SECDEF U.S. thanks NATO, Germany for Hosting Troops……

Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby provided the following readouts:

Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III spoke by phone with German Minister of Defence Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer to reinforce the value the United States places on the bilateral defense relationship with one of our closest NATO Allies.  

Secretary Austin and Minister Kramp-Karrenbauer exchanged views on areas for stronger U.S.-Germany cooperation on global challenges, including COVID-19, force posture in Afghanistan and Iraq, and combatting the malign influence of our shared strategic rivals.

Secretary Austin expressed his gratitude to Germany for continuing to serve as a great host for U.S. forces, and expressed his desire for a continued dialogue on U.S. force posture in Germany.  

Secretary Austin noted the importance of Germany to the NATO Alliance and expressed his desire for continued consultation.

NATO:

Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III spoke by phone with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg shortly after arriving at the Pentagon today.  The call was his first made to a foreign leader as the Defense Secretary, and reinforces the importance of the NATO Alliance to the United States.  

The two leaders discussed the importance of our shared values, the current security environment including maintaining a strong NATO deterrence and defense posture, and the ongoing missions in Afghanistan and Iraq.  They also briefly reviewed the upcoming NATO Defense Ministerial and agreed to discuss it again in more detail in the coming weeks.

The Secretary said he looked forward to developing a close working relationship with Stoltenberg and both leaders pledged to consult in the months ahead.

U.K. Alliance, Patching it up?

Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III spoke by phone this morning with U.K. Secretary of State for Defense Ben Wallace and reaffirmed the importance of the special relationship between our two countries.  

The secretaries discussed views on confronting strategic issues of mutual interest, including the COVID-19 response, concerns from a rising China, threats from Russia, and ongoing operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Secretary Austin congratulated the U.K. for the recent announcement of its largest increase in defense spending in thirty years, noting the importance of that spending to our shared security and the collective security of the NATO Alliance.  

Secretary Austin also noted the significance of the recent Joint Declaration for the Carrier Strike Group 2021 deployment. The deployment will include U.S. Marine Corps F-35B Lightning II aircraft deployed aboard the U.K. aircraft carrier HMS QUEEN ELIZABETH for the first time, as well as the inclusion of U.S. Navy destroyer USS THE SULLIVANS (DDG-68) as a part of a combined carrier strike group. He noted the significance of this deployment to our bilateral ties and interoperability.

The Secretary expressed his appreciation for the U.K.’s commitment to our defense partnership and emphasized the U.S. commitment to the NATO Alliance.

Climate as a National Security Issue:

The Department will immediately take appropriate policy actions to prioritize climate change considerations in our activities and risk assessments, to mitigate this driver of insecurity. As directed by the President, we will include the security implications of climate change in our risk analyses, strategy development, and planning guidance. As a leader in the interagency, the Department of Defense will also support incorporating climate risk analysis into modeling, simulation, wargaming, analysis, and the next National Defense Strategy. And by changing how we approach our own carbon footprint, the Department can also be a platform for positive change, spurring the development of climate-friendly technologies at scale.

There is little about what the Department does to defend the American people that is not affected by climate change.  It is a national security issue, and we must treat it as such.

And Biden’s High Priority LGBT current Policy is overturned:

The Department will immediately take appropriate policy action to ensure individuals who identify as transgender are eligible to enter and serve in their self-identified gender. These changes will ensure no one will be separated or discharged, or denied reenlistment, solely on the basis of gender identity. Prospective recruits may serve in their self-identified gender when they have met the appropriate standards for accession into the military services. This revised policy will also ensure all medically-necessary transition related care authorized by law is available to all Service members and will re-examine all cases of transgender Service members that may be in some form of adverse administrative proceedings. 

More Trump policies such as building the Wall along the Southern Border, back to engagement with Iran in the Nuclear treaties, making nice with the World Health Organization and more are being purged, walked back to the pre Trump era.