his gratitude to U.S. service members for their service and to
their families for their sacrifice, as well as his pride in America’s global
leadership role.
Speaking to Pentagon reporters, Hagel recalled his recent
three-day trip to bases around the country to personally thank service members.
“As we leave 2014 behind, I want to, first of all, thank all
the men and women of the Defense Department for their sacrifice, their service,
for this country,” he said. “I also want to thank their families for the
incredible sacrifices they make. All of America, I know, is very proud of the
men and women of this institution.”
Commitment to Service
In what may be his last news conference before leaving
office, Hagel recognized U.S. troops for their commitment to service all over
the world.
“We see their agility today in the Middle East, where our
men and women continue to stay on high alert, particularly off the coast of
Yemen, where that situation changes hourly,” he said.
“We’ve seen their agility in West Africa, where thousands of
our troops deployed to help stop the spread of Ebola at the source.”
The defense secretary also pointed to the ongoing efforts of
U.S. troops in Afghanistan and Iraq, and said that while there is still much
more work to do, he is encouraged by the progress that has been made.
“This is an ongoing process of development measured by many
metrics as to the progress we’re making,” Hagel said.
American Leadership
“In Afghanistan,” he said, “we’ve transitioned with our ISAF
partners to the new Resolute Support mission -- training, advising, and
assisting Afghan forces as they assume full responsibility for their nation’s
security.”
In Iraq, Hagel said, U.S. troops are working with coalition
partners to help train and support Iraqi forces as they take the fight to the
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, and as the country seeks to form an
inclusive government that represents all the people of Iraq.
Noting he’d just received a briefing yesterday, Hagel said
troops soon will begin deploying to the region to help in training and equipping
the moderate Syrian opposition.
Strengthening Alliances
Hagel said these missions demonstrate the critically
important roles U.S. allies play in advancing shared interests around the
world.
“Since our alliances and long-term partnerships are
important to our own security,” he said, “strengthening these allied
relationships with a core strategic focus for this department in 2014 has been
very important, and it will be an ongoing priority.”
During the past year, Hagel said, the first U.S.-Association
of Southeast Asian Nations Defense Forum on American soil took place and the
U.S.-Gulf Cooperation Council defense ministers met for the first time in more
five years.
And as Russia’s aggression in Ukraine galvanized the NATO
alliance, the secretary said, the United States bolstered its training
exercises and rotational deployments, continuing to make progress, reassuring
its allies and demonstrating its resolve.
Hagel also said he has put the U.S.-India relationship “as
high on my priority list as any one area” can be, and noted he has worked “very
hard” not only on finding common ground, but also on advancing the
relationship. President Barack Obama’s upcoming trip to India, he said, may
“produce some very tangible and positive results” of the Defense Department’s
efforts.
“It’s a particularly, I think, unique time for this
relationship between India and the United States,” Hagel said. “I am very proud
of the progress we’ve made.” The relationship will continue to progress, he
added.
Necessity of U.S. Leadership
The past year, Hagel said, was marked by persistent and
varied threats that included terrorism, global health pandemic, sectarian
violence, cyberattacks, state-on-state aggression and transnational crime.
Though predicting the next crisis is impossible, he said, he noted that Obama
said during his State of the Union address earlier this week that if there’s
been one constant seen over the last year, it is the necessity of American
leadership in the world.
“That leadership,” Hagel said, “and the ready and capable
military that supports it, will be even more important in the years to come.”
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment