WEBVTT 00:06.840 --> 00:09.690 afternoon , everybody . Just a couple 00:09.690 --> 00:13.330 of scheduling notes , the 00:13.340 --> 00:15.580 secretary is scheduled to host a couple 00:15.580 --> 00:17.747 of his counterparts this week tomorrow 00:17.747 --> 00:19.858 he'll meet with Norwegian Minister of 00:19.858 --> 00:23.530 Defense at roger in Oxen to 00:23.530 --> 00:25.308 reaffirm the United States as a 00:25.308 --> 00:27.363 committed ally partner and friend to 00:27.363 --> 00:29.474 Norway and to congratulate him on his 00:29.474 --> 00:31.363 recent appointment as Minister of 00:31.363 --> 00:33.308 Defense will be discussing ways in 00:33.308 --> 00:35.363 which we can deepen our longstanding 00:35.363 --> 00:37.530 defense cooperation with Norway and of 00:37.530 --> 00:39.419 course to discuss shared security 00:39.419 --> 00:41.363 challenges . And on thursday , the 00:41.363 --> 00:43.586 secretary will welcome the new Minister 00:43.586 --> 00:45.308 of Defense for Ukraine , Alexi 00:45.308 --> 00:47.490 Reznikoff to the pentagon again to 00:47.490 --> 00:49.212 congratulate him on his recent 00:49.212 --> 00:51.434 appointment as minister and to continue 00:51.434 --> 00:53.610 the close cooperation between our two 00:53.610 --> 00:55.499 countries on defense and security 00:55.499 --> 00:57.388 issues . And with that we'll take 00:57.388 --> 00:59.860 questions . I think we've uh bob on the 00:59.870 --> 01:03.160 phone . Yes , thank you , john , 01:03.940 --> 01:06.051 couple of quick questions . The State 01:06.051 --> 01:08.162 Department has confirmed this Russian 01:08.162 --> 01:10.640 anti satellite test . I'm wondering if 01:10.640 --> 01:13.390 you can speak from the pentagon's point 01:13.390 --> 01:15.612 of view ? What are the ramifications of 01:15.612 --> 01:18.160 this capability in this test ? And 01:18.160 --> 01:19.938 secondly , if you could comment 01:19.938 --> 01:22.160 regarding the New York Times story over 01:22.160 --> 01:24.620 the weekend about the March 2019 01:24.620 --> 01:27.110 Airstrikes in Syria , the Secretary 01:27.110 --> 01:30.270 Austin um going to order some sort of 01:30.280 --> 01:33.520 uh fresh or broader review of the 01:33.530 --> 01:35.863 incident or of centcom's handling of it . 01:36.240 --> 01:38.450 Thanks On the 1st 1 . 01:38.980 --> 01:42.590 obviously we share the concern that our 01:42.590 --> 01:44.646 state department colleagues stressed 01:44.646 --> 01:48.360 earlier today about this test . Um 01:48.940 --> 01:51.280 the most immediate concern is the 01:51.280 --> 01:54.550 debris itself , which is now 01:54.940 --> 01:57.220 uh floating out there and could become 01:57.220 --> 01:58.776 a hazard , including to the 01:58.776 --> 02:00.609 international space station . So 02:00.609 --> 02:02.498 there's concerns about the debris 02:02.498 --> 02:05.470 itself . Um , and obviously , uh , you 02:05.470 --> 02:09.220 know , large , uh we 02:09.270 --> 02:12.810 watch closely the kinds of 02:12.820 --> 02:15.760 capabilities that Russia seems to want 02:16.140 --> 02:19.540 um , uh , to develop , which could pose 02:19.550 --> 02:21.970 a threat not just to our national 02:21.970 --> 02:24.026 security interest , but the security 02:24.026 --> 02:25.914 incidents of of other spacefaring 02:25.914 --> 02:28.560 nations . Uh And again , uh we've been 02:28.560 --> 02:30.616 very clear , we we would like to see 02:30.616 --> 02:33.830 norms for space uh , so that it can be 02:33.840 --> 02:37.410 used responsibly by all spacefaring 02:37.410 --> 02:40.800 nations . On your second question . Um , 02:40.810 --> 02:44.230 I'm not I'm not the secretary hasn't 02:44.240 --> 02:47.240 ordered um , anything specific with 02:47.240 --> 02:49.462 respect to the new york Times reporting 02:49.462 --> 02:52.000 bob . He certainly has seen that 02:52.000 --> 02:54.620 reporting . He has asked General 02:54.620 --> 02:57.860 Mackenzie to brief him 02:58.740 --> 03:00.840 more specifically on that particular 03:00.850 --> 03:03.072 airstrike . The one from March 2000 and 03:03.072 --> 03:04.961 19 . I don't have anything on the 03:04.961 --> 03:07.183 schedule to announce today , but he has 03:07.183 --> 03:09.294 asked General Mackenzie to uh to give 03:09.294 --> 03:11.517 him a briefing on that strike . I would 03:11.517 --> 03:13.461 like to add just a couple of other 03:13.461 --> 03:16.650 points though , um that uh number one , 03:17.840 --> 03:21.330 no military in the in the world works 03:21.330 --> 03:23.274 as hard as we do to avoid civilian 03:23.274 --> 03:25.497 casualties . Doesn't mean that we don't 03:25.497 --> 03:27.719 always get it right . We don't , But we 03:27.719 --> 03:30.190 work hard to avoid civilian harm , were 03:30.190 --> 03:31.912 also willing to take a look at 03:31.912 --> 03:34.780 ourselves . And so , uh we've got uh 03:34.790 --> 03:38.490 two studies that the department 03:38.500 --> 03:41.750 commissioned a while ago to look at 03:41.750 --> 03:44.200 civilian harm uh , that are coming to 03:44.200 --> 03:47.470 conclusion , even as we speak , one of 03:47.470 --> 03:49.692 them is done and going through security 03:49.692 --> 03:51.914 of you . The other one is very close to 03:51.914 --> 03:53.914 wrapping up um that uh that one was 03:53.914 --> 03:56.160 required by law , the National Defense 03:56.160 --> 03:58.140 authorization Act uh to look at 03:58.140 --> 04:01.050 civilian harm that we contracted that 04:01.050 --> 04:04.800 out . Uh that report uh is nearing 04:04.800 --> 04:06.856 completion . And again the other one 04:06.856 --> 04:08.800 was actually asked for in the last 04:08.800 --> 04:11.260 administration out of the A . S . D . 04:11.270 --> 04:13.326 Special Operations low intentionally 04:13.326 --> 04:15.360 conflict directorate to look at 04:15.740 --> 04:19.450 civilian casualties uh in Syria 04:19.460 --> 04:23.380 specifically . So it is something 04:23.380 --> 04:25.890 where we are have remained mindful of 04:25.890 --> 04:27.723 and will remain mindful of going 04:27.723 --> 04:30.770 forward . Um And obviously um if and 04:30.770 --> 04:32.770 when we get to a point where we can 04:32.770 --> 04:34.659 talk about those two reports , we 04:34.659 --> 04:37.250 certainly will . But we are we are 04:37.250 --> 04:39.560 looking at ourselves with respect to 04:39.560 --> 04:41.671 civilian harm . We're willing to keep 04:41.671 --> 04:43.727 looking at ourselves with respect to 04:43.727 --> 04:45.940 civilian harm um and to do everything 04:45.940 --> 04:48.051 we can to try to mitigate that in the 04:48.051 --> 04:50.250 conduct of our operations . Yeah jen 04:52.640 --> 04:56.270 work emphasize looking internally at 04:56.270 --> 04:59.120 civilian casualties . Why haven't you 04:59.120 --> 05:02.360 paid out money to the family in 05:02.370 --> 05:05.170 Afghanistan who was struck by the drone 05:05.170 --> 05:07.114 and why have those people not been 05:07.114 --> 05:09.210 evacuated from the country yet ? A 05:09.210 --> 05:11.266 couple of points . One , not looking 05:11.266 --> 05:13.599 internally , we actually looked outside . 05:13.599 --> 05:15.980 We had , we hired an outside contractor 05:15.980 --> 05:19.060 to look uh to do these two reviews on 05:19.140 --> 05:21.450 uh civilian harm and they've been long 05:21.450 --> 05:23.960 standing . They've been in the works 05:23.960 --> 05:27.810 for for many , many months . Number two , 05:27.820 --> 05:30.940 um we're still working out the details 05:30.940 --> 05:33.480 of the the ex gratia payments with 05:33.480 --> 05:35.702 respect to Mr Ahmadi's family members . 05:35.710 --> 05:37.877 We are working closely with his former 05:37.877 --> 05:41.060 employer employer . Uh Any i to try to 05:41.060 --> 05:43.650 affect that in the most responsible , 05:43.660 --> 05:47.460 safest way . Um And we are also in 05:47.540 --> 05:49.707 frequent contact as a matter of fact , 05:49.707 --> 05:53.280 as recently as last week , uh in 05:53.280 --> 05:56.020 written contact with any eye to try to 05:56.020 --> 05:58.110 get more information so that we can 05:58.110 --> 06:00.221 affect the relocation of those family 06:00.221 --> 06:04.090 members . But it has , under secretary 06:04.090 --> 06:06.312 calls personal attention , he's working 06:06.312 --> 06:08.368 this himself . Um and we're going to 06:08.368 --> 06:10.479 continue to get at it . The secretary 06:10.479 --> 06:12.701 was very clear that he wants to support 06:12.701 --> 06:14.812 their relocation . Yeah , of course . 06:14.830 --> 06:17.350 Just to be clear , those two reviews , 06:17.350 --> 06:19.517 the reports that you mentioned , would 06:19.517 --> 06:21.739 either of them have specifically looked 06:21.739 --> 06:23.906 back at that strike in Syria and there 06:23.906 --> 06:25.739 would have been any potential to 06:25.739 --> 06:27.890 realize that potentially dozens of 06:27.890 --> 06:30.050 women and kids were killed in . That 06:30.060 --> 06:32.171 doesn't look at specific strikes like 06:32.171 --> 06:34.227 that . I don't know if either one of 06:34.227 --> 06:36.393 them looked specifically at that one , 06:36.393 --> 06:38.560 Courtney , they were commissioned some 06:38.560 --> 06:40.782 time ago . One , it's just a broad look 06:40.782 --> 06:43.004 at civilian harm large across the whole 06:43.004 --> 06:47.000 department and what we do , right , 06:47.000 --> 06:49.310 What we don't do , right , and what 06:49.310 --> 06:51.366 recommendations might come of that ? 06:51.366 --> 06:53.810 That's that's writ large . I I don't 06:53.820 --> 06:55.820 believe that one looks at the March 06:55.820 --> 06:58.540 29th strike , specifically looking back 06:58.540 --> 07:00.762 at any time . Not like it's not because 07:00.762 --> 07:02.950 it just it brings up the question if 07:02.950 --> 07:04.960 there's these two reviews that are 07:04.960 --> 07:07.130 looking at drone strikes and the 07:07.130 --> 07:10.100 potential for killing civilians , but 07:10.110 --> 07:12.277 it's not looking at specific ones . If 07:12.277 --> 07:14.443 the new york Times , once again , like 07:14.443 --> 07:16.554 the Kabul strike , the New york Times 07:16.554 --> 07:18.777 hadn't done this extensive research and 07:18.777 --> 07:20.943 work on this , We would probably never 07:20.943 --> 07:23.166 have even known about the potential for 07:23.166 --> 07:25.221 potentially dozens of people to have 07:25.221 --> 07:27.443 been killed in Syria in March of 2019 . 07:27.443 --> 07:26.830 Right ? Because neither of these strike , 07:26.830 --> 07:28.886 neither of these reviews that you're 07:28.886 --> 07:30.997 mentioning , those will be looking at 07:30.997 --> 07:32.941 that . I don't know the content of 07:32.941 --> 07:35.108 these reviews . They are . Again , one 07:35.108 --> 07:37.274 is complete and going through security 07:37.274 --> 07:39.274 review . The other one is uh pretty 07:39.274 --> 07:41.441 close to wrapping up . Um So , I don't 07:41.441 --> 07:43.386 know what's in them specifically , 07:43.386 --> 07:47.080 Courtney , One of them is aligned on 07:47.090 --> 07:49.750 Syria . It's about civilian harm and 07:49.750 --> 07:51.972 civilian casualties inside Syria . So , 07:51.972 --> 07:53.861 I can't rule out that it wouldn't 07:53.861 --> 07:56.083 consider this one . I just don't know . 07:56.083 --> 07:58.306 So , let's not jump to conclusions here 07:58.306 --> 07:58.230 until they're done , and we can talk 07:58.230 --> 08:01.650 about them . Um and uh and on your 08:01.650 --> 08:04.720 other point . Uh well , we certainly 08:04.730 --> 08:06.730 note , and we did at the time , the 08:06.730 --> 08:08.897 reporting of the new york Times on the 08:08.897 --> 08:10.674 29th august airstrike . General 08:10.674 --> 08:12.880 Mackenzie uh made it clear that that 08:12.880 --> 08:14.890 wasn't the precipitating factor for 08:14.890 --> 08:17.001 them To do their own investigation on 08:17.001 --> 08:18.723 civilian casualties . They had 08:18.723 --> 08:20.612 indications of their own and they 08:20.612 --> 08:22.668 conducted a civilian casualty review 08:22.668 --> 08:24.834 report which led to a 156 . And I want 08:24.834 --> 08:26.779 to ask about the Oklahoma National 08:26.779 --> 08:28.834 Guard . So what can you update us on 08:28.834 --> 08:28.580 what's going on with this ? The 08:28.580 --> 08:31.370 Adjutant General's announcement that 08:31.370 --> 08:33.148 he's not going to hold National 08:33.148 --> 08:35.730 Guardsmen , men and women . You mean 08:35.730 --> 08:37.674 what's going on with it ? Well , I 08:37.674 --> 08:39.674 guess where what's the pentagon's ? 08:40.440 --> 08:42.384 What's the latest on that ? Is the 08:42.384 --> 08:44.440 pentagon going to force the National 08:44.440 --> 08:46.496 Guard in Oklahoma to get their covid 08:46.496 --> 08:48.440 still what like what where are the 08:48.440 --> 08:50.607 authorities like ? Because it seems as 08:50.607 --> 08:52.718 if the Federal government's authority 08:52.718 --> 08:55.610 and this is funding . Right . So if in 08:55.610 --> 08:58.330 fact men and women of the National 08:58.330 --> 09:00.386 Guard in Oklahoma decided not to get 09:00.386 --> 09:02.552 vaccinated because they're the surgeon 09:02.552 --> 09:04.774 general is telling them they don't have 09:04.774 --> 09:07.108 to , what will the pentagon do about it ? 09:07.108 --> 09:09.274 Will you withhold their funding ? Will 09:09.274 --> 09:11.330 they be repercussions ? What can the 09:11.330 --> 09:13.497 federal government do ? Well , I don't 09:13.497 --> 09:15.497 want to hypothesize about potential 09:15.497 --> 09:17.663 outcomes here . Let me just go back to 09:17.663 --> 09:19.774 your question about authorities . The 09:19.774 --> 09:19.320 Secretary Defense as well as the 09:19.320 --> 09:21.620 service secretaries have the 09:21.620 --> 09:23.564 authorities to establish readiness 09:23.564 --> 09:25.564 requirements for all members of the 09:25.564 --> 09:27.787 Department of Defense and that includes 09:27.787 --> 09:30.120 the National Guard in a title 32 status . 09:30.120 --> 09:32.287 So the Secretary has the authorities , 09:32.287 --> 09:34.960 he needs to require this vaccine across 09:34.960 --> 09:36.904 the force , including the National 09:36.904 --> 09:38.738 Guard . Even when they're not on 09:38.738 --> 09:40.904 Federal , when they're entitled 32 the 09:40.904 --> 09:43.127 secretary still has that still has that 09:43.127 --> 09:43.070 authority . Even when they're in the 09:43.070 --> 09:46.510 title 32 status , The General's memo Is 09:46.510 --> 09:48.770 meaningless . Essentially . I'll let 09:48.770 --> 09:51.103 the adjutant general speak for his memo . 09:51.103 --> 09:52.937 The Secretary of Defense has the 09:52.937 --> 09:55.159 authority to require these vaccines for 09:55.159 --> 09:57.214 all members of the force , including 09:57.214 --> 09:59.326 the National Guard . As I said , even 09:59.326 --> 10:02.530 in a title 32 status because when 10:02.530 --> 10:04.530 they're called up for their monthly 10:04.530 --> 10:06.474 training , they're still federally 10:06.474 --> 10:08.641 funded . So he has those authorities . 10:08.641 --> 10:10.870 Um , and he believes , and this is a 10:10.870 --> 10:13.100 larger point that a vaccinated forces 10:13.100 --> 10:15.211 are more ready for us and just take a 10:15.211 --> 10:17.211 look at what the National Guard has 10:17.211 --> 10:19.322 done in just the last year alone from 10:19.322 --> 10:21.540 disaster relief , wildfires and um uh 10:21.550 --> 10:25.350 hurricane relief , uh to assisting 10:25.440 --> 10:27.800 literally in putting shots in the arms 10:27.800 --> 10:29.911 of their fellow americans . They have 10:29.911 --> 10:32.580 been very , very busy and they do meet 10:32.590 --> 10:34.980 key national security needs . So it's 10:34.980 --> 10:36.758 important for them to get these 10:36.758 --> 10:38.702 vaccines reach . The secretary has 10:38.702 --> 10:40.924 those funding though , Right ? I mean , 10:40.924 --> 10:42.924 he doesn't because because actually 10:42.924 --> 10:44.924 getting rid of the terminating them 10:44.924 --> 10:46.924 from there contracts is the state's 10:46.924 --> 10:49.130 role . Right ? That's what I'm trying 10:49.130 --> 10:52.040 to figure out is like what actually 10:52.040 --> 10:54.207 what can the pentagon or the Secretary 10:54.207 --> 10:55.929 Defense . What can the Federal 10:55.929 --> 10:58.730 government actually do to enforce this 10:58.910 --> 11:02.020 to force the Oklahoma National Guard to 11:02.020 --> 11:04.187 enforce the man . It is a lawful order 11:04.270 --> 11:07.380 for National Guardsmen to receive the 11:07.380 --> 11:10.160 covid vaccine as a lawful order . And 11:10.740 --> 11:13.190 refusing to do that absent an improved 11:13.190 --> 11:16.260 exemption puts them in the same 11:16.640 --> 11:19.930 potential as active duty members who 11:19.940 --> 11:21.884 refuse the vaccine . It's a lawful 11:21.884 --> 11:23.940 order and they they are and they are 11:23.940 --> 11:27.580 subject to that order . The Adjutant 11:27.590 --> 11:29.646 General , does the defense secretary 11:29.646 --> 11:31.923 still have confidence in his abilities ? 11:31.923 --> 11:34.640 Uh That is a question for the governor ? 11:34.650 --> 11:37.790 Uh not not for the secretary . Has the 11:37.790 --> 11:39.734 secretary been in contact with the 11:39.734 --> 11:41.790 governor ? He said on friday that he 11:41.790 --> 11:43.401 was going to so will respond 11:43.401 --> 11:45.568 appropriately . That's still my answer 11:45.568 --> 11:47.623 today . So he hasn't been in contact 11:47.623 --> 11:49.290 with the governor . And so to 11:49.290 --> 11:51.068 Courtney's question not getting 11:51.068 --> 11:53.346 vaccinated is violating a lawful order . 11:53.346 --> 11:55.401 Of course , it doesn't matter if the 11:55.401 --> 11:57.623 chain of command doesn't deal with it . 11:57.623 --> 11:57.460 But not enforcing a vaccine mandate . 11:57.470 --> 11:59.692 Is that also violating a lawful order ? 11:59.692 --> 12:01.859 And can the chain of command above the 12:01.859 --> 12:04.026 Agin in general do anything about that 12:04.026 --> 12:06.026 from here . I'm not gonna I'm not a 12:06.026 --> 12:08.026 legal expert on that Megan . So I'm 12:08.026 --> 12:10.081 going to refer to the National Guard 12:10.081 --> 12:12.192 Bureau for those kinds of questions . 12:12.192 --> 12:14.414 We have the authorities that we need to 12:14.414 --> 12:16.637 enforce this vaccine mandate , and more 12:16.637 --> 12:18.748 critically , it's important that they 12:18.748 --> 12:20.859 get the vaccine so that they can be a 12:20.859 --> 12:23.081 more ready force . I mean , that's what 12:23.081 --> 12:25.081 I think is missing in this uh legal 12:25.081 --> 12:27.248 argument today is that it's really for 12:27.248 --> 12:29.359 their benefit , uh for the benefit of 12:29.359 --> 12:31.581 their communities that they live in and 12:31.581 --> 12:33.803 support , not to mention their families 12:33.803 --> 12:36.026 and their and their colleagues uh in in 12:36.026 --> 12:38.137 the units that they get vaccinated so 12:38.137 --> 12:40.303 that they can be more ready because we 12:40.303 --> 12:42.526 do rely on the National Guard so much . 12:42.526 --> 12:44.526 I think that's well understood that 12:44.526 --> 12:46.581 everyone is looking to this building 12:46.581 --> 12:48.803 and your boss for what he's going to do 12:48.803 --> 12:50.914 about it . And so far that appears to 12:50.914 --> 12:50.770 be nothing . I don't think that's a 12:50.770 --> 12:52.714 fair way of putting it . Megan . I 12:52.714 --> 12:55.030 don't have a decision to announce here 12:55.030 --> 12:57.910 today . He only just got this letter 12:57.910 --> 13:00.290 from the governor of Oklahoma last week . 13:00.300 --> 13:02.356 We will respond appropriately to the 13:02.356 --> 13:04.300 governor . I'm not gonna speculate 13:04.300 --> 13:06.356 today about what actions we might or 13:06.356 --> 13:08.356 might not take . Hopefully it won't 13:08.356 --> 13:10.467 come to that right . We don't want to 13:10.467 --> 13:12.356 have to come to that . That's not 13:12.356 --> 13:14.411 that's not the point right now . The 13:14.411 --> 13:16.578 point is to make the case that a these 13:16.578 --> 13:18.578 vaccines are safe and effective and 13:18.578 --> 13:20.633 national guardsmen B are required to 13:20.633 --> 13:22.689 take them under the authorities that 13:22.689 --> 13:24.856 the secretary has , including women in 13:24.856 --> 13:26.800 title 32 status . That's the point 13:26.800 --> 13:28.990 today . Travis . Um so governors had 13:28.990 --> 13:31.220 sent that letter to the Secretary , 13:31.230 --> 13:33.286 have any other states reached out to 13:33.286 --> 13:35.508 him with similar concerns that they may 13:35.508 --> 13:37.619 be doing something . I'm not aware of 13:37.619 --> 13:39.619 any other states or are there other 13:39.619 --> 13:41.897 governors who have done the same thing . 13:41.897 --> 13:43.786 Yeah , tom uh I've talked to some 13:43.786 --> 13:45.619 government officials . There's a 13:45.619 --> 13:45.520 concern that this could quickly 13:45.520 --> 13:47.742 snowball that other governors and other 13:47.742 --> 13:50.600 tags will basically say , OK , Oklahoma 13:50.600 --> 13:52.544 did it . We don't want the vaccine 13:52.544 --> 13:55.390 either . So does the Secretary plan on 13:55.390 --> 13:57.557 reaching out to why the governors were 13:57.557 --> 13:59.668 the tags kind of get in front of this 13:59.668 --> 14:01.500 this issue . I don't think the 14:01.500 --> 14:03.500 secretary has plans to reach out to 14:03.500 --> 14:05.667 other governors and other tags at this 14:05.667 --> 14:07.833 point . If there's a snowball effect , 14:07.833 --> 14:09.944 we haven't seen it yet . Tom I mean , 14:09.944 --> 14:09.320 if he feels like that , that's a 14:09.320 --> 14:11.376 necessary thing to do . He certainly 14:11.376 --> 14:13.420 would . But it's not something that 14:13.420 --> 14:15.690 he's planning on doing right now to the 14:15.690 --> 14:19.530 strike raguz apparently the special 14:19.530 --> 14:22.470 forces had access to some very grainy 14:22.470 --> 14:24.560 drone footage that didn't show 14:24.940 --> 14:27.162 civilians there . There was confusion , 14:27.162 --> 14:29.051 I guess . And they called him the 14:29.051 --> 14:31.250 strikes . There were other drones that 14:31.250 --> 14:33.690 provided high resolution footage that 14:33.700 --> 14:37.670 they did not have access to . And 14:37.670 --> 14:39.614 then I think one official told the 14:39.614 --> 14:41.781 Washington post in future airstrikes , 14:41.781 --> 14:44.550 uh Special forces or wherever calls an 14:44.560 --> 14:46.560 air strike will have access to that 14:46.560 --> 14:49.900 high resolution footage . Can you 14:49.910 --> 14:53.020 explain how it was that the green race 14:53.020 --> 14:55.200 did not have access to the best drone 14:55.200 --> 14:57.260 footage ? I'm told it was the CIA's 14:57.260 --> 14:59.482 drone that provided the high resolution 14:59.770 --> 15:02.660 footage . No , Tom I simply can't and 15:02.660 --> 15:04.716 I'm not going to relitigate a strike 15:04.716 --> 15:06.716 that happened back in March of 2019 15:06.716 --> 15:08.938 here from the podium . I'd refer you to 15:08.938 --> 15:10.938 centcom for the specifics . I think 15:10.938 --> 15:13.104 they put out a pretty lengthy detailed 15:13.104 --> 15:15.271 statement on their own . And I pointed 15:15.271 --> 15:17.438 to to that um , what I can tell you is 15:17.438 --> 15:20.030 uh the secretary takes this issue very 15:20.030 --> 15:22.940 seriously and moving forward . He wants 15:22.940 --> 15:24.607 to make sure that we're doing 15:24.607 --> 15:26.718 everything we can to prevent civilian 15:26.718 --> 15:28.940 harm in the conduct of our operations . 15:28.940 --> 15:31.051 That's where his focus is going to be 15:31.051 --> 15:33.230 draft back to the test . Did Russia 15:33.240 --> 15:35.930 give the department of the funds 15:35.930 --> 15:38.980 advanced notice of this anti satellite 15:38.980 --> 15:42.260 launch ? Yeah . All right . And 15:42.270 --> 15:44.510 secondly , in december 2021 there was a 15:44.510 --> 15:47.450 similar a sat test . Space command 15:48.440 --> 15:50.496 said this was an example of Russia's 15:50.496 --> 15:52.970 weaponizing space . Does the pentagon 15:52.970 --> 15:54.914 believe that Russia is weaponizing 15:54.914 --> 15:57.540 space ? And what sort of what what 15:57.540 --> 16:00.170 reaction does this building have to 16:00.170 --> 16:02.710 Russia making it more dangerous for the 16:02.720 --> 16:04.887 astronauts ? That kind of address that 16:04.887 --> 16:07.053 at the top of the briefing ? Obviously 16:07.053 --> 16:09.164 we're concerned about any nation that 16:09.164 --> 16:11.331 would weaponize space or make space uh 16:11.331 --> 16:13.990 less conducive to a peaceful commercial 16:14.000 --> 16:16.310 enterprises and exploration . We want 16:16.310 --> 16:19.470 to see space the space domain 16:20.140 --> 16:22.480 subject to international norms and 16:22.480 --> 16:26.220 rules so that it could be uh 16:26.230 --> 16:28.397 explored by all spacefaring nations in 16:28.397 --> 16:30.397 a responsible way . And this was an 16:30.397 --> 16:32.341 irresponsible act . So is that the 16:32.341 --> 16:34.230 Pentagon's believe that Russia is 16:34.230 --> 16:36.063 weaponizing space . I think I've 16:36.063 --> 16:38.230 already seen what our concerns are tar 16:38.230 --> 16:40.286 about this test as we've done in the 16:40.286 --> 16:42.508 past . Thank you Afghanistan and one on 16:42.508 --> 16:44.820 Iran Afghanistan , you have any update 16:44.820 --> 16:47.240 on the memo about the immediate family 16:47.240 --> 16:50.850 members of U . S . Service members I 16:50.860 --> 16:54.210 think . Um what I can tell you is since 16:54.210 --> 16:58.070 that memo , About 60 service members 16:58.440 --> 17:01.650 have uh come forward and expressed 17:01.650 --> 17:03.670 concerns about family members in 17:03.670 --> 17:06.590 Afghanistan . And did you , were you 17:06.590 --> 17:09.820 able to verify that the numbers or 17:09.820 --> 17:11.940 evacuate any any immediate family 17:11.940 --> 17:15.470 members ? I'm not thus far 17:15.480 --> 17:18.370 of the ones that have been studied and 17:18.370 --> 17:20.426 reviewed . They are not eligible for 17:20.426 --> 17:24.320 parole status . We saw on saturday the 17:24.330 --> 17:26.920 video of the Iranian military 17:26.920 --> 17:29.320 helicopter basically flying in close 17:29.320 --> 17:32.470 proximity to the U . S . S . Has 17:32.520 --> 17:36.350 reportedly this happened on thursday . 17:36.840 --> 17:38.896 And from the footage you can you can 17:38.896 --> 17:41.540 see the crew of the helicopter . But 17:41.550 --> 17:43.661 more importantly you can see the deck 17:43.661 --> 17:45.772 of the USs essex with whole equipment 17:45.772 --> 17:48.900 and assets on top of it . Would you 17:48.900 --> 17:51.390 care to comment about this ? What 17:51.390 --> 17:55.100 happened and whether created any risks 17:55.100 --> 17:57.600 for the U . S . S . Essex and what did 17:57.610 --> 18:00.610 the crew of the amphibious do in that 18:00.610 --> 18:03.570 situation ? So yeah , we can confirm 18:03.570 --> 18:06.210 that an Iranian helicopter uh 18:06.220 --> 18:08.670 approached the U . S . S . Xx in the 18:08.680 --> 18:11.010 gulf of Oman . It operated in an unsafe 18:11.010 --> 18:14.930 and unprofessional manner uh flying 18:14.940 --> 18:18.200 approximately 25 yards off the portside 18:18.200 --> 18:21.320 of the Essex at one point as low as 18:21.330 --> 18:24.830 about 10ft off the surface 18:25.240 --> 18:27.790 of the ocean circle the ship three 18:27.790 --> 18:31.380 times uh without getting into specifics 18:31.390 --> 18:33.470 the crew of the essex took the 18:33.470 --> 18:35.581 appropriate force protection measures 18:35.581 --> 18:37.748 that they felt they needed to and they 18:37.748 --> 18:39.803 acted of course , in accordance with 18:39.803 --> 18:42.026 international law , there was no impact 18:42.026 --> 18:44.940 ultimately to the essex transit or 18:44.940 --> 18:47.040 their operations , but that doesn't 18:47.040 --> 18:49.040 mean that this wasn't an unsafe and 18:49.040 --> 18:51.380 unprofessional act . Again , I'll say 18:51.380 --> 18:53.213 it again . We're going to act in 18:53.213 --> 18:55.213 accordance with international law , 18:55.213 --> 18:57.380 we're gonna fly sail and operate where 18:57.380 --> 18:59.547 international law permits uh and we're 18:59.547 --> 19:01.380 gonna continue to look after our 19:01.380 --> 19:00.900 national security interests in the 19:00.900 --> 19:04.900 region . I'm not 19:04.900 --> 19:07.122 an expert on this . But what is what is 19:07.122 --> 19:09.289 the what are the rules of the protocol 19:09.289 --> 19:12.450 that U . S . Navy has in place when 19:13.040 --> 19:16.770 um unfriendly nation or 19:17.440 --> 19:19.660 not an ally or part of the US fly 19:20.140 --> 19:23.070 helicopter or other assets disclosed . 19:23.080 --> 19:25.390 I don't recall like something like this 19:25.390 --> 19:29.120 happening . It's dangerous . It's 19:29.120 --> 19:31.064 dangerous because it could lead to 19:31.064 --> 19:33.064 miscalculation . There are rules of 19:33.064 --> 19:35.231 engagement that I'm not going to speak 19:35.231 --> 19:37.009 to you from the podium that our 19:37.009 --> 19:39.240 commanders have at their disposal to 19:39.250 --> 19:42.910 deal with with with potential threats . 19:44.340 --> 19:46.770 And when you have 19:47.740 --> 19:50.150 another armed force in this case , the 19:50.150 --> 19:53.820 Iranian Navy that flies like this , 19:53.890 --> 19:57.510 um you definitely run the 19:57.510 --> 20:00.190 risk of some sort of escalation and a 20:00.190 --> 20:03.700 miscalculation or on either side here 20:03.710 --> 20:06.160 and that's not helpful . Now this one 20:06.640 --> 20:08.807 ended peacefully , but it doesn't mean 20:08.807 --> 20:10.696 it was safe and professional . It 20:10.696 --> 20:14.080 absolutely wasn't . Um And again , our 20:14.080 --> 20:15.969 commanders have the right of self 20:15.969 --> 20:18.191 defense . They have to make those calls 20:18.191 --> 20:20.136 in the moment . There are rules of 20:20.136 --> 20:22.302 engagement that helped guide them . Um 20:22.302 --> 20:24.469 and you know , we're going to continue 20:24.469 --> 20:26.691 to stay vigilant . Okay . Yeah , real , 20:26.691 --> 20:29.024 thank you . I have two questions for us . 20:29.340 --> 20:32.130 The president will meet President xi 20:32.140 --> 20:35.030 later today , battery . Do you expect ? 20:35.040 --> 20:37.650 This budget meeting will facilitate the 20:37.650 --> 20:40.470 Secretary Austin future engagement with 20:40.470 --> 20:44.200 his chinese counterpart ? Uh RIO . I 20:44.210 --> 20:47.520 don't anticipate uh again , I won't 20:47.520 --> 20:49.742 speak for the White House , but there's 20:49.742 --> 20:51.742 no expectation on our part that the 20:51.742 --> 20:53.960 summit tonight is gonna lead to some 20:53.960 --> 20:56.127 specific engagement by the Secretary . 20:56.127 --> 20:58.404 You've heard me talk about this before . 20:58.404 --> 21:01.790 We obviously uh want to make sure 21:01.790 --> 21:05.440 that there's communications between the 21:05.450 --> 21:07.339 Defense Department and and senior 21:07.339 --> 21:09.283 leaders of the P . R . C . We just 21:09.283 --> 21:09.170 haven't worked that out yet . The 21:09.170 --> 21:12.510 modalities of that uh throw up on 21:12.510 --> 21:14.840 Taiwan . The Australian Defense 21:14.840 --> 21:17.190 Minister said last week to local media 21:17.190 --> 21:20.780 that it is inconceivable for Australia 21:20.790 --> 21:23.650 not to join the United States to the 21:23.650 --> 21:25.990 United States take actions to defend 21:26.000 --> 21:29.470 Taiwan . Have you began discussing the 21:29.480 --> 21:31.860 concrete planning with concrete steps ? 21:32.240 --> 21:35.650 Oh , to defend Taiwan with 21:35.660 --> 21:39.070 Australia ? Uh if in case of the 21:39.070 --> 21:41.670 conflict over Taiwan . No , and there's 21:41.670 --> 21:43.892 no change to our one china policy rio . 21:43.892 --> 21:45.950 And as you heard the Secretary say a 21:45.960 --> 21:47.960 few weeks ago , nobody wants to see 21:48.340 --> 21:50.770 cross strait tensions come to blows . 21:51.240 --> 21:53.462 Um and uh and there's no reason that it 21:53.462 --> 21:55.407 should , there's no reason that it 21:55.407 --> 21:57.629 should , Can we go to the phones here a 21:57.629 --> 22:00.760 little bit um Mike Kaplan cbs , 22:10.640 --> 22:13.430 mhm . We could we were connected , 22:13.430 --> 22:16.350 aren't we ? Yeah , I'll try one more 22:16.350 --> 22:18.406 and then we'll come back here to the 22:18.406 --> 22:20.461 room while we just figure this out , 22:20.461 --> 22:23.180 paul , Hanley . Hi john , can you hear 22:23.180 --> 22:27.130 me ? Hey john , can you hear me ? I got 22:27.130 --> 22:31.050 you , paul . Hey , um uh after the 22:31.050 --> 22:34.390 warnings that the US is uh delivered 22:34.400 --> 22:36.344 and friendship delivered to Russia 22:36.344 --> 22:38.678 about the troop build up around Ukraine . 22:38.678 --> 22:40.733 Have you seen any movement ? Do they 22:40.733 --> 22:43.110 continue to increase presence uh 22:43.120 --> 22:45.770 decrease ? And what's your reaction to 22:46.140 --> 22:49.790 uh President Putin's comments that they 22:49.790 --> 22:52.440 are reacting to us stepped up exercises 22:52.440 --> 22:55.600 in the Black sea . Uh We do continue to 22:55.600 --> 22:59.530 see um unusual military activity uh and 22:59.530 --> 23:02.260 the concentration of forces uh in 23:02.260 --> 23:05.820 Russia , but near Ukrainian 23:05.830 --> 23:08.560 borders and that remains concerning to 23:08.560 --> 23:11.770 us . Um I have not seen 23:12.540 --> 23:16.160 President Putin's comments , so 23:16.640 --> 23:18.640 um without speaking specifically to 23:18.640 --> 23:21.580 that , uh whatever justification he 23:21.590 --> 23:24.490 might have said , it's uh if you look 23:24.490 --> 23:28.210 at our exercise regimen , all our 23:28.210 --> 23:31.070 exercises are defensive in nature and 23:31.070 --> 23:33.200 they are in keeping with our alliance 23:33.200 --> 23:35.422 and partner commitments in the region . 23:35.640 --> 23:38.490 And here's the other thing paul , we 23:38.490 --> 23:40.601 put press releases out of bottom , we 23:40.601 --> 23:42.780 show photos and video of them . I talk 23:42.780 --> 23:44.669 about him every day here from the 23:44.669 --> 23:47.580 podium . Uh even we'll tell you what 23:47.580 --> 23:49.691 units are involved and what exercises 23:49.691 --> 23:51.413 are going to be doing and what 23:51.413 --> 23:53.580 capabilities are going to be testing , 23:53.580 --> 23:55.691 There's been no transparency from the 23:55.691 --> 23:57.802 Russian side about this concentration 23:57.802 --> 23:59.969 of forces uh in in the western part of 23:59.969 --> 24:02.080 their country . Um and we continue to 24:02.080 --> 24:04.080 urge them to be so transparent just 24:04.080 --> 24:06.136 just to be clear , have you seen any 24:06.136 --> 24:08.247 emotion one way or the other in terms 24:08.247 --> 24:10.790 of increasing or decreasing presence ? 24:10.920 --> 24:12.642 Going to get into intelligence 24:12.642 --> 24:14.753 assessments here , paul , we continue 24:14.753 --> 24:16.864 to see this unusual military activity 24:16.864 --> 24:19.087 in this concentration of force and I'll 24:19.087 --> 24:21.031 leave it at that jenny done on the 24:21.031 --> 24:24.210 issue of deployment . I was suddenly 24:24.210 --> 24:28.140 saying South Korea , the deployment of 24:28.350 --> 24:32.060 thaad in South Korea is necessarily 24:32.640 --> 24:36.010 national security , but china is 24:36.020 --> 24:39.840 opposed this . Start the deployment in 24:39.850 --> 24:43.580 South Korea and you know that are there 24:43.580 --> 24:46.980 any plans to deploy a 24:47.100 --> 24:50.520 positional in South Korea ? I have no 24:50.520 --> 24:52.464 such plans to speak to you today , 24:53.470 --> 24:56.700 Secretary Austin discussing this 24:56.710 --> 25:00.170 issue at the S E C . M next month . 25:00.840 --> 25:04.670 Uh We we expected to discuss a full 25:04.670 --> 25:07.690 range of issues uh with our South 25:07.690 --> 25:09.634 korean allies and I don't have any 25:09.634 --> 25:11.690 specific agenda items to to speak to 25:11.690 --> 25:14.660 you today here 23 weeks out . Abraham 25:15.140 --> 25:17.300 Thanks Jon two quick questions as you 25:17.300 --> 25:19.467 know , the Department Veterans Affairs 25:19.600 --> 25:23.230 released a press release on thursday 25:23.470 --> 25:26.440 of creating a model for those who are 25:26.440 --> 25:29.300 exposed to burn pits and those of K two , 25:29.310 --> 25:31.610 I wonder if how the D O . D . Is 25:31.610 --> 25:34.450 helping to advance that and get 25:34.450 --> 25:37.170 assistance to lower the burden of proof 25:37.180 --> 25:39.347 for service members exposed And then I 25:39.347 --> 25:41.569 have another question for you . I don't 25:41.569 --> 25:43.513 know the specifics for you today . 25:43.513 --> 25:45.513 Abraham , this is an issue that the 25:45.513 --> 25:47.680 secretary takes very seriously and has 25:47.680 --> 25:49.902 had multiple discussions with Secretary 25:49.902 --> 25:52.124 McDonough about about this um and fully 25:52.124 --> 25:55.980 supports uh via secretaries desire to 25:55.990 --> 25:59.780 uh to make care for these 25:59.780 --> 26:02.470 maladies more available and to reduce 26:02.470 --> 26:05.960 the burden on our on veterans of proof . 26:05.960 --> 26:08.127 So we're in full support . But I don't 26:08.127 --> 26:10.310 have any specific to talk about today 26:10.310 --> 26:12.477 on that if but I'll tell you what I'll 26:12.477 --> 26:14.699 do . I'll take the question just to see 26:14.699 --> 26:16.699 if if our health affairs folks have 26:16.699 --> 26:18.699 worked on anything specific that uh 26:18.699 --> 26:20.921 that we can pass an idea . I just don't 26:20.921 --> 26:23.088 I don't have it handy today . And then 26:23.088 --> 26:25.310 just uh I'm sure you're also aware that 26:25.840 --> 26:27.951 there was an arrangement with some of 26:27.951 --> 26:29.840 the Central Asian countries where 26:29.840 --> 26:31.840 afghan pilots had fled to to safely 26:32.170 --> 26:34.337 them out of the country . Can you talk 26:34.337 --> 26:36.640 to the D . O . D . Involved in that at 26:36.640 --> 26:39.160 all ? Coming to the United States , are 26:39.160 --> 26:41.770 there talks about the remaining uh 26:42.240 --> 26:44.910 assets that are there ? The aircraft , 26:44.920 --> 26:47.142 it was a State Department led effort to 26:47.142 --> 26:49.364 get those pilots out of Tajikistan . So 26:49.364 --> 26:51.476 I'll refer you to my State Department 26:51.476 --> 26:53.642 colleagues to speak about how they did 26:53.642 --> 26:53.600 that . The D . O . D . Was not involved 26:53.600 --> 26:55.489 in the physical movement of those 26:55.489 --> 26:58.120 pilots out of Tajikistan . There has 26:58.120 --> 27:02.040 been no uh policy decisions with 27:02.040 --> 27:04.096 respect to the aircraft themselves . 27:04.096 --> 27:06.860 There's uh multiple options being 27:06.860 --> 27:10.170 explored but no final decision about 27:10.940 --> 27:13.162 uh what's going to happen to them going 27:13.162 --> 27:16.580 forward . Yeah . two Things 1st . All 27:16.590 --> 27:18.534 India India has received the first 27:18.534 --> 27:20.540 special fast 400 . Are you ? What 27:20.540 --> 27:22.484 extent are you concerned about ? I 27:22.484 --> 27:25.160 think uh we've been very clear 27:25.170 --> 27:28.430 uh with our indian partners about our 27:28.430 --> 27:30.652 concern over this system . I don't have 27:30.652 --> 27:34.570 any updates uh to say . I mean 27:34.580 --> 27:37.980 when the secretary visited New Delhi 27:37.990 --> 27:39.990 again we talked about this then . I 27:39.990 --> 27:42.480 mean these we certainly have concerns 27:42.480 --> 27:45.090 over that system but I don't have any 27:45.090 --> 27:47.201 updates for you on the New York Times 27:47.201 --> 27:50.150 story also part of the story talks 27:50.150 --> 27:52.880 about why Pc providing certain 27:52.890 --> 27:55.140 intelligence to the U . S . Military to 27:55.140 --> 27:57.390 what extent the U . S . Military relies 27:57.390 --> 28:00.130 on the intelligence provided by the PPG 28:00.160 --> 28:02.980 in conducting airstrikes in Syria . We 28:02.990 --> 28:04.879 work with our sdf partners on the 28:04.879 --> 28:08.560 ground to go after ISIS . Um and uh 28:09.440 --> 28:12.850 and they are uh 28:13.240 --> 28:16.920 they are strong fighters in that regard . 28:16.930 --> 28:20.140 Um and they certainly because they know 28:20.140 --> 28:22.530 the terrain , they know the ground uh 28:22.540 --> 28:25.890 they know the area . Uh they certainly 28:25.890 --> 28:29.240 do support the counter ISIS effort . 28:29.250 --> 28:31.990 From an intelligence perspective it's 28:31.990 --> 28:35.220 obvious that V . P . G . Thanks to its 28:35.220 --> 28:38.220 link to PKK a certain level has certain 28:38.220 --> 28:40.276 ideological goals in that area . And 28:40.276 --> 28:42.280 several international organizations 28:42.280 --> 28:44.790 have a real that the group mistreated 28:44.800 --> 28:47.560 local people particularly Arabs in that 28:47.560 --> 28:50.500 area . This department ever had a 28:50.510 --> 28:52.830 concern that this group might have 28:52.830 --> 28:54.886 exploited the U . S . Military power 28:55.240 --> 28:57.830 and cause some violations reaching up 28:57.840 --> 29:00.130 to massacres as it's revealed in the 29:00.130 --> 29:03.450 New york times story . Look we uh 29:05.640 --> 29:07.862 we're always mindful of our obligations 29:07.862 --> 29:09.751 when we're dealing with a partner 29:09.751 --> 29:13.050 forces about the rule of law 29:13.440 --> 29:16.660 and about responsible use of 29:17.240 --> 29:20.730 of of military power and going after a 29:20.730 --> 29:23.840 common threat like ISIS . Um And 29:23.850 --> 29:27.150 uh that's that's an ongoing concern . 29:27.150 --> 29:29.080 It's an iterative process . It's 29:29.090 --> 29:32.540 something that we uh uh that we that we 29:32.540 --> 29:35.490 stress the partners throughout the 29:35.500 --> 29:37.500 conduct of any military operation . 29:37.670 --> 29:40.070 We're obligated by law . But more 29:40.070 --> 29:42.230 importantly we're We're obligated to 29:42.230 --> 29:44.520 the high standards that we hold and I 29:44.530 --> 29:46.641 don't have anything specific to speak 29:46.641 --> 29:48.808 to with respect to that New York Times 29:48.808 --> 29:51.030 report on this . Just just follow up on 29:51.030 --> 29:53.086 Iran , you said that this helicopter 29:53.086 --> 29:56.680 come closer to 10 ft Now , I said at 29:56.680 --> 29:59.090 one point was flying about 10 ft off 29:59.090 --> 30:02.150 the surface of the ocean , 25 yards 30:02.160 --> 30:04.160 approximately as close to the ports 30:04.260 --> 30:06.980 side of the essex , extremely close . 30:06.980 --> 30:10.330 Why why wouldn't the U . S . Ship lunch ? 30:10.340 --> 30:12.520 Again ? You're asking me to talk about 30:12.520 --> 30:14.687 rules of engagement and decisions that 30:14.687 --> 30:16.798 commanders are making in the moment . 30:16.798 --> 30:18.909 I'm not gonna do that . They have the 30:18.909 --> 30:20.964 necessary means at their disposal to 30:20.964 --> 30:22.909 protect themselves , protect their 30:22.909 --> 30:24.909 ships And we're confident that they 30:24.909 --> 30:27.020 understand those responsibilities and 30:27.020 --> 30:29.076 those authorities uh what . Uh huh . 30:29.076 --> 30:31.620 Mhm . You know what needs to be pressed 30:31.620 --> 30:34.640 as Tehran needs to be pressed on why 30:34.640 --> 30:37.460 they felt like this was a prudent use 30:37.470 --> 30:40.330 of their pilots and their aircraft to 30:40.330 --> 30:42.441 fly so dangerously close to a U . S . 30:42.441 --> 30:46.100 Warship and behave in that way . They 30:46.100 --> 30:49.050 want to , they want to , you know , 30:49.840 --> 30:52.062 bother the United States , they want to 30:52.062 --> 30:54.229 cause the United States get out of the 30:54.229 --> 30:56.396 entire area . How's that working for ? 30:57.440 --> 30:59.662 Yeah , but at the end of the day , they 30:59.662 --> 31:01.940 come closer to the US ship to 25 years . 31:01.940 --> 31:04.450 Is it allowed ? Actually ? That's a 31:04.460 --> 31:07.310 very close range really like helicopter 31:07.310 --> 31:10.770 flying 25 years and and then us it 31:10.770 --> 31:14.310 didn't do anything to to harm that 31:14.310 --> 31:16.366 stalemate . Like they come that much 31:16.366 --> 31:19.070 closer . I'm not going to talk about 31:19.070 --> 31:21.237 rules of engagement . I'm not going to 31:21.237 --> 31:23.950 go into any more detail about uh 31:25.540 --> 31:29.030 what force protection measures the 31:29.030 --> 31:31.030 commanding officer of the USs essex 31:31.030 --> 31:33.860 used but he did what he believed was in 31:33.860 --> 31:35.971 the best interest of his ship and his 31:35.971 --> 31:38.820 crew . Um And the questions really 31:38.820 --> 31:41.250 should be asked of Tehran and the 31:41.250 --> 31:43.770 Iranian Navy as to why they felt this 31:43.770 --> 31:45.881 was a prudent use of their pilots and 31:45.881 --> 31:48.620 their aircraft . Tehran needs to be 31:48.620 --> 31:50.676 pressed . Do you think that this was 31:50.676 --> 31:52.731 something that was sanctioned and or 31:52.731 --> 31:54.953 directed by Tehran ? And you think that 31:54.953 --> 31:57.064 this was not just some rogue , Irgc n 31:57.064 --> 31:58.953 it wasn't in our GCN helicopter . 31:58.953 --> 32:01.009 Courtney , It was Iranian State Navy 32:01.009 --> 32:03.120 helicopter . So you believe that this 32:03.120 --> 32:05.287 is actually directed by , I don't know 32:05.287 --> 32:07.398 who ordered it , Courtney , I have no 32:07.398 --> 32:07.320 idea . But it was the Iranian Navy . It 32:07.320 --> 32:09.376 wasn't the IrgC and I want to follow 32:09.376 --> 32:11.431 one of the following . You said that 32:11.431 --> 32:13.653 there were 60 service members have come 32:13.653 --> 32:13.390 forward with family members , but just 32:13.390 --> 32:15.501 to be clear , you said none of them , 32:15.501 --> 32:17.334 none of those family members are 32:17.334 --> 32:19.390 eligible for parole status . That is 32:19.390 --> 32:19.130 correct . That means that they're all 32:19.140 --> 32:22.490 not immediate family members . They 32:22.710 --> 32:24.821 refer you to state for the details of 32:24.821 --> 32:26.988 what I can tell you is . They were all 32:26.988 --> 32:28.654 evaluated and thus far in the 32:28.654 --> 32:30.821 evaluation , none have been determined 32:30.821 --> 32:32.988 to be eligible for parole status . I'd 32:32.988 --> 32:34.821 refer you to my State Department 32:34.821 --> 32:36.932 colleagues , 60 service members . How 32:36.932 --> 32:39.099 many family members ? I don't know how 32:39.099 --> 32:41.154 many family members . Yeah . David , 32:41.590 --> 32:43.534 civilian casualty reports that you 32:43.534 --> 32:45.646 mentioned by the outside contractor . 32:45.646 --> 32:47.757 You said one of them is completed and 32:47.757 --> 32:49.868 going through security review because 32:49.868 --> 32:51.923 that means it's going to be publicly 32:51.923 --> 32:53.812 released . I don't know . I'm not 32:53.812 --> 32:55.812 seeing it , David . So I don't know 32:55.812 --> 32:57.979 what level of classification it's at . 32:57.979 --> 32:57.670 I don't know what the security of you . 32:58.240 --> 33:00.720 It's going to say , but I can promise 33:00.720 --> 33:02.498 you that two degree . We can be 33:02.498 --> 33:04.609 forthcoming about the results will do 33:04.609 --> 33:07.700 that . And which of the two studies is 33:07.700 --> 33:10.230 that one is specific . One was , one 33:10.230 --> 33:14.060 was ordered by SD Solich specifically 33:14.060 --> 33:17.600 to look at Syria . Um , and that's the 33:17.600 --> 33:19.840 one that's undergoing a security review 33:19.840 --> 33:22.180 right now . Uh The other one was 33:22.180 --> 33:25.090 required of us by the law , by by the N . 33:25.090 --> 33:28.460 D . A . Um I think don't quote me on 33:28.460 --> 33:32.210 this but I I I think it was The NBA 33:32.210 --> 33:34.410 from 18 from fiscal year 18 but I'd 33:34.410 --> 33:37.480 have to check on that . So um in any 33:37.480 --> 33:40.180 event it's required of us by law . That 33:40.180 --> 33:43.680 one too is wrapping up . Okay ? Yes I 33:43.680 --> 33:46.860 contact you directly for so look this 33:46.860 --> 33:49.560 is not going through the I . G . 33:50.640 --> 33:52.640 No these were these were contracted 33:52.640 --> 33:54.640 studies their studies , they're not 33:54.640 --> 33:56.862 investigations , their studies and it's 33:56.862 --> 34:00.220 not uncommon for us to to reach out to 34:01.640 --> 34:05.360 contracted groups who are 34:05.360 --> 34:07.304 experts in conducting analysis and 34:07.304 --> 34:09.527 studies to do these . These are studies 34:09.527 --> 34:11.749 not investigations . There'd be no need 34:11.749 --> 34:14.100 for the I . G . Uh to uh to be involved 34:14.100 --> 34:15.989 at at that level . That's not the 34:15.989 --> 34:18.267 intent of these . Of these two studies . 34:18.267 --> 34:20.700 Yeah sure Could follow up on the Afghan . 34:20.710 --> 34:22.932 Family members , you said there were 60 34:22.932 --> 34:24.932 service members . Is that the total 34:24.932 --> 34:27.770 universe of service members and family 34:27.770 --> 34:29.326 members from the pentagon's 34:29.326 --> 34:31.630 perspectives . Not we had we had we 34:31.630 --> 34:33.686 were able to get some family members 34:33.686 --> 34:35.574 out of service members during the 34:35.574 --> 34:37.686 evacuation And since the evacuation , 34:37.686 --> 34:39.908 some have gotten out . The question put 34:39.908 --> 34:42.074 to me was since the memo was put out , 34:42.074 --> 34:44.297 how many 60 have come forward since the 34:44.297 --> 34:46.463 memo . Do we have any of those numbers 34:46.463 --> 34:48.630 that have we have been able to get out 34:48.630 --> 34:50.963 numbers trips for comparison . I've got . 34:50.963 --> 34:53.970 I'm here . Let me uh 34:55.340 --> 34:57.173 we find them here . Here we go . 35:00.840 --> 35:03.560 So during the 35:04.640 --> 35:08.500 evacuation 62 service members sought 35:08.500 --> 35:10.722 assistance to evacuate family members , 35:10.722 --> 35:12.778 50 family members of six D . O . D . 35:12.778 --> 35:14.722 Civilians and service members were 35:14.722 --> 35:17.056 evacuated on U . S . Government flights . 35:17.056 --> 35:21.030 More were uh probably uh gotten out on 35:21.030 --> 35:23.086 privately funded NGO flights . But I 35:23.086 --> 35:25.141 don't have the numbers for that . Uh 35:25.141 --> 35:27.197 They weren't us government flights . 35:27.240 --> 35:29.462 After the Retrograde was complete since 35:29.462 --> 35:32.630 31 August uh we have helped facilitate 35:32.640 --> 35:35.500 the impending relocation of about 10 35:35.510 --> 35:38.350 other family members . And then I gave 35:38.350 --> 35:42.150 you the numbers uh after the memo Yeah 35:43.840 --> 35:45.580 on Afghanistan john what's the 35:45.580 --> 35:48.820 department's reaction to the videos of 35:48.830 --> 35:51.770 the military parade that Taliban 35:51.770 --> 35:55.160 conducted using us made weapons and 35:55.160 --> 35:57.271 equipment ? I thought we were nothing 35:57.271 --> 35:59.438 but clear from the very beginning that 35:59.438 --> 36:02.370 we fully expected that property and 36:02.370 --> 36:04.426 equipment that we had turned over to 36:04.426 --> 36:07.050 the Afghans . It was Afghan National 36:07.050 --> 36:09.680 Security Force equipment and vehicles , 36:09.690 --> 36:11.801 their equipment in vehicles . We were 36:11.801 --> 36:13.912 completely transparent about the idea 36:13.912 --> 36:16.079 that some of those would probably find 36:16.079 --> 36:18.301 their way into Taliban hands . And they 36:18.301 --> 36:20.450 have and they are largely low tech 36:20.460 --> 36:23.010 vehicular uh kind of equipment 36:23.020 --> 36:26.640 uh that are going to pose a 36:26.650 --> 36:29.040 threat to us national security interest . 36:29.040 --> 36:31.096 But we've been nothing but clear and 36:31.096 --> 36:33.151 transparent about the fact that that 36:33.151 --> 36:35.207 was gonna happen and it did . So the 36:35.230 --> 36:38.150 equipment used yesterday were part or 36:38.150 --> 36:41.870 seized from the afghan forces not left 36:41.880 --> 36:45.620 behind but you as a after that . 36:45.790 --> 36:49.590 Okay . Well I can't say for 36:49.590 --> 36:53.230 sure that none of it was left behind by 36:53.240 --> 36:56.340 the afghans when we retrograde it and 36:56.340 --> 36:58.730 completed . And we talked about this in 36:58.730 --> 37:01.340 great detail at the time . Uh the only 37:01.340 --> 37:05.140 thing that we left On 31 August for the 37:05.140 --> 37:07.760 Taliban to use with some airport 37:07.770 --> 37:10.550 vehicles like a fire truck , I think a 37:10.550 --> 37:13.660 forklift one of those stair trucks um 37:13.660 --> 37:15.549 and some firefighting equipment . 37:15.549 --> 37:17.604 That's all we left . Everything else 37:17.604 --> 37:19.716 that was left there . I'm sorry . The 37:19.716 --> 37:21.660 only thing that we left operable , 37:21.660 --> 37:23.549 everything else that was left was 37:23.549 --> 37:25.660 rendered inoperable by them . Great . 37:25.660 --> 37:29.020 Take one more here Caitlin from stars 37:29.020 --> 37:32.970 and stripes , john um yeah , 37:32.980 --> 37:34.990 we've got a week until the civilian 37:34.990 --> 37:37.310 deadline for the vaccine . Have the 37:37.310 --> 37:39.830 pentagon given any guidance on how to 37:39.840 --> 37:42.620 out process employees who are not fully 37:42.620 --> 37:45.090 vaccinated by that date . I don't know 37:45.090 --> 37:46.868 of any specific guidance on out 37:46.868 --> 37:48.757 processing , do you you mean like 37:48.757 --> 37:52.320 ending their employment Caitlin ? Yes , 37:52.320 --> 37:54.320 that's what I mean . No , I'll take 37:54.320 --> 37:56.542 that question . I'm not sure that we've 37:56.542 --> 37:58.653 issued that kind of specific guidance 37:58.653 --> 38:02.170 about about employment 38:02.170 --> 38:03.948 termination . But I'll take the 38:03.948 --> 38:07.920 question . Uh going 38:07.920 --> 38:10.530 back to Oklahoma issue , doesn't this 38:10.530 --> 38:13.050 show the difficulty of operating a 38:13.050 --> 38:14.994 military force under the sometimes 38:14.994 --> 38:17.870 conflicting title 10 title , 32 38:17.880 --> 38:20.530 measures . Secretary is a secretary , 38:20.530 --> 38:22.640 but until they're mobilized the 38:22.640 --> 38:24.860 governor is the commander in chief of 38:24.860 --> 38:27.220 these troops . And can theoretically I 38:27.220 --> 38:29.840 guess counteract or counter man what 38:29.840 --> 38:31.660 the secretary says that she'll 38:31.670 --> 38:34.790 difficulty of no activity had to 38:34.790 --> 38:37.110 mobilize the Alabama National Guard to 38:37.110 --> 38:39.660 integrate the university of Alabama . I 38:39.660 --> 38:41.827 mean is the secretary going to ask the 38:41.827 --> 38:43.771 president to mobilize the Oklahoma 38:43.771 --> 38:45.938 guard so that they can get their covid 38:45.938 --> 38:48.780 shots ? As I said in the beginning mike . 38:48.790 --> 38:52.490 Um He has the authority to order the 38:52.490 --> 38:56.480 vaccine for guardsmen In a title 38:56.480 --> 38:58.536 32 status . He has the authorities . 38:58.536 --> 39:01.210 There's no uh no there's no conflict to 39:01.210 --> 39:03.543 answer your question quickly . You know , 39:03.543 --> 39:06.520 there's there's no conflict . Yes thank 39:06.520 --> 39:08.353 you for taking my question . I'm 39:08.353 --> 39:11.070 wondering about the how how the 39:11.080 --> 39:14.210 progress is going to relocate afghanis 39:14.210 --> 39:16.321 who have arrived in the United States 39:16.321 --> 39:18.543 from our house temporarily housed on US 39:18.543 --> 39:20.599 bases . Do you have an update on how 39:20.599 --> 39:22.410 that's going other moving into 39:22.410 --> 39:25.650 communities ? Um So 39:26.320 --> 39:29.850 I can give you an update of 39:29.860 --> 39:33.540 where we are in numbers . The but 39:33.550 --> 39:36.320 I think it's just to level set our 39:36.320 --> 39:38.730 responsibility and operation allies . 39:38.730 --> 39:40.841 Welcome is to provide them a safe and 39:40.841 --> 39:43.063 secure environment for them to complete 39:43.063 --> 39:45.174 the processing that they need to move 39:45.174 --> 39:48.630 on . The process of moving on . That's 39:48.630 --> 39:50.519 being handled by the department , 39:50.519 --> 39:52.741 homeland Security and the Department of 39:52.741 --> 39:54.963 State with respect to their immigration 39:54.963 --> 39:57.120 status . Um And they are working in 39:57.120 --> 39:59.580 lockstep with non governmental 39:59.580 --> 40:01.580 organizations around the country to 40:01.580 --> 40:03.747 help these people relocate the D . O . 40:03.747 --> 40:06.380 D . Is not involved in the active 40:06.380 --> 40:08.840 relocation of them to a certain 40:08.840 --> 40:11.690 community or a certain state or that's 40:11.700 --> 40:15.700 beyond our mandate . But I can give 40:15.700 --> 40:19.290 you some updated uh Numbers 40:19.290 --> 40:21.820 here we have at the eight sites that we 40:21.820 --> 40:23.987 still have operating . There are about 40:23.987 --> 40:27.030 46 1000 afghans . 40:27.710 --> 40:31.450 Um 25,000 have been relocated to new 40:31.450 --> 40:34.240 communities . So that's where we are . 40:35.010 --> 40:38.650 Yeah . One more please . Thank you . 40:38.770 --> 40:42.300 On the china china has demanded 40:42.310 --> 40:46.110 south Korea to keep up its besides 40:46.120 --> 40:50.110 the defensive system with yes in 40:50.110 --> 40:54.080 south south Korea . So china seems to 40:54.090 --> 40:57.950 want South Korea to end it . Alliance 40:57.950 --> 41:00.400 with the United States and they get 41:00.410 --> 41:04.330 closer to china . What is your comment ? 41:05.010 --> 41:08.560 Okay . Our alliance with the Republic 41:08.560 --> 41:11.340 of Korea remains strong and vibrant as 41:11.340 --> 41:13.910 the linchpin of security in the end of 41:13.910 --> 41:17.090 pacific and we don't see anything 41:17.100 --> 41:19.100 changing about that going forward . 41:19.210 --> 41:21.240 Okay . Thanks everybody . Yeah , 41:21.910 --> 41:23.020 appreciate it .