WEBVTT

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I am Vice Admiral Doug Perry ,

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Commander of Joint Force Command ,

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Norfolk and the United States second

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fleet . We have just concluded part one

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of NATO exercise . Steadfast Defender

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24 which included NATO'S maritime

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Command live exercise , the United

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Kingdom's Exercise , joint Warrior and

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the Norwegian Exercise Nordic response .

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24 . Steadfast Defender is the largest

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NATO exercise since the Cold War and

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out of 90,000 troops participating over

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the entire exercise , we had 20,000

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troops , more than 50 ships and over

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100 aircraft during Nordic response

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alone throughout Steadfast Defender

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NATO is clearly demonstrating our

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collective ability to defend the

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strategic lines of communication that

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unite North America and Europe . A bond

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which we celebrate this year with the

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75th anniversary of NATO . During

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Nordic response . It was our privilege

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to welcome our newest ally , Sweden to

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the alliance and NATO is now stronger ,

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safer and more secure with Sweden as an

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ally , Sweden formally joined NATO just

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days before participating in amphibious

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operations where Swedish and Finnish

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marines deployed from the well deck of

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the Whidbey Island class dock landing

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ship US S Gunston Hall . There is no

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better example of NATO unity and

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interoperability . Last week , I

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visited our forces in Norway including

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a contingent of staff from the United

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States second fleet and expeditionary

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strike group . Two , these individuals

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formed task force north to command and

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control NATO maritime forces during

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part one , I'm extremely pleased with

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the performance of our people out there .

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Their enthusiasm to operate and learn

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with other NATO allies is unwavering .

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Thank you to the thousands of sailors ,

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soldiers , airmen , marine and

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civilians who through their

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determination , reliability and

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professionalism have clearly

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demonstrated nato's ability to fight

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and win in the defense of the Euro

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Atlantic area . You have made steadfast

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defender a success and you should be

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rightly proud of your achievements ,

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not just on behalf of your nations ,

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but also the entire NATO alliance . As

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the commander of nato's only

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operational command in North America

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and one of the three joint operational

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NATO commands . I see every day how

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vital the transatlantic link is to

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North American and European security .

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It was an honor for joint force command ,

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Norfolk to lead part one . And I look

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forward to the continued success of

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steadfast defender as joint force

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command , Brunson leads NATO forces

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through part two . Our message is clear ,

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NATO is capable . We are ready and we

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are willing to defend every inch of

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allied territory . We are NATO