Feb. 25, 2021
Q: Mr. Secretary, (inaudible), this ship has been on a very long deployment. How do you balance the security needs and the need to show presence in the Pacific with what you're very familiar with, which is General McKenzie's argument that he needs a carrier in the Middle East, and that having a carrier there has, indeed, in his view, turned Iran in the past? As you look ahead to the next several months, are you going to send a carrier back to the Middle East? And how do you balance that with the needs here in the Pacific?
SECRETARY OF DEFENSE LLOYD J. AUSTIN III: Yeah. By the way, happy birthday, Lita.
Q: Yeah!
(Laughter.)
Q: (inaudible) --
SEC. AUSTIN: Since it is your birthday, I think it only appropriate that you got the first question.
Q: Thank you very much.
SEC. AUSTIN: So the question is, you know, how -- how do we balance requirements against, you know, the, you know, precious resources we have, and how -- how do we utilize those resources?
Well, I'll tell you that one of the first things that we -- the president asked me to do with, and certainly, I want to do is to -- to -- to take a look at our global force posture. And so we are relooking our global force posture to make sure that those -- those resources that we're talking about are focused on our priorities. You know, our -- our -- our -- we -- we should be resourced to -- to match our strategy, our strategy ought to match our policies, and our policies ought to reflect the -- the will of the American people.
And -- and so we've embarked upon that process. We're going to do a very detailed review of -- of our force posture. It'll -- it'll include all the agencies; most important, State Department, our intelligence agencies, and we'll make sure that -- that we have, you know, a -- a good lay-down that's -- that's focused and are supported from our strategy.
Having said that, you know, things happen in the world, and -- and so we have to have the -- the capability to surge when -- when a -- an unexpected or strategic surprise happens, and hopefully, there will -- won't be many strategic surprises.
So we're doing that, and -- and we'll -- we'll finish that probably in mid-summer.
Q: And -- and any decision yet on the carrier, on the Eisenhower?
SEC. AUSTIN: No, I've -- I've not reached a decision on that yet. When I -- when I get back, I'll consult with -- with the chairman, and also look at the recommendations -- the CNO, the CENTCOM commander, the EUCOM commander, and based upon their input and -- and what I see as -- as a current need, you know, we'll make that decision here. So --
STAFF: Jim ? Go ahead.
Q: Sir, just again, through the long deployment, how -- how long is too long? I mean, how -- how does -- how does that -- is it personnel that break? Is it the ship that breaks? Is it a combination of all those sort of things? And how do you know that, you know, you're not pushing these guys too hard?
SEC. AUSTIN: Well, you know, I -- I think -- I think our sailors, our soldiers, our airmen, when they -- when they signed up to -- to -- to be a part of the military, they know that at some point there'll be some unexpected things that happen, some -- some -- some requirements that are -- that are a little bit tougher. And by -- for the most part, they -- they understand and they're -- and they're willing to -- to make sure that they're meeting the need, the requirement.
We've seen that happen here. These sailors have done a great job, and most importantly, Jim, their families have been very, very supportive, as well, and I want to make sure I, like, I give them a shout-out and -- and provide our thanks for -- for their sacrifices.
We have seen this happen in the past, and you've covered this in the past, Jim, in -- in -- in Iraq when we -- when we (inaudible) --
Q: Fourteen months, right.
SEC. AUSTIN: We had deployed troops over for a -- for a, you know, a year, and that -- that deployment turned out to be 18 months. By the way, I had two of those 18-month deployments, and I -- I understand the -- the stress that that can place on a family. So as secretary, what I want to do is make sure that, number one, going forward we do everything we can to minimize that kind of stress; that we do what -- what's necessary to take care of our -- our equipment, but most importantly, our people, our families, because I -- I know the impact that that can have.
We've learned a -- a lot about how to reintegrate families or -- or service members with their families, and so we're much better at that than we -- when we started this, you know, some 20 years ago. But we're not perfect, and we're going to continue to learn. We're going to continue to make sure we have the resources, that we're doing the right things to pace ourselves going forward, because I -- I really think this is important.
Q: Thanks.
Q: Hi, sir.
SEC. AUSTIN: Hi Helene. How are you?
Q: I'm good. So I -- I -- this has been -- again, on the deployment. This ship left -- when they left their home port in Bremerton, Washington, April 27th, it’s a completely different America now, and in that time we have a new president. We have a new defense secretary, and they also sat down on the ship and watched the Capitol being breached on January 6th, and which, I had a sailor just tell me that they're going around the world defending America from harm outside, and they're watching harm within the borders and saying, "I wonder what kind of country we're coming back to." What do you say to these sailors who want to know, sir, about the America that they are now returning to, in light of what -- what's happened over the last (inaudible) days?
SEC. AUSTIN: Well, I want to tell them that we're the greatest country in the world, and we have been that for a very long time. We will be that for -- for the, you know, forever. And it's a great country because of them and their families, their leadership.
And so yeah, it -- you know, you know when you were gone for 12 months or 18 months, just like I said, you know, had happened to me a couple of times, it is different when you -- when you come back, and it does take some -- some readjustment. But our sailors haven't been, you know -- they've maintained some degree of situational awareness in terms of what's going on in America, and -- and our leadership has kept them informed. They've kept them focused on the right things.
And -- and so reintegration is always a challenge. But in this case, I think we're -- as I said to Jim earlier, we're much better at that than -- than we were many years ago. And you know, I have confidence in our sailors and -- and Marines and -- that they're mature enough to -- to -- and they're focused enough to make sure that as they reintegrate, those values that we -- we've instilled in them, they'll stick to those values, they'll stay focused on the right things, and they'll continue to represent us well. And they have done amazing things all around the world to -- to represent us, and they’ll continue to do that.
Q: Yeah. Yeah, so given that the carrier maintenance and availability in the Navy, is there a possibility, a circumstance where you would feel comfortable deciding to have a carrier in the Middle East, for several months or up to a year at a time?
SEC. AUSTIN: Sure. There's -- you know, I mean, I -- I'd like to have a carrier in every -- in every spot in the world, you know. But that's just not possible because, as you know, we don't have those kinds of resources.
We've made decisions in the past and gapped the carrier in the Middle East, and -- and as we do that, we do things to make sure that -- that we have resources in the right place to ensure that we can respond to -- to contingencies as they arise.
But yeah, I mean, there -- there's -- there's going to be gaps at periods of time. And again, we're going to look at ourselves and make sure our resources are -- are in alignment with our priorities based on our strategy going forward.
STAFF: Mosh, you got one?
Q: Yeah. Thanks, again for doing this. So the previous administration, their response about the Navy and -- and having a carrier presence, the previous administration felt that less carriers. I just wanted to know your thoughts of the carrier program in the future (inaudible) the appearance of (inaudible).
SEC. AUSTIN: I -- I'm sorry. I -- I -- I didn't hear your question. You're -- you're pretty soft-spoken, so if you could --
(CROSSTALK)
Q: Sorry. I’ll do it again. So in the previous administration, when they talked about the future of the navy, in terms of the carrier program, talked about a navy with less carriers. Does that give you pause? What is your thought in terms of future of the Navy, in terms of the carrier program?
SEC. AUSTIN: And -- and that's a great question. So in terms of the numbers of carriers that we have going forward, you know, again -- and I -- I think that's based upon how we envision future conflicts, what our strategy's going to be, what those requirements are, what kind of capabilities we need. And -- and -- and that will -- that will kind of shape the design of the force.
And you know, we've had the greatest navy in the world for -- for -- forever. It is -- it is a, you know -- it's been relevant in everything that we've done, more than relevant, and it will continue to be so going forward. But we want to make sure it's relevant today and for the foreseeable future. You know, the things that we do in the future may be -- may be different from what we've done -- will be different from we've done in the past. And so it's incumbent upon the leadership to -- to make sure that -- that we envision what the next conflict could be like, or what our challenge is going to be like going forward, and we -- and that we have the right capabilities. And you've heard the president talk about making sure that we have right capabilities for today, but also, for tomorrow, and into the future. That -- that's really our focus.
Hey, listen, guys, this has been real great. Hey, thanks for coming out to the carrier. Encourage you to talk to some of these great sailors and Marines, but they are truly our nation's finest. So thanks a lot.
Q: (inaudible) with you, sir.
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