Soldiers participate in a live-fire exercise during Al Tahreer at Udairi Range Complex, Kuwait, Feb. 23, 2021. The exercise strengthens the U.S.-Kuwait relationship and promotes regional stability.
Friday, February 26, 2021
Atlantic Refueling
Coast Guardsmen aboard the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Charles Moulthrope conduct astern refueling with the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Venturous during training in the Atlantic Ocean, Feb. 23, 2021.
Support Team
Marines conduct helicopter support team aerial lift training during Hagatna Fury in Okinawa, Japan, Feb. 24, 2021. The exercise allows Marines to hone abilities to seize, defend and provide expeditionary sustainment for key maritime terrain.
On Mark
An airman prepares to assemble a Mark-82 munitions component at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, Jan. 26, 2021.
Former White House Advisor to Lead DOD Commission on Sexual Assault
Feb. 26, 2021 | , DOD News
The Defense Department announced today that Lynn Rosenthal will head
an independent review commission on sexual assault in the military, the
Pentagon press secretary said.
"To carry out the president's direction, [Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III] ordered the establishment of a 90-day independent review commission on sexual assault in the military ... to review department policies and processes as directed by the president," John Kirby said during a briefing today. "The secretary has designated Lynn Rosenthal, formerly the first-ever White House advisor on violence against women and a longtime advocate for survivors of gender violence, to lead this commission."
In addition to the independent review commission, Austin has also directed actions to bring the department in compliance with evidence-based practices to ensure accountability of sexual assault and harassment efforts at every level across the department, Kirby said.
"Every member of the total force deserves a workplace free of sexual assault and harassment and personal fear," Kirby said. "We must commit ourselves to eliminating this illegal and corrosive behavior."
All Options on the Table
"The trauma and life-altering effects of sexual assault are devastating in any context," Rosenthal said. "What I'm struck by here, as I listen to stories of military survivors, is how much their service meant to them, how their life was about this dream of serving in the military, and the dream was a part of their identity. And for many, their dreams were shattered by the trauma of sexual violence and sometimes retaliation for coming forward. This must end."
While the commission's primary task is to provide accountability for those who commit crimes of sexual assault, Rosenthal also said the commission will be looking at climate, culture and prevention.
Right now, she said, the commission is working with Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen H. Hicks on developing a charter for the commission. Rosenthal said within 60 days the commission will have initial recommendations, including those on accountability issues.
The commission's membership will include military leaders, former military leaders, advocates for those who have been sexually assaulted, and experts on the crime of sexual assault, she said.
"We want to hear a diversity of views from every level of the services and in civilian society," Rosenthal said. "We will take all of those views into account in our deliberations and our recommendations."
Discussions about solving the sexual assault problem within the ranks and improving the climate so that those who are sexually assaulted feel comfortable coming forward have frequently involved the idea of removing commanders from the process of investigating sexual assaults. Rosenthal said that is something that will be looked at by the commission.
"The president and the secretary have said that all options should be on the table," she said. "I don't think we have a predetermined outcome of this question, which we must very carefully examine."
By 90 days, she said, the commission's work will have finished, but work on sexual assault in the military will continue long after it is done.
"I think the secretary is our greatest asset in fighting this problem," she said. "He gets it so deeply. He cares about it so much. He cares about his service members. And, so, the commission ends in 90 days, but the implementation of the recommendations will certainly continue."
Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III Remarks on USS Nimitz
Feb. 25, 2021
Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III
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.
The Servicemembers and Veterans Initiative Honors Contributions of African-Americans to the Armed Forces During Black History Month
February 26, 2021
Each year, Black History Month gives us the opportunity to reflect on and appreciate the contributions that African-Americans have made in all aspects of our Nation’s history, including within the armed services. Many have valiantly volunteered their lives to protect the freedoms of the citizens of a country that has not always provided them with those same freedoms. African-Americans have contributed to military life throughout the entirety of American history, serving in every conflict since the Nation’s inception. As of 2015, African-Americans made up 17% of active duty military members, more than their 13% share of the U.S. population. Many consider the first casualty of the Revolutionary War to be Crispus Attucks, a Black man shot during the Boston Massacre while protesting British oppression. During the Civil War, Harriet Tubman served as a spy for the Union Army and led troops in combat, in addition to her role helping hundreds escape slavery through the Underground Railroad. And, most recently, on January 22, 2021, Secretary Lloyd Austin became the first African-American to lead the Department of Defense.
The Servicemembers and Veterans Initiative (SVI), a part of the Civil Rights Division, advocates for the fair treatment of former and current military members by building a comprehensive legal support and protection network focused on serving servicemembers, veterans, and their families. The Civil Rights Division enforces certain laws that protect the rights of servicemembers, including those affecting their employment, housing, financial, voting, and disability rights. The Initiative builds upon this critical enforcement work, as well as the work of other Department components that serve the military community, by sharing information, identifying servicemember and veteran needs, and coordinating the distribution of resources. Throughout Black History Month and the rest of the year, SVI will work to utilize the powerful resources of the Civil Rights Division to ensure that African-Americans who have answered the call of duty enjoy the rights and resources that they deserve. If you have any questions about SVI’s work or have a concernVeteran Vaccination
Army Spc. Alexis Ruth prepares to administer the COVID-19 vaccine at a Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Baltimore, Jan. 30, 2021. Ruth was part of a Maryland National Guard mobile vaccination support team working with the Department of Veterans Affairs and other agencies to distribute hundreds of vaccines to veterans.
Vaccine Prep
A sailor prepares to administer the COVID-19 vaccine at a vaccination center in Elizabeth, N.J., Feb. 22, 2021.
Vaccination Center
Army Pfc. Tanner Tate prepares to administer the COVID-19 vaccine to a fellow soldier at a vaccination center in Elizabeth, N.J., Feb. 22, 2021.
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