 All right, hi good afternoon everyone just a few things at the top here and then happy to take your questions So let me start off by saying that our thoughts and our prayers are with all those who were impacted in the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge overnight Obviously, it is very early in the process But I can tell you that the commanding general of the US Army Corps of Engineers has been in touch with the port of Baltimore And the department is remaining in close contact with local and state officials and stands ready if any assistance is required Given the scope of the situation and this is likely to be a lengthy process We will of course circle back with any new developments from the DOD perspective over the coming days and weeks to come Today secretary of defense Austin hosted Israeli Minister of Defense Galant at the Pentagon for his first visit to Washington in his current role The Secretary and Minister Galant affirmed their shared interest in defeating Hamas Discuss the importance of prioritizing civilians in Rafe the dire humanitarian situation across Gaza and threats to regional security The secretary stressed that the United States and Israel have a moral imperative and a shared strategic interest in safeguarding Civilians noting that any assault on Rafe should not be proceeded Should not proceed without a credible and implementable plan that ensures the safety and humanitarian support for civilians sheltering there The secretary also urged Minister Galant to expand entry points for humanitarian assistance and address distribution challenges inside of Gaza He also reiterated the department's commitment to establish a temporary maritime corridor to provide humanitarian assistance to the people of Gaza Separate but related between March 2nd and today US central command has conducted 17 Assistance airdrops into Gaza with more than 470,000 culturally appropriate pork-free meals and over eight tons of food items such as rice flour pasta and canned food as Always safety is a top priority when planning these airdrops of Note during yesterday's humanitarian airdrop which included approximately 80 bundles Three bundles were reported to have had parachute malfunctions and landed in the water It is important to note that drop zones are chosen to mitigate potential failures of parachutes to deploy These humanitarian airdrops occur over water and the wind causes the bundles to drift over to land in the event of a Parachute malfunction the bundles land in the water While only one part of the broader humanitarian effort these airdrops are an Expedient means to deliver critical aid to Gaza as you've heard us say we are exploring other options to increase the flow of aid with our Partners including the maritime corridor, which we previously announced and switching gears Last year the department announced policies authorizing administrative absences as well as travel and transportation Allowances that would allow service members and their dependents access to non-covered reproductive health care This type of care includes non-covered abortion and assisted reproductive technology Such as in vitro fertilization ovarian stimulations and egg retrieval These policies ensures ensure that service members and their families are afforded the time and flexibility To make private health care decisions as well as supporting access to non-covered reproductive health care regardless of Where they are stationed Today we are releasing data of the cost and usage of these policies from June through December 2023 For the travel and transportation policy the policy was used 12 times to access non-covered reproductive health care services The number 12 accounts for each instance of an individual using the policy for a round-trip event So for example, this could entail a service member traveling from their home station in one state or overseas location To a state where they can access non-covered reproductive health care services and then returning home to that home station Of note a service member can use the policy more than once The total cost for the department for travel and Sorry the total cost for the department for travel and transportation in these 12 instances Was 40 40,791 and 20 cents Due to privacy concerns the department does not track the number of individuals who use the policy or collect data on specific Type of non-covered reproductive health care services Used by service members utilizing the travel and transportation policy And with that I know that was a lot. I'm happy to take your questions So tar if you want to start us up. Okay. Thanks, Sabrina. Um one cleanup June through December 2023. So just the last six months of the last year. Yeah, and 12 people total or 12 uses total and it could have been that one person went more than once 12 uses total so it accounts for 12 times and a service member can use the the travel transportation policy multiple times Okay, thanks. Um switching back to israel and gaza Were there any indications today because of the abstention Vote in the u.m. The israel is now not going to support the Distribution or the maritime port access for the u.s. And others that are going to create this port. No, there was not Part of the conversation that the secretary had with minister galant was one of the things that they discussed was about humanitarian aid getting into gaza getting to the palestinian people who need it most Um, and of course they discussed the maritime corridor. That's still going to be set up as planned We're still a few weeks away from that being fully operational, but that will Still be set up and since we are only a few weeks away from it being operational Do you have an update on how the logistics how the distribution part of it the security? What will the u.s. Roll be versus israel's role? Sure. So that's something that did also come up with minister galant You know israel will play a role in providing some type of security and securing that the temporary causeway to the coastline of gaza, but Those details are still, you know going through the process of being worked out In terms of the humanitarian distribution the the distribution of humanitarian aid. That is also something that Is ongoing. I don't have a better answer for you just now But just to follow up on I guess a question from a couple days ago Is dod going to be in control of the distribution contract? I know no dod personnel are going to be there, but is this going to be a dod run effort To my knowledge, I don't believe we are going to have a part in the distribution of aid again. We're looking to Um, I don't want to get ahead of any conversations. Again. This is something that's ongoing We are working with partners in the region. We're working with ngos. Um, I just don't have a sense of Just yet on how that aid is going to be distributed once it comes off What you're referring to is the causeway into gaza. I just don't have more to provide at this time address um just quickly on the Air dropped in the parachute malfunctions. Do you know if anyone there are reports that up to 12 people were killed as they Tried to go into the water to get the aid. Have you seen that? I've seen the reports. I can't confirm Those reports, but I have seen them and then secondly, uh, syrian state media said the Claim that the united states carried out airstrikes in syria last night. Uh, did you carry out airstrikes? We did not carry out airstrikes in syria last night But thank you subpoena. So, um, Vice president hires said recently in an interview that she looked at the maps and she doesn't think there's any Anywhere that 1.5 million Palestinian refugees the rafa can go to However, we still hear from you and she thinks that any operation and rafa will be in state We still hear from you and the pentagon that For this operation To go, you know to go forward. We need a credible plan to protect civilians move them around Which one is the policy of this administration that there could be a plan to assault rafa or There can't be a plan because these 1.5 million can't go anywhere I don't think there's any daylight to what the vice president has said to what the secretary Has said and reiterated at the top of his meeting with minister galant We've been very clear that any major ground operation within rafa That does not consider the protection of innocent civilians that are there. You know that there's over 1 million people that are Sheltering in rafa Can't go forward. So we've been very clear I think the vice president made that very clear And that's what you saw the secretary also reiterate in his meeting with minister galant and something that I read out at the top of That's briefing. Did the secretary hear any plan from galant about potential operation in rafa minister galant Broadly highlighted their thinking on how they would approach rafa The secretary certainly appreciated the opportunity to discuss that with minister galant, but it was at a very high level Again, what we continue to reiterate Both publicly and privately is that any type of operation into rafa Must account for the over 1 million people that are sheltered there And and take into account innocent civilian lives. And so What we've said is going forward with an operation in rafa would be a mistake if if those lives aren't taken into account Yeah, hailey. Thank you. Sabrina. I'm just a follow-up on fauna's question than one other unrelated, but Secretary rafa, I know he said today that he and minister galant has spoken nearly 40 times As your defense official said earlier today the two are good friends that have become very close Yet, obviously there are still concerns in sort of how israel is carrying things out sort of friction I guess between what we have been advising and what is real what we've been seeing on the ground in gaza with respect to civilians so What commitments did minister galant make in today's meeting when it comes to humanitarian aid getting into gaza And after today's meeting how confident secretary austin that that israel will be taking the warnings and advice On rafa seriously moving forward. Well, it was um, certainly a frank and direct conversation I think you can appreciate that Friends can have these types of conversations with each other I'll let minister galant speak to What he said in the meeting But I think our concerns were certainly heard and have been heard by the israeli government and what you saw From the secretary is reiterate Our concerns in a face-to-face conversation that humanitarian aid continue to flow into gaza We know that humanitarian aid is stalled at these border crossings. So we need to see that aid flow in We do not want to see the humanitarian situation on the ground become even worse And of course the secretary reiterated the united states' commitment to setting up that maritime Floating pier that will be set up in The coming weeks But it was honestly a good it was a good conversation to have not only about rafa, but just generally about The ongoing israeli operations within gaza. And i'm sorry. I think I missed your second question there um, no, it would just help how Confidence secretary austin was moving in with rafa But I had an unrelated. Okay. Go ahead. Yeah The core of engineers have they been officially requested to assist yet in bolton more and then also on the Parachute malfunction. Yeah, do you have a rough number or exact if you could of how many other times? We've seen those kind of malfunctions happen with the drops that have been conducted For an exact number. I would refer you to sent com. But as you know last week we put out I think i'm sorry sent com put out In one of their statements that I believe five bundles had a similar malfunction and that the parachutes didn't deploy but for more Um, you know for more specifics, I'd direct you to them Um, and then in terms of i'm so sorry your army corps of engineers So, um, we are in touch with state and local officials. We haven't received or the army corps of engineers hasn't received an official request Um, I believe right now the focus is really on search and rescue Um, but once we receive those requests, we'll keep you updated in the coming days and weeks as um, you know Those requests come in and the mission could change I'm gonna go to the phones and then happy to come back in the room. Uh, jeff shogel task and purpose Thank you. I'm just uh routine check. Is there anything different about the u.s. Footprint in the chair? Have any us troops left? Has anything changed? Thanks, jeff for the question. No no updates and nothing new since uh, we last spoke. We're in briefed earlier this week Uh, next question from sam us and i news Hey sabrina. Um, are we seeing um, are y'all seeing any uh, uh additional action from the hoothies in the indian ocean? That was a big threat um, that they had made uh in the last couple of weeks that they were going to be expanding operations to threaten Merchantship and out there and then um, have y'all Had any determination about whether the strike on the chinese ship by the hoothies was was intentional or an accident? Thanks Um, thanks sam for the question. Um, in terms of expanding uh, hoot the operations into the uh, into the indian ocean I would direct you to them to speak to that. Um, we have seen mainly their efforts focused into uh, the red sea The gulf of aiden and that that bam area um, but again, uh, we continue to monitor the threats from the hoothies We've seen us conduct uh, dynamic strikes when it comes to um Uh, seeing um Their capabilities present themselves. Uh, you saw we've done that, you know Pretty much on a consistent basis. Um, but again, I would direct you to the hoothies to speak to any Uh Change in their posture or operations. Um in terms of the prc ship, you know, I can't I can't say that they knew or or didn't know that that was um, a chinese ship or flagged What I can say is that we saw very publicly that they said that they were not going to attack Um prc or russian ships and yet they did So just another reminder that uh, we have more than 50 countries with equities that continue to transit through the red sea we see, um, you know, uh A significant amount of commerce that continues to flow through the red sea. Um, this is an incredibly important passageway for for ships and for commerce and Through operation prosperity guardian. Uh, we continue to stand by and uphold the Freedom of navigation. Um, you see that being done almost every single day and we're very proud of our efforts there. Okay. Yeah 42,000 idly So we have um cardinal, um soupy The secretary of state upon the vatican traveling to moscow and then Ukraine and then here in washington in the past month Try to set up to to do an intense diplomatic action to find peace Um, but nothing really moved and then we have the pope A few days ago talking about um, a white flag in ukraine um So like in a way that ukraine might need to give up a little bit to to to go toward peace So what is um, what's the pentagon believe that the role of the vatican should be In finding peace of if there is any comment from the pentagon, you know, I I don't really have much to add here All I can tell you is our efforts when it comes to ukraine Um, should we get a supplemental package from congress? We are going to continue to arm ukraine with what it needs Um on the battlefield as it continues to fight for its sovereign territory So there's no um the role of the vatican, you know, I'm just I can only speak on behalf of the department and Sure Now it's about uh, poland What polanda said about shooting um missiles from ukraine from russia It was on the news in europe um What is the position of the pentagon about a foreign state like poland bring denato maybe in war a war if they shoot muscle missile from ukraine from from russia on ukraine I'm I'm uh trying to follow I haven't seen exactly the uh what you're being referenced. Um, what I can tell you is that what this administration has said repeatedly is that We will defend every inch of nato. Uh, should a nato ally be attacked We certainly don't want to see that but we will defend every inch of nato Um, our priority right now is making sure that ukraine has what it needs on the battlefield As you know, we we um pushed out an emergency presidential drawdown authority a few weeks ago to give ukraine an urgent need of security assistance um We are hopeful that congress will pass a supplemental congress did just Pass a f y 24 budget So we're hoping that we can also pass the ukraine supplemental that we need in order to continue to arm ukraine with what it needs on the battlefield I'm gonna i'm gonna move on. Yeah Thank you sovereign a couple of questions on iraq as the talks continue between you and your iraqi partners Regarding the future security and military Relations known as hmc. Do you have any updates? Where the talks are now? I mean What progress has been made in this regard? I don't have any updates for you on uh conversations with the hmc again We are committed to those to the hmc to continuing that dialogue, but I just don't have an update for you today Okay, I've been hearing from us officials saying that Isis is still a threat even as of today in his meeting with iraqi counterpart secretary of st. Antoni blinkin said that Isis remains a real threat And so regardless of how the talks go don't you believe that? That requires the u.s. Forces and alliance Stay in iraq and see you now Yes, uh isis does remain a real threat and that is exactly why We are in syria and iraq for that very mission to ensure The defeat of isis. Um, that is exactly what our service members are doing there And so absolutely having a having our presence there in the region has helped defeat isis But we certainly value the partnership Whether be the iraqi security forces Or the stf in our efforts to defeat isis Cheney, thank you. Somebody not regarding the transfer of a world time operational controller general poll La camela commander of the us and our okay combined forces command said that Congressional healing last week that the transfer Of a world time operational control is on track. Does this mean that all Conditions for south korea to receive The transfer are made I'm sorry genie. I'm not sure. I understand the question. Could you repeat that? Yeah, general la camela Said that I mean commander of the us and our cfc I said that the congressional healing last week that The transfer Of world time operational control is on track Does this mean that all conditions for south korea to receive Transfer are made Yeah, I don't have anything else to provide and sorry. I didn't sorry. I asked you to clarify I don't have anything more to provide than the comments that were offered at the hearing We certainly value our partnership with our okay That's something that we continue to deepen each and every day And I'll just leave it at that He said that kind of issue certainly this time because if not south korea not made in conditions They will not be transferred You know, yeah, I just don't have more to provide genie. Sorry North korea knows that they are preparing to Launch a new reconnaissance military satellite Do you have anything on this information or how you are preparing for north korea's new Satellite launch. Yeah without getting into Intelligence shaney as I'm sure you can appreciate it. I just don't have a Comment we continue to obviously monitor what happens on the peninsula, but I just I don't have more to add at this time Russia are going to provide Technic Technically look we continue to monitor the relationship between russia and the dpr k. It's something that Certainly concerns us as the dpr k has provided russia with military support that it's using to kill Innocent ukrainians and um, you know, as certainly as ukraine continues to defend its sovereign territory, but um I just don't have more for you to more at this time. Yeah My question is about secretary austin's meeting with japan's national security advisor akiba yesterday in addition to the leader Could you give us a sense of what kind of topics were discussed and Especially whether they discussed how to strengthen the command structure Of the u.s. Force japan of the meeting. Yeah, I'm I know this is not going to be a satisfactory answer But I'm just as you could appreciate. I'm not going to go too much beyond the readout um The meeting offered another opportunity for um us to talk to You know our ally in the region, but I would just let the readout stand for for what we put out following that that meeting lis The navy is requesting two point two billion dollars to congress to make up for a lack of a supplemental And um fy 24 not being passed to fill that gap in funding. Um, can you explain some of the shortfalls that the u.s navy is facing? You know through this funding like shipbuilding You know missiles for the ships in the red sea In terms of I mean, I would let the navy speak to more specifics on that What I can tell you is that you know, we operated under a short term cr or You know multiple crs for I think over six months Which certainly set us back not only in what we were able to spend but in new programs that we were able to start off um, essentially operating under cr is like Operating with one arm tied behind your back. You're just not able to do it effectively. Um, and so for more specifics on You know, what the navy is looking for and and um for their programs I would direct you to them, but just broadly speaking You know, we are six months late. Um into having uh an fy 24 budget We're heading into fy 25 So you'll appreciate that, you know, many of our you've seen many people testifying on the hill in terms of their postures Hearings, we still don't have a supplemental. So all I can say is that um, we continue to urge congress to give us an on time appropriations Yeah, louis going back to uh, baltimore There have been no requests for many of the other services and has the maryland national guard been providing any kind of assistance as well Um, well for the maryland national guard, you know, I I'm not uh, I would direct you to maryland to speak more to that from a department standpoint Um, we haven't received um formal requests yet. We're in touch as I mentioned the um commanding general of the army corps of engineers is in touch with the port of baltimore. Um, right now the the Mission that they are focused on is really search and rescue As things develop and change Um, when we get those requests, we'll keep you updated and you know the coming days and weeks on on what our assistance looks like And going back to your opening statement about the health care numbers for out-of-state visit. Yeah um I think the secretary Institute of that policy in october of 2022 your numbers are from june to January is that right? So, um, the numbers are what I read out was uh, approximately six months and it was from, um june Through december 2023. So this follows. Sorry, go ahead. These numbers from January to june 2023 or is this the first time that you're disclosing these numbers? This is um The the actual travel policy when it was announced you might remember followed the dobs decision Services had Around august to start implementing how they would track these policies But some were able to do it, you know earlier than that formal deadline So that's why this is approximately a snapshot between june and december 2023 of that reporting period Tara, I'm sorry. Wait. Hold on. Sorry. Did you have a follow-up? No, no It kind of clarifies it because it it seemed to have been like a six month seven month lag Right between information. Yeah, sorry So is it accurate to say that all of those holds by senator tuberville were basically over 12 uses of dods? Policy that's correct For six months and the policy included just uh, it's been a while since we talked about this It was the travel cost. So any sort of airfare or hotel or can you just what the it was to travel just out of um state So it was uh, if a service member Needed to travel from well, I gave that example like home station to another state to receive care and back It's just that travel portion. Okay. So but did you go cover hotel costs or anything like that or not to my knowledge It was yeah 40 000 is calculated. Uh, let me take that question just for any more specifics on on what that If there's like a further breakdown I can provide but uh, to my knowledge, it was just the actual transportation and travel And then just one more on clarity. Sure does not mean these were 12 abortions. This could have been someone getting IVF or That's right. So um, the policy, um, and I think I might have mentioned this at the top, but that's correct It does not necessarily mean that this was um, a service member using this travel transportation policy for um, an abortion This could have been um IVF treatment um egg retrieval Basically any type of non-covered reproductive health service that the department does not Does not cover and is not available in his or her state Uh, yes, one more question at the back and then happy to come back here One question on iraq. Do you have any discussion with the iraqi government about the past? us led global correlation Discussion or relationship because what we hear from the iraqi prime minister's office about his visit to the White house he said that we're going to the washington to talk about the post relations between us and iraq that the post us led correlation Is there a discussion on that? I don't have anything more for you. We are committed to um The hmc you've seen us continue to uh You know engage in those dialogues. I just don't have more for you at this time This hmc they are they are not discussing about the The past us led global correlation or they are just talking about the evolution of that mission for the white house Me and i directed you to the white house for more specifics on that about the hmc meetings. Is that talking about the evolution of that? ices mission Defeating ices mission or it's something about talking about the past Defeating ices. Yeah, again. I think we've been pretty clear. There are certain parameters that we uh that the hmc is Going to be used to address When those conversations started we read those out at the top Um from here at this podium one of those was you know our relationship with the iraqi government The security environment in iraq and of course, you know the partnership with um iraqi security forces again These conversations continue to be ongoing. We're committed to the hmc. I don't have more for you at this time I'm gonna move on. Yeah, liz The um healthcare travel policy that we talked about earlier. Yeah, um is a breakdown of what procedures were accessed Will that ever be released? No for the privacy of individuals. We're not going to provide um a and we don't ask for a breakdown of What that person needs it is how it is what this tracks is how many times that policy was used so it was just 12 times that um This travel transportation policy was used by service members and again a service member could use it multiple times Fadi yeah, and then I Secretary austin discussed today with the minister galant the shared goal of dismantling hamas battalions in rafa Does secretary austin think that this objective can be achieved without a major israeli operation in rafa? Yeah, thanks fadi. I think I answered your question earlier, but I'll I'll I'll try it again for you just just to reiterate um, I think the secretary and Has been pretty clear that we don't believe a ground Encouraging into rafa without taking into account the 1 million people that are there Or any type of operation into rafa that does not take into account the 1 million people that are there would be a mistake and I'll leave it at that but I'm not thinking about that part of i'm thinking from my question is about from The military perspective and based on the secretary's experience prior experience Does he think that israel can achieve the goal of dismantling hamas and rafa without actually conducting a major invasion? Well, we share the goal with israel that we want to see hamas dismantled I mean this is a terrorist organization that brutally killed, you know over a thousand people So we shouldn't certainly share that goal how that operation is conducted within rafa is something that we are going to continue to discuss with the israeli government That's what you saw the secretary discuss with minister galant today We shared our concerns. We have our concerns. Um, is there a way to do it? That's what we're having this conversation about. I don't have that answer for you right now But we certainly shared the the goal of dismantling in this terrorist organization But also protecting the over one million people that are there Laura and then I will end Yes, yes, is it accurate that israel has asked the us to approve additional f-15 and f-35 fighter planes? And and if so, is that something the us is considering doing? Yeah, so I don't have more specifics to read out from the meeting Um security assistance was discussed. That is something that we have committed to providing to israel But um on more specifics, and I think what you're referring to would also have to Falls under fms, which is what the state department would handle so I'd also direct you there for them to to talk more about that Last question over here. Um, sure about the valtymore bridge. There were some reports about potential cyber attack on the ship does the do the um Ruled that out or investigating I just don't have anything for you on that. Unfortunately. I've saw some of those reports, but I I can't confirm this All right. Thank you everyone