Pentagon Press Briefing with Air Force Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder - 2/29/24
Channel: Defense Now
Date: 2024-02-29

Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder briefs the news media at the Pentagon.
MAJOR GENERAL PAT RYDER:  All right.  Good afternoon, everyone.  Just a few things here at the top and then get right to your questions.  

So upfront, on behalf of Secretary Austin, the department wants to extend our congratulations to the more than 20 DoD senior leaders who were confirmed by the Senate this week to include Cara L. Abercrombie, whose nomination to be assistant secretary of defense for acquisitions was approved, and U.S. Navy Admiral Samuel Paparo to be the next commander of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command.

These confirmations are welcome news and we're excited for what these leaders will bring to the important mission of the Department of Defense.  

In other news yesterday, performing the duties of assistant secretary of defense for homeland defense and hemispheric affairs, Ms. Rebecca Zimmerman hosted Colombia's minister of defense, Mr. Ivan Velasquez, and Minister of Justice and Law Mr. Nestor Osuna.  The senior officials exchanged views on countering illicit drug trafficking and human security, semi-irregular migration and frameworks to enhance bilateral security cooperation.  The meeting reaffirmed the United States's and Department of Defense's strong partnership with Colombia as the two nations work together to ensure a stable and secure hemisphere based on a foundation of respect for democracy and human rights.  

Today, acting Under Secretary -- and also today -- or, rather, excuse me, today, acting Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Ms. Sasha Baker will host Kurdistan Regional Government Prime Minister Masrour Barzani and his senior delegation.  The meeting will emphasize the United States's longstanding commitments to continued partnership with the people of Iraq, including the Kurdistan Regional Government, for secure and stable Iraqi-Kurdistan region within sovereign Iraq.  

And tomorrow, Secretary Austin is scheduled to welcome Slovakia's minister of defense and deputy prime minister, Robert Kalinak to the Pentagon to discuss a range of regional and bilateral issues.  

Full readouts from these senior leader engagements will be available on the defense.gov website.

Shifting gears to Africa, the 13th African Air Chief Symposium is taking place this week in Tunis, Tunisia, hosted by the Association of African Air Forces alongside the Tunisian Air Force and sponsored by U.S. Air Forces in Europe-Air Forces Africa, and serves as a pivotal platform for addressing critical challenges, strengthening partner networks, and fostering cooperation among African air chiefs.  With a thematic focus on pan-African education and training opportunities, this symposium is strategically designed to nurture more effectively -- excuse me, more effective military relationships among participating nations with approximately 40 African countries engaged in advancing regional air power solutions.  

Separately, Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks will depart on domestic travel this Sunday, March 3rd, to visit Camp Pendleton and Fort Irwin, California.  At Camp Pendleton, the deputy secretary will meet with servicemembers to better understand the challenges and opportunities they experience as part of their military service.  At both locations, she'll interact with warfighters to see combined joint all-domain command-and-control in action via the Project Convergence Capstone 4.  Viewing this experimentation will enable Deputy Secretary Hicks to gain better insight into the challenges that impact JADC-2 implementation across our Joint Force and the outcomes of experimentation exercises.

And finally, Secretary Austin will go to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center tomorrow afternoon for a scheduled routine follow-up appointment with his doctors.  He continues to recover well from his recent cancer treatment, and you can expect that he'll be conducting these types of follow-on checkups from time to time.  We'll be sure to keep you updated regarding any significant developments, as appropriate.

And with that, be glad to take our questions.  We'll go to Associated Press first, Tara Copp.
Pentagon Press Secretary Holds Briefing
2/29/24 1430 - 1523 EST
Scheduled from Feb 29, 2024 2:25 PM EST to Feb 29, 2024 4:00 PM EST

Defense Now February -  2024
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