Mattis Thanks Colombian Officials for Denouncing Undemocratic Actions

WASHINGTON -- Defense Secretary James N. Mattis met with Colombia’s defense minister yesterday in Bogota to reaffirm the long-standing defense relationship between the United States and Colombia, chief Pentagon spokesperson Dana W. White said.

In a statement summarizing the meeting, White said the secretary met with Defense Minister Guillermo Botero.

“The leaders discussed a broad range of defense issues, and the secretary thanked the minister for their country’s regional leadership role as a security exporter,” White said.

The secretary also thanked Colombia for its work regionally to denounce undemocratic actions – especially those in Venezuela and Nicaragua, White said.

The leaders agreed to work together to achieve mutual strategic objectives to address regional challenges, she said.

Face of Defense: Deployed Soldier Produces Beats in Off-Duty Time

By Army Spc. Jovi Prevot, 155th Armored Brigade Combat Team

CAMP BUEHRING, Kuwait -- Even with increased workloads and long hours, deployments are a great way to work on one’s self. One soldier viewed his time on deployment as a chance to hone his craft.

Army Spc. Marqueze McGee, a motor transport operator deployed here with the Mississippi Army National Guard’s Alpha Company, 106th Brigade Support Battalion, is an amateur music producer with dreams of a career in the music industry.

“I’m a military guy -- an 88M [a motor transport operator] -- I also produce beats,” McGee said.

Inspiration, Perspiration

A native of Hollandale, Mississippi, McGee said he has been creating music since his early teens.

McGee’s interest in music started in middle school.

"I started taking it serious about two years ago,” he said.

For the Tougaloo College student, inspiration comes from various places.

“Sometimes a melody, I hear in my head and I play it out on the keyboard and go from there,” McGee said.

He has no formal musical training, but is still able to play melodies on his synthesizer.

“I actually don’t have any training. I play the piano by ear,” McGee said.

He works tirelessly on his off time to produce music.

“I try to make at least five beats a day,” McGee said.

Though an artist himself, he said he is focused on his customer.

“I try to think of the artist first,” McGee said. “I don’t even name my beats, I name them ‘Untitled,’ then a number. I don’t want to influence their song, just inspire it.”

Influences

But every artist has influences, and McGee is no different.

“[Some of my] influences [are] Big K.R.I.T., he’s a Mississippi guy,” he said. “Atlanta artists and producers, some New York like Nas and Jay-Z, those type of guys. I am a big ’90s fan.”

Though just starting out on his professional career, McGee said he has sold more than a hundred beats and has a dream list of artists to one day work with.

“My dream artists to work with are Starlito and Don Trip, they are based out of Tennessee,” he said. “They are mostly underground, but I feel if I reach their level, I’ll make a big accomplishment to myself and reach the goals I wanted.”

This deployment has given McGee not only the time work on his music, but also the money to invest in new equipment.

“I am actually waiting on a new keyboard to get here right now,” he said, noting that his current equipment is nearly worn out.

Once his deployment is complete, McGee will return to his home in Jackson, Mississippi, to complete his degree and continue to pursue his dream of a career in the music industry.

U.S., Argentina Agree to Strengthen Military Relationship

By Jim Garamone, DoD News, Defense Media Activity

WASHINGTON -- The United States and Argentina are in basic agreement about the security situation in South America, and the countries are looking to increase military-to-military ties, Defense Secretary James N. Mattis said today.

Mattis spoke with reporters traveling with him while en route from Buenos Aries, Argentina, to Santiago, Chile.

“We're in agreement, with an appreciation of the security situation in the region,” he said. “There were no disagreements on the situation – the worsening situation – in Venezuela.”

Argentine and U.S. officials want a stronger military-to-military relationship, and the two sides discussed ways to move this process along, Mattis said. The two sides agreed to increase education, and exchanges of information.

“It was mostly about consultation, collaboration and defining … what we need to focus on,” Mattis said. “Now we'll go back and we'll start all the various action meetings and get it all underway.”

Comments on Afghanistan

Earlier in the trip, the secretary discussed the situation in Ghazni, Afghanistan, where Taliban forces attacked Afghan security forces.

“It looks like many of the enemy have run, but some are in the town in homes, fighting from inside homes, with all the danger and the slowness that requires in order to get them out without hurting innocent people,” Mattis said.

He called the Taliban attack a “continuation of their willingness to put innocent people in harm's way; nothing new. It's the usual endangering civilians that's part and parcel of what they've done for the last 20 years.”

NATO forces provided close air support to the Afghan effort.

“Every battlefield is a humanitarian field,” he said. “It is … oftentimes a conventional war, too, but especially so on counterterrorism, when you have people who lack any kind of manhood [who] would fight among innocent people, and use them for protection.”