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Army Sgt. Dillon Proffitt, left, and Marine Corps Cpl. James Fugate discuss the Q-50 radar system during Spartan Fury 21 at Pohakuloa Training Area, Hawaii, March 3, 2021. The exercise demonstrates ability to conduct distributed operations inside an adversary’s sensors and weapons engagement zone, attain and defend key maritime terrain and conduct sea denial in support of fleet operations.
Marines climb onto dock landing ship USS Germantown during a boat assault force drill in the Philippine Sea, March 7, 2021.
The USS New Orleans, USS Ashland, a Navy air-cushioned landing craft and a Palauan patrol boat travel in formation in the Philippine Sea, Feb. 27, 2021.
March 10, 2021
Deputy Secretary of Defense Dr. Kathleen Hicks held an introductory phone call with U.K. Permanent Secretary for Defense Sir Stephen Lovegrove to reaffirm the continuing importance of U.S.-U.K. defense cooperation.
The two leaders exchanged views on defense priorities and discussed the expected release of the UK’s Integrated Review later this month. They also discussed Carrier Strike Group 21, an upcoming joint U.S.-UK deployment which will include U.S. Marine Corps F-35s, Marines and Sailors, embarked onboard the HMS QUEEN ELIZABETH on her inaugural deployment.
Lovegrove and Hicks congratulated each other on their new appointments: Hicks to Deputy Secretary of Defense and Lovegrove to U.K. National Security Adviser. Both leaders expressed their commitment to deepening the U.S.-U.K. defense relationship.
A U.S. Air Force C-130J Super Hercules aircraft drops Japanese soldiers over Combined Arms Training Center, Camp Fuji, Japan, March 9, 2021, during Airborne 21 exercise, considered the largest U.S.-Japan airborne operation in history.
Air Force Capt. Andrea Lewis, an E-8C pilot assigned to the Georgia Air National Guard, views her own image at a new National Museum of the U.S. Air Force exhibit at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, March 5, 2021. The exhibit, which celebrates female aviators’ accomplishments, opened in March in honor of Women’s History Month.
Sailors receive a briefing during the opening of the state-run, federally-supported York College Community Vaccination Center in Queens, N. Y., Feb. 24, 2021. U.S. Northern Command, through U.S. Army North, remains committed to providing continued, flexible Defense Department support to the Federal Emergency Management Agency as part of the whole-of-government response to COVID-19.
Marine Corps Lance Cpls. Simeon Carithers, left, Alexander Manchak, center, and Jon Yarusso participate in a live-fire exercise at Camp Buehring, Kuwait, Feb. 14, 2021.
A Marine Corps F-35B Lightning II receives fuel from an Air Force KC-10 during an agile combat employment event over Southwest Asia, March 4, 2021.
Army Spc. Emondre Hansen, a combat engineer assigned to Bravo Company, 299th Brigade Engineer Battalion, 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, verifies information of vaccine recipients at the California State University Los Angeles Community Vaccination Center in Los Angeles, March 2, 2021.
Army Pvt. Joe Díaz, assigned to the Puerto Rico Army National Guard, prepares a COVID-19 vaccine in Barceloneta, Puerto Rico, March 9, 2021. The Puerto Rico National Guard was tasked with the vaccination of the elderly population to protect them against COVID-19.
Marines and sailors participate in a moving drill aboard the USS Germantown in the Philippine Sea, Feb. 27, 2021.
A sailor fast-ropes from a Navy MH-60S Seahawk onto the flight deck of the USS Mitscher in the Mediterranean Sea, March 9, 2021.
Marines fire a chain gun at a target during a live-fire exercise at Camp Buehring, Kuwait, Feb. 15, 2021.
U.S. and Saudi troops pose for a photo at a capstone event at Prince Sultan Air Base, March 4, 2021. Joint and regional partners worked on a variety of tasks including hot-pit refueling, crew-swap operations, aircraft integrated combat turns and partner-nation flying integration during the weeklong event.
Sailors conduct an airfield firefighting exercise at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan, March 9, 2021.
March 10, 2021
The Office of the Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (OSEAC) announced today the following assignment:
Air Force Chief Master Sgt. Clint Grizzell, currently assigned as the command chief, 492d Special Operations Wing, Hurlburt Field, Florida, has been selected to replace Navy Command Master Chief David Isom as the command senior enlisted leader for U.S. Special Operations Command North, Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado.
March 10, 2021
Today, the Department of Defense (DoD) released its annual Freedom of Navigation (FON) Report for Fiscal Year 2020. During the period from October 1, 2019, through September 30, 2020, U.S. forces operationally challenged 28 different excessive maritime claims made by 19 different claimants throughout the world.
Unlawful and sweeping maritime claims—or incoherent legal theories of maritime entitlements—that are inconsistent with customary international law as reflected in the Law of the Sea Convention pose a threat to the legal foundation of the rules-based international order. Consequently, the United States is committed to confronting this threat by challenging excessive maritime claims.
DoD’s operational challenges are also known as “FON assertions,” “FON operations,” and “FONOPs.” The comprehensive, regular, and routine execution of these operations complements diplomatic engagements by the U.S. State Department and supports the longstanding U.S. national interest in freedom of the seas worldwide.
Upholding freedom of navigation as a principle supports unimpeded lawful commerce and the global mobility of U.S. forces. FONOPs demonstrate that the United States will fly, sail, and operate wherever international law allows—regardless of the location of excessive maritime claims and regardless of current events.
Each year, DoD releases an unclassified summarized FON Report identifying the broad range of excessive maritime claims that are challenged by U.S. forces. The FON Report also includes general geographic information to describe the location of FON assertions while still maintaining operational security of U.S. military forces.
“Excessive maritime claims” are those that are inconsistent with international law as reflected in the Law of the Sea Convention. They include a variety of restrictions on the exercise of navigation and overflight rights and freedoms and other lawful uses of the sea. If left unchallenged, excessive maritime claims could limit the rights and freedoms enjoyed by the United States and other nations.
As long as restrictions on navigation and overflight rights and freedoms that exceed the authority provided under international law persist, the United States will continue to challenge such unlawful maritime claims.
The United States will uphold the rights, freedoms, and lawful uses of the sea for the benefit of all nations—and will stand with like-minded partners doing the same.
Previous DoD FON Reports are available at http://policy.defense.gov/OUSDPOffices/FON.aspx.
March 10, 2021
Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III embarks on his first overseas trip Saturday, March 13, to visit U.S. Indo-Pacific Command Headquarters in Hawaii, U.S. troops and senior government leaders in Japan and the Republic of Korea, and senior government leaders in India.
Secretary Austin will meet with his counterparts and other senior officials to discuss the importance of international defense relationships, and reinforce the United States’ commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific region – founded on respect for international rules, laws, and norms.
Secretary Austin will visit U.S. Indo-Pacific Command Headquarters in Hawaii to meet with U.S. troops and senior commanders and highlight his vision for the Indo-Pacific region as a priority theater for the Department.
In Japan, Austin will join U.S. Department of State Secretary Antony Blinken, for the U.S.-Japan Security Consultative Committee (“2+2”), hosted by Japan’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Toshimitsu Motegi and Minister of Defense Nobuo Kishi, to emphasize that the U.S.-Japan Alliance has never been more resolute and resilient – the cornerstone of peace and security in a free and open Indo-Pacific in the face of long-term competition with China.
In the Republic of Korea, Austin and Blinken will attend a U.S.-ROK Foreign and Defense Ministerial (“2+2”), hosted by the ROK’s Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong and Minister of Defense Suh Wook, to reaffirm the United States’ ironclad commitment to the security of the Republic of Korea, and emphasize that the U.S. – ROK alliance remains a linchpin of peace, security, and prosperity in Northeast Asia, a free and open Indo-Pacific, and around the world.
In India, Secretary Austin will meet with his counterpart, Minister of Defense Rajnath Singh, and other senior national security leaders to discuss deepening the U.S.-India Major Defense Partnership and advancing cooperation between our countries for a free, prosperous and open Indo-Pacific and Western Indian Ocean Region.
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