July 8, 2021
Pentagon Press Secretary John F. Kirby provided the following readout:
Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III spoke by phone today with
Turkish Minister of National Defense Hulusi Akar to continue discussions
over the ongoing drawdown in Afghanistan. The Secretary and Minister
shared views over security concerns and agreed to stay engaged with
respect to arrangements at the Hamid Karzai International Airport.
A Hawaii Air National Guard F-22 Raptor flies in formation with a French air and space force F3-R Rafale near Oahu, Hawaii, June 30, 2021. The flight was part of Exercise Wakea, an effort to promote bilateral cooperation in the Pacific between the United States and France.
U.S. and Indonesian Marines conduct integrated training aboard combat rubber raiding crafts in Indonesia, June 11, 2021.
Army Cpl. Zachary Tallis works on the rear engine of a helicopter in a maintenance bay of the Connecticut National Guard in Groton, Conn., June 22, 2021. The chopper is undergoing a complete overhaul after being badly damaged from a hard landing in Iraq.
July 9, 2021 | , DOD News
The deputy secretary began her trip June 8 at Bath Iron Works in Brunswick, Maine, where she met with troops and toured the USS Daniel Inouye, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer. She traveled that afternoon to Portsmouth Naval Shipyard and Pease Air National Guard in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
"How [ships] innovate is a huge piece, of course, of where the department is going today with different kinds of actors, research institutions, universities and startups …" she said of ship and submarine modernization.
Those elements are important to how DOD modernizes by ensuring shipyards have space availability and move with agility through repair work and understand software upgrades that are moving at a fast pace, Hicks said.
At Pease, the deputy secretary met with troops and toured the KC-46A Pegasus, a 2019 wide-bodied, multi-role tanker aircraft that can refuel all U.S., allied and coalition military aircraft that are in line with international aerial refueling procedures. The KC-46, used by the Air Force, can also carry passengers, cargo and patients, according to Boeing.
Traveling to Cambridge, Massachusetts, Hicks went to Harvard University's engineering school and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for innovation assessments and briefings. At Harvard, she met with former Defense Secretary Ash Carter and Marine Corps Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
DOD is building on the path Carter laid in his Defense Department career by working in partnership with the private sector and academia to quickly get innovation into the warfighter's hands on the battlefield.
At MIT, Hicks visited military and academic teams at the Air Force-MIT Artificial Intelligence Accelerator, which is designed to make fundamental advances in AI to improve Air Force operations. She also went to the Army's Natick Soldier System Center at Draper Laboratory, a nonprofit engineering innovation company, and The Engine, a venture firm founded by MIT to support "tough tech" companies.
DOD has done well in the last decade to make clear its interest in embracing new technology, she said.
"Where we need to go next is knitting [everything] together so that we have an ecosystem in the department that doesn't crush the ability to have innovation in small teams because I think there's a lot to be gained from that," she said.
Hicks emphasized the need to have what she called feedback loops and the ability to understand what such teams are doing to share lessons learned and spread innovation to share with the warfighter.
"[Regardless] of what that pathway is, we need to hear those insights and lessons learned from those who are … deploying forward into the innovation base," Hicks said.
July 9, 2021
SECRETARY OF DEFENSE LLOYD J. AUSTIN III: Well, bonjour, and thank you for joining us today, Madam Minister. It's very good to see you again so soon after our last meeting in Brussels, and I'm delighted to host you here at the Pentagon. I've been looking forward to this for quite some time.
It's not lost on me that your visit falls between our prospective (sic) independence days, July 4th and July 14th. It's an honor to have the chance to meet with our first ally at a time of year when we celebrate the democratic values that we share. Our cooperation in NATO, the Sahel and the Middle East are a key to our long-standing partnership, which is grounded in common strategic interests, our shared understanding of the importance of diplomacy and a powerful interest in preserving the international rules-based order.
Today, as you well know, some of our competitors are working to undermine the stable and open order that we both support. So in the Indo-Pacific in particular, France is an ideal partner for the United States as we work to bolster our shared interests in the region. In Europe, we look forward to continuing to consult with France, as well as our other NATO allies and partners, as the Department of Defense moves forth with its strategic reviews and as we continue to confront an increasingly-aggressive Russia.
We'll also spend some time today discussing our cooperation in the Sahel, where France and coalition forces from Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger work to bring peace and security to the region. The United States is proud to support our French and African partners.
Closer to home, we'll also discuss implementing deliverables that we agreed upon at the NATO leaders summit and at -- and the U.S.-E.U. summit in June, and of course, we thank France for your contributions in Afghanistan since the very beginning of operations there in 2001. We thank the French people and the French military who served bravely alongside us for the last 20 years. And now it's time for us to end that war, and we appreciate the coordination we've had as together, we and our NATO allies have begun to transition to a new relationship with our Afghan partners.
I'm also looking forward to our -- to continuing our efforts in other areas and discussing new areas for potential cooperation, and to that end, I am especially pleased that later today, we'll be visiting USCYBERCOMMAND together, where the United States is working to develop our defenses and build up our resilience against adversaries in cyberspace. I know you have also made cybersecurity a top priority, and that France has developed a cybersecurity strategy to mitigate risk and increase its capabilities. Our countries have a strong shared interest in protecting our critical infrastructure and that of our allies, including cyber infrastructure, and that's a foundation for our future cooperation in the area of technological infrastructure more broadly.
And finally, I'm looking forward to signing the Special Operations Forces roadmap, which paves the way for enhanced cooperation between our Special Operations Forces, who have a long history of working together on a number of issues.
And so Madam Minister, I hope that your visit to Washington will be a memorable one. I'm looking forward to our time together and to deepening the U.S.-France partnership on defense issues.
Merci beaucoup.
FRENCH MINISTER OF THE ARMED FORCES FLORENCE PARLY: Thank you very much, Mr. Secretary.
I've been very (inaudible), because I want first and foremost to thank you very much for your warm welcome. I'm very delighted to continue the discussions we started in Brussels a -- a few weeks ago. Our cooperation is already very strong and deep, especially in the field of operations, and we want to seize every opportunity to strengthen it.
Intelligence, space and cyber are also domains where we cooperate more and more. I met, a few days ago, General Dickinson in Paris, and it was a -- a very good symbol of the relationship we are going to create more and more in the future.
I also want to thank you sincerely for your support in the Sahel. Today, President Macron unveiled the broad outlines of the transformation of Operation Barkhane. Your support will continue to be needed in the fight against terrorism and we are very grateful for it. France and the United States are known to be the oldest allies. These are not just pretty words; they reflect something real. We are allies in words and deeds.
Thank you.
Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Johnathan Norton administers the COVID-19 vaccine to an employee at Naval Air Facility Atsugi, Japan, July 2, 2021.
July 8, 2021
Deputy Press Secretary Jamal Brown provided the following readout:
Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks visited Boston, Massachusetts, to meet with academic institutions, industry partners, and military innovation incubators to discuss and assess their efforts in support of Secretary Austin’s commitment to modernize and drive innovation across the Department of Defense.
The Deputy Secretary met with representatives from Harvard’s Science and Engineering Complex, including former Secretary of Defense Ash Carter and former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs retired General Joseph Dunford.
Following the visit, she visited the Air Force Artificial Intelligence Accelerator at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), had lunch with Fellows at MIT-Lincoln Labs, and visited the U.S. Army Natick Soldier Systems Center at Draper Labs. While at Draper Labs, the Deputy Secretary spoke with soldiers and scientists involved in biotechnology and security and microelectronics about their work to advance and support America’s warfighting capabilities through rapid experimentation, innovative technologies, prototyping, and testing and evaluation.
July 9, 2021 | , DOD News
Mike Donley is an example of the way Washington should work.
Donley, a consummate defense expert, is one of those rare people who have been appointed to national security positions by both Democratic and Republican presidents. He served as the Defense Department's director of administration and management in the Bush Administration and as the Air Force Secretary under President Obama.
And now he is back with DOD serving for the second time as the director of administration and management. He says he is engaged in "worthy work" as the department moves forward.
Donley started his service in the Army and continued in civilian jobs with the Senate Armed Services Committee, DOD, the National Security Council and more. Throughout his career he has worked with many current defense leaders. "We are truly fortunate that Secretary Donley agreed to return to the Pentagon to serve as the director of administration and management," Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks said in a written statement. "He embodies our core values of duty, integrity and honor. As we emerge from the pandemic and look forward to modernizing how we manage the department, we will benefit from his decades of expertise across multiple administrations. I look forward to working closely with him."
He hadn't expected to come back to the department. "I was watching this from a distance," he said during an interview in his E-Ring office.
Donley had been involved in discussions between the department and Capitol Hill on establishing the DOD chief management officer position in 2005. "I've always been interested in how does one manage one of the world's largest enterprises. It's a huge challenge for a secretary and deputy secretary of defense," he said.
When he was administration and management director the first time he learned a lot about a wide range of management areas. Congress established the chief management officer position, but then shut it down at the end of 2020. "There was a fair amount of turmoil associated with that, and it just looked to me like there was going to be a challenge to put things back together in some fashion," he said.
And many of the duties performed by the chief of management did not go away when the position disappeared. "Now there is a challenge to figure out where all the pieces go, and how the intention of the Congress and the department in creating this additional level of oversight across the department would be implemented," Donley said.
He had discussions with Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen H. Hicks about the situation and he suggested some people who could do the administration and management job. "She eventually turned the discussion around and asked if I would do it. So I said, 'Yes,'" Donley said.
Donley advises the secretary and deputy secretary on organization and management aspects of the department. He also oversees a wide range of administrative, logistical and technological support for the Office of the Secretary of Defense and associated agencies and offices. Finally, Donley is responsible for running the Pentagon reservation.
The job is not going to be the same as it was in his first iteration. The elimination of the position of chief management officer is one reason, technology is another and necessity is a third. The CMO functions need to continue, and the office may pick up those for at least a time, Donley said. Once there is time to study them, the functions may go to another DOD agency [or] to one of the services, he said. New technologies often mandate new methods of doing things, and that, too, causes changes.
The professional challenge is one part of the reason that Donley came back to DOD. "The people is the other part about coming back," he said.
Many of those who worked with him originally have retired or moved on to other jobs, but there were a number of career civil servants whom he had worked with and trusted who are still in the organization. "It was good to see many people when I came back into the building," he said. "I know they are committed to the DOD mission, and that is something that unites really everybody in this building. In this community, no matter where we work, we share that deep commitment to serving the nation's defense and our men and women in uniform. It's always a privilege to be part of this mission."
July 9, 2021 | , DOD News
It is safe to say that without France, the United States would not have won independence in 1783. More than 200 years later, the two nations still work and fight together.
The two leaders also signed the Special Operations Forces roadmap, which enhances cooperation between French and U.S. special operators.
"Our cooperation in NATO, the Sahel and the Middle East are a key to our long-standing partnership, which is grounded in common strategic interests, our shared understanding of the importance of diplomacy and a powerful interest in preserving the international rules-based order," Austin said at the beginning of the meeting.
The meeting follows the NATO Summit and the two leaders discussed the ways the two nations will work together in NATO and bilaterally. The challenge from China was among the topics of discussion. "Today, as you well know, some of our competitors are working to undermine the stable and open order that we both support," Austin said. "So in the Indo-Pacific in particular, France is an ideal partner for the United States as we work to bolster our shared interests in the region.
Russian challenges in Europe and elsewhere also concern both nations and Austin promised the United States would continue to consult with France on this issue and more.
France is a bulwark in West Africa, and especially the Sahel region. Austin and Parly spoke about working with coalition forces from Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger to bring peace and security to the region. "The United States is proud to support our French and African partners," he said.
French and American service members worked shoulder-to-shoulder in Afghanistan and Austin praised the French contributions. "We thank the French people and the French military who served bravely alongside us for the last 20 years," he said. "And now it's time for us to end that war, and we appreciate the coordination we've had as together, we and our NATO allies have begun to transition to a new relationship with our Afghan partners."
But the allies are looking to the future. After the meeting Austin and Parly went to Fort Meade, Md., to visit U.S. Cyber Command. "I know you have also made cybersecurity a top priority, and that France has developed a cybersecurity strategy to mitigate risk and increase its capabilities," the secretary said. "Our countries have a strong shared interest in protecting our critical infrastructure and that of our allies, including cyber infrastructure, and that's a foundation for our future cooperation in the area of technological infrastructure more broadly."
Parly wants the two nations to build on the very robust military-to-military relationship. "Our cooperation is already very strong and deep, especially in the field of operations, and we want to seize every opportunity to strengthen it," she said. "Intelligence, space and cyber are also domains where we cooperate more and more."
Parly specifically thanked Austin for American support in the Sahel. "Your support will continue to be needed in the fight against terrorism and we are very grateful for it," she said.
"France and the United States are known to be the oldest allies," the minister said. "These are not just pretty words; they reflect something real. We are allies in words and deeds."
Navy Petty Officers 3rd Class Jeremiah Rivera, left, Brandon Lester, center, and Arthur Cataag fold an American flag aboard the USS Ross during Exercise Sea Breeze in Odessa, Ukraine, July 6, 2021. The annual exercise brings together military units from several countries to enhance their warfighting capabilities and build strong relationships.
Arizona National Guard soldiers help prepare donations at a food bank in Phoenix, July 7, 2021, to support COVID-19 relief efforts.
A soldier assigned to the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment, known as “The Old Guard,” walks the mat at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier during a rainstorm at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia, July 8, 2021.
Army Reserve soldiers load .50-caliber ammunition into a holding can on top of a Stryker vehicle before a live-fire night gunnery training exercise at Fort Stewart, Ga., June 25, 2021.
Airmen perform an expedient multiple unexploded ordnance disposal walk during training at Kadena Air Base, Japan, July 2, 2021. Airmen cleared simulated ordnance from a mock airfield during the event.
Sailors inspect the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan for debris during flight operations in the Arabian Sea, July 3, 2021.
Army Sgt. Keeiaru Lee fires an assault rifle during a qualification for the Schuetzenschnur, the German Armed Forces badge of marksmanship, at the Grafenwoehr Training Area, Germany, July 7, 2021.
Marine Corps MV-22B Ospreys conduct refueling operations at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, Calif., July 7, 2021, during Summer Fury, an exercise designed to enhance Marine Air-Ground Task Force integration and increase aviation operations proficiency.
Airmen participate in a quick response training event at Prince Sultan Air Base, Saudi Arabia, June 12, 2021.
July 9, 2021
Pentagon Press Secretary John F. Kirby provided the following readout:
Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III met France Minister of the Armed Forces Florence Parly today at the Pentagon to reaffirm the deep cooperation between our governments and militaries.
The leaders discussed the importance of transatlantic cooperation and unity, particularly as strategic competitors contribute to increased security challenges worldwide. They also discussed bilateral cooperation and opportunities for continued engagement in the Middle East and Africa, where France and the United States have a long history of working together to address common challenges.
Secretary Austin committed to continuing consultations with France and other NATO Allies on strategic reviews, including the National Defense Strategy. Minister Parly conveyed appreciation for the United States’ reinvigorated engagement with NATO Allies and EU partners, noting the recent NATO and EU Leaders Summits attended by President Biden.
Secretary Austin and Minister Parly concluded their meeting with a signing ceremony of the U.S.-France Roadmap for Increased Cooperation in the Area of Special Operations. The Roadmap signals U.S. and French intent to identify areas where increased special operations coordination and cooperation is possible.
After their meeting, Secretary Austin and Minister Parly visited U.S. Cyber Command at Fort Meade, Maryland, where they discussed shared interests, opportunities, and initiatives in cyberspace to deepen the enduring U.S.-France bilateral partnership.
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