WEBVTT 00:00.608 --> 00:02.393 - Well thank you for coming here today, 00:02.393 --> 00:05.976 and it's a great to be here in San Antonio. 00:06.965 --> 00:08.548 Military City, USA. 00:10.193 --> 00:12.156 And I had the opportunity to visit a number 00:12.156 --> 00:14.660 of instillations here, and I wanna speak 00:14.660 --> 00:16.577 about their importance. 00:16.860 --> 00:19.564 First, I should just note in sadness, 00:19.564 --> 00:22.814 that one of my predecessors years back, 00:22.924 --> 00:25.757 Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird, 00:26.021 --> 00:29.233 who was Secretary of Defense for President Nixon, 00:29.233 --> 00:33.150 passed away, and our condolences to his family. 00:35.935 --> 00:39.328 The Department of Defense is an institution 00:39.328 --> 00:42.745 that is committed to spanning the decades 00:44.420 --> 00:47.587 and the strategic eras, and continuing 00:48.097 --> 00:50.203 to protect Americans and make a better life 00:50.203 --> 00:51.620 for our children. 00:51.800 --> 00:53.883 Secretary Laird did that. 00:53.949 --> 00:57.116 And we are always in the debt of those 00:57.698 --> 01:01.365 who went before us, because they left for us 01:03.054 --> 01:05.887 and it is my privilege now to lead 01:06.357 --> 01:10.524 the finest fighting force the world has ever known. 01:10.580 --> 01:13.997 And the, that that force remains the best 01:17.911 --> 01:21.161 is an important commitment that I have, 01:22.196 --> 01:24.529 and that our Department has. 01:24.911 --> 01:27.502 And so today, we were looking at a number 01:27.502 --> 01:30.613 of ways that we're building the force of the future 01:30.613 --> 01:34.780 to make sure that it is as fine as the force we have today. 01:37.044 --> 01:40.961 And that means recruiting, that means training, 01:42.175 --> 01:43.758 it means retaining. 01:45.024 --> 01:48.691 And it means taking care of service members. 01:49.232 --> 01:51.757 And we saw that entire arc today. 01:51.757 --> 01:55.924 I was at Air Force Basic Training, which is spectacular. 01:56.035 --> 01:59.785 These gifted young Americans who have decided 02:00.606 --> 02:03.606 to volunteer to serve their country. 02:04.067 --> 02:07.984 We're very selective, and we pick men and women 02:09.648 --> 02:11.815 on a very selective basis. 02:12.262 --> 02:15.679 And we're very pleased that a lot of very 02:17.784 --> 02:21.367 talented young Americans decide to join our 02:21.605 --> 02:23.945 armed forces, and meet the qualifications. 02:23.945 --> 02:26.133 And I saw them being trained there. 02:26.133 --> 02:30.073 And I met with some of those who were training them. 02:30.073 --> 02:33.490 And these are dedicated Air Force leaders 02:34.214 --> 02:36.051 who spend a part of their career in 02:36.051 --> 02:38.836 parting what they know to the new recruits. 02:38.836 --> 02:42.003 It's very impressive, really inspiring 02:43.433 --> 02:47.600 to see that knowledge passed on to the next generation. 02:47.658 --> 02:51.575 Also had the opportunity to be with some of the 02:52.414 --> 02:56.497 specialty skills, the battlefield airman training 02:57.022 --> 03:00.150 initiative, which is a new thing for our Air Force, 03:00.150 --> 03:01.462 but very important. 03:01.462 --> 03:05.129 This is where the early training takes place 03:07.169 --> 03:11.336 for some of the most highly specialized airmen that we have, 03:12.371 --> 03:14.513 and that serve not only the Air Force, 03:14.513 --> 03:16.444 but the entire Joint Force. 03:16.444 --> 03:19.611 These are the forward air controllers. 03:19.778 --> 03:22.861 These are the rescue jumpers who will 03:25.165 --> 03:27.665 go in and get a downed airman. 03:28.094 --> 03:32.261 These are specialty medical and meteorological experts. 03:34.506 --> 03:36.477 And they too were being trained there. 03:36.477 --> 03:40.477 And it just shows you that incredibly high skill 03:40.754 --> 03:44.171 required to be the best in today's world. 03:46.926 --> 03:49.452 We live in a competitive world, we have military 03:49.452 --> 03:52.066 competitors, and it's important for us 03:52.066 --> 03:55.063 to build the force of the future that will be the best. 03:55.063 --> 03:59.230 Also, here, right here at Randolph in pilot training, 04:02.073 --> 04:05.736 this is where pilots for all classes of Air Force 04:05.736 --> 04:09.403 aircraft are trained, and it's a spectacular 04:09.963 --> 04:13.130 day to fly over beautiful San Antonio. 04:13.859 --> 04:16.539 See all of the wonderful military installations 04:16.539 --> 04:19.456 that this great city plays host to. 04:20.139 --> 04:22.739 I also wanna say that I mentioned the 04:22.739 --> 04:26.259 taking care of our service members is extremely important. 04:26.259 --> 04:30.384 That means especially the wounded, ill, and injured. 04:30.384 --> 04:33.347 And San Antonio's also home to the Brooks Army 04:33.347 --> 04:35.764 Medical Center, called BAM-C. 04:35.832 --> 04:38.106 I went there, had lunch with a number 04:38.106 --> 04:39.826 of wounded warriors, talked to them 04:39.826 --> 04:43.409 about their care, and whether we were doing 04:44.402 --> 04:47.397 what we should do, which is take good care of them. 04:47.397 --> 04:50.413 And we are, and I met with the medical professionals 04:50.413 --> 04:54.330 there who not only take care of these Americans 04:56.222 --> 04:58.593 who have served, and been injured in service, 04:58.593 --> 05:01.176 but you know, really love them. 05:02.540 --> 05:05.787 And watch after their families as well. 05:05.787 --> 05:08.620 So it's very moving, and fantastic 05:08.753 --> 05:12.129 professional medical care, that's what they deserve. 05:12.129 --> 05:15.117 So all in all, so much going on here in San Antonio 05:15.117 --> 05:18.561 relevant to our force of today, and our force of the future. 05:18.561 --> 05:21.413 And I'm committed to that, and confident 05:21.413 --> 05:24.572 that our armed forces will remain what it is today, 05:24.572 --> 05:26.632 which is the best in the world. 05:26.632 --> 05:28.046 And that, let me take your questions. 05:28.046 --> 05:28.879 - [Host] Okay, a couple questions. 05:28.879 --> 05:30.302 I'll try to go back and forth in our travelers 05:30.302 --> 05:31.878 and local press, Arianna? 05:31.878 --> 05:33.957 - [Arianna] (speaking off mic) 05:33.957 --> 05:36.887 In the spirit of today, and you had also mentioned yesterday 05:36.887 --> 05:39.720 the importance of aviation safety, 05:39.941 --> 05:43.154 increasing flight hours in the budget and such things. 05:43.154 --> 05:45.385 And certain services such as the Marine Corps, 05:45.385 --> 05:47.800 and especially the Air Force has opined about 05:47.800 --> 05:50.494 their shortage of pilots, and so I was wondering 05:50.494 --> 05:53.760 if the Defense Department, what it's doing. 05:53.760 --> 05:55.443 If you can give a few examples of how 05:55.443 --> 05:57.771 it can address these concerns since they 05:57.771 --> 05:59.955 are occurring in more than one military service. 05:59.955 --> 06:02.872 - They are, and the principal issue 06:04.163 --> 06:08.330 is that our pilots, because they're so highly trained, 06:10.447 --> 06:13.614 are also sought after by the airlines, 06:16.868 --> 06:20.785 and by business flyers, and that's a compliment 06:22.122 --> 06:24.186 to the skill of our flyers. 06:24.186 --> 06:26.995 But it's something that we have to be concerned about. 06:26.995 --> 06:29.565 I remind you, this is an all volunteer force. 06:29.565 --> 06:31.128 Our people have alternatives. 06:31.128 --> 06:33.637 I'm happy for them that they have alternatives. 06:33.637 --> 06:36.720 However, we really wanna retain them. 06:37.013 --> 06:38.869 So the answer to your question is that 06:38.869 --> 06:41.617 the services and I are working very hard 06:41.617 --> 06:44.784 on various ways of insuring retention. 06:46.193 --> 06:48.391 And one of those is to offer additional 06:48.391 --> 06:50.641 compensation for retention. 06:51.565 --> 06:55.732 But I think the thing that keeps military pilots in service 06:57.355 --> 07:01.355 is in my talking to them, the thing that brought 07:01.547 --> 07:05.630 them in in the first place, which is the mission. 07:05.712 --> 07:08.420 They know that this is gonna be a hard life, 07:08.420 --> 07:10.639 they know they're gonna be away from their families, 07:10.639 --> 07:12.920 they know that there can be danger. 07:12.920 --> 07:14.388 And they know that they're not gonna get 07:14.388 --> 07:18.305 paid as well as they might if they were working 07:18.552 --> 07:20.774 outside of the Defense Department. 07:20.774 --> 07:22.369 But they love what they're doing, 07:22.369 --> 07:25.720 and they understand the importance of what they're doing. 07:25.720 --> 07:28.801 That's why they stay, and we're grateful for it. 07:28.801 --> 07:30.801 - [Host] So local press? 07:30.987 --> 07:32.155 Can you identify yourself? 07:32.155 --> 07:34.448 - [Sig] Sig Christenson with San Antonio Express 07:34.448 --> 07:36.059 (speaking off mic) 07:36.059 --> 07:37.696 There was a report this morning out of 07:37.696 --> 07:39.951 Navy McIntires blog that you've got 07:39.951 --> 07:42.643 a transition office set up in the Pentagon, 07:42.643 --> 07:44.241 briefing folks who are all there, 07:44.241 --> 07:47.885 but the Trump people haven't been to it yet. 07:47.885 --> 07:50.660 And along the same lines, the NATO Secretary General 07:50.660 --> 07:53.410 has said, twice in the last week, 07:54.418 --> 07:56.688 he's made statements expressing concern 07:56.688 --> 07:59.610 about U.S. treaty obligations of the NATO. 07:59.610 --> 08:02.467 And I guess first off, can you tell us 08:02.467 --> 08:04.391 if it is true that the transition office 08:04.391 --> 08:07.421 has not received a visit yet from Trump's people, 08:07.421 --> 08:09.041 and if you've got concerns about that? 08:09.041 --> 08:11.360 And secondly, what do you think of 08:11.360 --> 08:14.943 NATO Secretary General's comments seem to-- 08:14.951 --> 08:16.034 - Sure, sure. 08:16.988 --> 08:20.571 On the first point, we are ready to welcome 08:20.953 --> 08:23.986 President Elect Trump's transition team 08:23.986 --> 08:25.863 to the Defense Department. 08:25.863 --> 08:29.030 I'm committed to an orderly transition 08:31.847 --> 08:33.861 to our new Commander-in-Chief. 08:33.861 --> 08:37.694 The, where we have prepared for their arrival, 08:39.710 --> 08:41.801 we will welcome them warmly, we will help 08:41.801 --> 08:44.218 them to hit the road running. 08:45.695 --> 08:48.632 They have not arrived yet in the Pentagon, 08:48.632 --> 08:49.965 they'll do that when they're ready. 08:49.965 --> 08:51.761 But, we're ready for them. 08:51.761 --> 08:54.428 And as far as NATO is concerned, 08:55.595 --> 08:58.595 The NATO, and we as members of NATO, 08:59.769 --> 09:03.852 have been focused on two principal axes of threat 09:08.496 --> 09:12.663 to the security of the NATO, us and our NATO allies. 09:14.254 --> 09:18.421 Now the first is from the East, and that is from Russia. 09:18.961 --> 09:20.829 A threat we hadn't had to worry about 09:20.829 --> 09:23.662 for a number of years, and now do. 09:24.597 --> 09:26.957 So we're taking a number of steps to strengthen 09:26.957 --> 09:29.393 our military presence in Europe. 09:29.393 --> 09:30.484 This has been going on now for 09:30.484 --> 09:33.151 a year and a half, or two years. 09:33.288 --> 09:34.826 And then the other is from the South, 09:34.826 --> 09:37.909 which is the spillover from the chaos 09:38.328 --> 09:41.660 in the Middle East, particularly the Syrian civil war. 09:41.660 --> 09:44.577 Which has caused refugees and other 09:45.235 --> 09:47.402 issues in Southern Europe. 09:47.820 --> 09:51.653 So both of those are things that NATO has been 09:51.795 --> 09:54.628 working on, and we work with them. 09:58.562 --> 10:02.729 A lot of our deterrence is done in tandem with the alliance 10:03.860 --> 10:06.510 and the alliance has been very strong. 10:06.510 --> 10:08.636 - [Sig] Have you had any reason to. 10:08.636 --> 10:09.952 Do you have any sense of why 10:09.952 --> 10:12.267 the NATO Secretary General is so concerned? 10:12.267 --> 10:13.100 - I don't. 10:13.833 --> 10:16.750 I can't speak for Jens Stoltenberg. 10:17.700 --> 10:21.117 I'd only say that NATO has over the years 10:26.126 --> 10:30.293 always proved that it was able to adapt to changing times. 10:35.284 --> 10:37.035 Remember, it was an alliance that was formed 10:37.035 --> 10:40.428 to fight the Cold War, it did that and won. 10:40.428 --> 10:42.036 Fortunately we didn't have to fight, 10:42.036 --> 10:44.703 but it stood strong for decades. 10:45.958 --> 10:48.791 And then was important in bringing 10:49.257 --> 10:51.243 peace and stability to the Balkins, 10:51.243 --> 10:53.836 and then Afghanistan, and now as I said, 10:53.836 --> 10:57.898 to deterrence against threats in the East and the South. 10:57.898 --> 10:59.138 - [Host] Justin? 10:59.138 --> 11:00.517 - [Justin] Yeah, so you talk a lot about 11:00.517 --> 11:02.220 how Defense Secretaries make investments 11:02.220 --> 11:06.180 with an eye for not just the near term, but the far term. 11:06.180 --> 11:08.079 Our earlier this week sent out a memo 11:08.079 --> 11:10.520 making the Strategic Capabilities Office 11:10.520 --> 11:13.331 serve more of a permanent position in the Pentagon. 11:13.331 --> 11:16.500 What other specific initiatives or actions 11:16.500 --> 11:19.459 have been taken as your time as Defense Secretary, 11:19.459 --> 11:23.297 do you believe you need to continue on well past your term? 11:23.297 --> 11:27.214 - Well, the SCO, so-called, is one of the ways, 11:31.255 --> 11:33.837 but only one, a very important one, 11:33.837 --> 11:37.504 that we're trying to continue to be the most 11:37.640 --> 11:41.591 technologically innovative military in the world. 11:41.591 --> 11:43.008 That's important. 11:43.080 --> 11:45.381 We've always had the technological edge. 11:45.381 --> 11:47.524 I already said our people is what make 11:47.524 --> 11:50.131 our military the greatest, and next 11:50.131 --> 11:52.798 to the people is our technology. 11:53.599 --> 11:56.449 And so we're making big investments, 11:56.449 --> 11:58.178 we have made those in the budget 11:58.178 --> 12:00.535 that is before Congress now, and that 12:00.535 --> 12:03.118 we hope we finally gets passed. 12:03.846 --> 12:06.966 And we're preparing a budget for fiscal year 18, 12:06.966 --> 12:10.476 which we'll obviously hand off to the new team there. 12:10.476 --> 12:13.726 But again, that has that same emphasis. 12:13.919 --> 12:17.586 We spent 15 years of necessity, very focused 12:18.747 --> 12:21.950 from the point of view of our investments 12:21.950 --> 12:24.836 and operations on counter insurgency 12:24.836 --> 12:26.639 in Iraq and Afghanistan. 12:26.639 --> 12:28.144 We still need to be able to do that, 12:28.144 --> 12:30.311 and we need to continue to 12:30.690 --> 12:33.523 remember everything we've learned. 12:33.732 --> 12:37.482 But we now are preparing for a wider spectrum 12:37.663 --> 12:40.603 of conflict, including higher end opponents 12:40.603 --> 12:43.194 that are more technologically challenging. 12:43.194 --> 12:45.915 That's what you saw yesterday at 29 Palms, 12:45.915 --> 12:47.690 the Marine Corps are preparing for that, 12:47.690 --> 12:49.052 and making that transition. 12:49.052 --> 12:50.735 Technology's an important part of that. 12:50.735 --> 12:52.833 So that's part of our investment portfolio, 12:52.833 --> 12:55.666 the SCO is particularly focused on 12:57.383 --> 13:00.633 taking weapon systems that we now have, 13:00.634 --> 13:01.830 it has been one of the things or 13:01.830 --> 13:03.698 places where it's been most creative, 13:03.698 --> 13:05.806 and giving them new missions. 13:05.806 --> 13:09.223 So for example, it took anti air missile, 13:10.903 --> 13:14.570 excellent missile, of the Navy's and figured 13:15.485 --> 13:19.652 out how to make it also capable of attacking ships. 13:20.493 --> 13:24.660 Very sophisticated, long range, fast, very lethal weapon. 13:26.269 --> 13:28.175 And we had bought it for one reason, 13:28.175 --> 13:31.677 they found a way to use it in another way as well, 13:31.677 --> 13:33.966 sort of doubling the value of our investment. 13:33.966 --> 13:36.736 That's the kind of thing we've gotten out of SCO. 13:36.736 --> 13:38.242 Very creative group of people. 13:38.242 --> 13:40.439 They work with and for all the services, 13:40.439 --> 13:42.745 and help them figure out how to be 13:42.745 --> 13:45.649 even more innovative with the programs they have. 13:45.649 --> 13:46.563 - [Host] All right, we've got time for one last one, 13:46.563 --> 13:47.939 and then we gotta catch a plane. 13:47.939 --> 13:50.106 Any other local questions? 13:50.525 --> 13:51.358 Okay. 13:51.358 --> 13:52.858 - Okay, thank you. 13:52.974 --> 13:53.807 - [Host] You've got one. 13:53.807 --> 13:56.549 - [Reporter] Thank you very much. 13:56.549 --> 13:57.703 When you were out at Lackland, 13:57.703 --> 14:00.536 have you crossed anyone concerning 14:00.545 --> 14:04.030 the changes that have been made at the base, 14:04.030 --> 14:07.184 since the scandal there several years ago? 14:07.184 --> 14:09.117 And do you have a sense of whether 14:09.117 --> 14:11.743 that era for the Air Force has passed, 14:11.743 --> 14:14.416 that they've gotten past the problems 14:14.416 --> 14:17.723 that the base had back when something like 14:17.723 --> 14:20.328 close to 30 people went on trial over there 14:20.328 --> 14:23.662 for various things, most of them sexual assaults? 14:23.662 --> 14:25.625 - Well I think it's not just the Air Force, 14:25.625 --> 14:27.769 but it's all the services, and it is certainly 14:27.769 --> 14:31.269 me as Secretary of Defense, have been very 14:32.102 --> 14:36.269 intent on eradicating sexual assault in our military. 14:37.466 --> 14:38.716 Doesn't belong. 14:39.955 --> 14:43.459 You know the military is a, and the profession 14:43.459 --> 14:47.626 of arms is based upon honor, and it's based upon trust. 14:48.610 --> 14:52.777 And sexual assault is contrary to both honor and trust, 14:53.189 --> 14:55.059 and therefore to the profession of arms. 14:55.059 --> 14:59.115 So the entire leadership is committed to eradicating that. 14:59.115 --> 15:01.980 I did talk to trainers there, I've certainly it is, 15:01.980 --> 15:05.969 and they were describing the training they received, 15:05.969 --> 15:08.610 and also the training they gave. 15:08.610 --> 15:10.155 These are the people who are the 15:10.155 --> 15:11.842 military training instructors there. 15:11.842 --> 15:13.626 And both in the training they receive, 15:13.626 --> 15:15.954 and in the training they give, 15:15.954 --> 15:18.160 the issue of sexual assault figures, 15:18.160 --> 15:20.057 and figures strongly as it should. 15:20.057 --> 15:21.301 And it's not just the Air Force, 15:21.301 --> 15:24.301 and it's the other services as well. 15:26.522 --> 15:29.772 And we're not gonna stop working on it, 15:30.581 --> 15:33.914 and trying to improve how we approach it 15:35.478 --> 15:37.467 until we've eradicated it. 15:37.467 --> 15:39.181 It doesn't belong in our military. 15:39.181 --> 15:40.360 - [Host] Thanks everybody, appreciate it. 15:40.360 --> 15:41.360 - Thank you.