SECRETARY OF DEFENSE ASH CARTER: Good afternoon, everyone.
Listen, first of all, allow me to thank my hosts here. I don't know where the admiral is. And Mary, thank you so much.
The -- I had a really terrific day here seeing some of the amazing work they're doing here at -- in Newport. And the reason for my being here and the reason I was so impressed is that the undersea domain is one where the United States enjoys clear dominance in the world, over any other competitor -- one of a number of fields in which the United States does.
And of course, we -- we retain overall dominance in every field because we have the finest fighting force the world has ever known.
But that is -- that is something that we need to retain in a competitive world, a world where there are countries who intend to be military competitors with us; those who are themselves trying to change and compete and catch up. And we need to make sure that they never catch up.
And especially in this domain. We count upon this very installation in this town to keep us on the forefront, and that's exactly what they're doing. So they're taking the -- today's undersea dominance and projecting it into the future in a number of different ways, some of which I can mention; some of which I cannot.
But just to tell you a few that I can, you saw the variety of unmanned vehicles, both sub-surface, on the surface, and above the surface. But it's also connecting those things together. So it used to be that undersea warfare was a domain unto itself. Now, the Navy is connecting it to the rest of the Navy, the surface Navy, and to the land and air forces, which is very important, creating an integrated domain to include, by the way, the sea bed as well as the sea itself.
And that's very impressive. They have a wonderful culture here in which they are encouraging people to be innovative. They're encouraging young people to join. You know that's another priority of mine for our armed forces, that our Department of Defense all together, both uniformed and civilian, and that is to continue to recruit the very best in a competitive landscape, particularly for technical talent like the young people here.
And secondly, to retain the wonderful experienced workforce there is here. So they have the best of both the brand new recruits, including some right out of school that were doing such impressive projects, right up to people who have been here for years and have very great technical depth and also tremendous knowledge of the Navy and the art of warfare.
Seeing those two generations working together is inspiring. And I commend the director and the whole staff here for creating an environment in which people can feel like they're being very innovative. And that is also a priority of mine is to make the Department of Defense as a whole more agile, more creative, more open to new ideas.
This is a place that looks out on the world, sees what is happening out there in industry. Many of the products with which they're experimenting, they're applying to naval programs that in fact began in the commercial world. That's a reality of today's world, that commercial and in fact global technology base is a rich source of technology for us in the Department of Defense.
We don't have to grow our own, although in some fields we do because nobody's quite doing what we're doing. But in many fields, we can borrow the best of the commercial sector and they know how to do both here.
So, it's very impressive. And strategically, this is central to the United States. This is coming week I’ll. My emphasis will be Navy, the Navy. I'll be giving the commencement address at the Naval Academy on Friday. One of the reasons why I wanted to come here first. And then I'll be off to the Asia-Pacific region for a meeting at Asia-Pacific security leaders next week.
So, it's very timely for me to get brought up to speed, which I was done by the -- was done for me by the excellent staff of researchers here, so thanks very much. And I thank the local community for the support they give to this facility too. We're very grateful for it.
STAFF: Okay. Time for a couple of quick questions. Go ahead and we'll go like this.
Q: Mr. Secretary, what's the likelihood of a BRAC process in the near future?
SEC. CARTER: Oh, I hope the likelihood overall of a BRAC process is very high, because we need one. Not for places like this, if I'm just to be blunt about it. But there are places in the department and especially in other services by the way, where we do have excess infrastructure.
And the stream-lining of that is constrained by law. And it is important that the Congress give us the authority to do the most efficient thing. Because every dollar we spend in an unproductive way is a dollar that can be spent at this laboratory, improving war-fighter capability or spent somewhere else in the Department of Defense.
So the -- we ask the taxpayer for a lot of money, but it -- the amount of money that we think we need. But we also know that they expect us to use it well. And therefore, to be efficient we need Congress' help in that regard. So, we need the authority to be able to streamline so that places like this can have the resources they need to do what they do.
June?
Q: Secretary?
STAFF: Sorry, we'll get to you.
SEC. CARTER: Hi, June.
Q: Carter, hi. Can I ask you about Afghanistan?
SEC. CARTER: Sure.
Q: The Taliban have chosen a more hard-lined figure as their new leader. Can you talk about what is this and what does this mean for peace talks? And how do you read the process of that and then, between the Taliban and the Afghan government and then also, what does it mean for the planned withdrawal of U.S. troops?
SEC. CARTER: Well, we'll have to see what new Taliban leadership concludes. Obviously, the conclusion that they should draw is that they can not win. That the Afghan Security Forces, aided by us, are going to be stronger than them and are going to be able to defend the state of Afghanistan and the Government of National Unity there and therefore, that there -- the alternative to coming across and making peace with the government is their certain defeat on the battlefield.
That's the environment in which we intend to put them in. And it's from that posture, if it's possible at all, that a sensible leader of the Taliban would conclude that they can't succeed by arms alone. We'll see whether this individual makes that conclusion or not. Obviously, his predecessor didn't draw that conclusion.
And the only thing I'd say about our plans in the future is this. You said that -- to -- I forgot what your expression was, but just to be clear, our plan in Afghanistan -- yes, it is to reduce the overall foot print of U.S. forces there, but we're going to be there for a long time. And in the most important way, which is the support of the Afghan Security Forces.
We have the funding, which we're going to continue to give them, the NATO allies have indicated that they would continue to fund the Afghan Security Forces and that's the most critical thing. And then, of course, we'll be in there for the purposes of supporting the Afghan security forces and also our counterterrorism mission. And that's not going away next year. I know you know that, but just to make it clear.
STAFF: Okay. Go here, and then maybe one more.
Q: Mr. Secretary, I read something interesting about the Marines considering dropping the word "man" from occupational titles. And I'm just curious whether you see either a benefit or a need to do that throughout the military?
SEC. CARTER: Well, it's a very good question. And, you know, of course one wants to signify a reality, which is a very favorable reality for us in defense, of the modern era, which is that we're making full use of the wonderful talents of half of the population of the country.
And it would be a huge mistake not to do so. And that's why I wanted to see all military operational specialties opened to qualified females. That doesn't mean that they'll get in and it doesn't mean that they'll choose to do it. But it does mean that I have the opportunity to pick from the entire population of the country. And since it's an all-volunteer force, I would be -- wouldn't be fulfilling the needs of having the best force if I weren't fishing in the widest possible pond.
So that's the logic behind the position of women in our Department of Defense in today's world. And signifying that in all appropriate ways is I think exactly that -- very appropriate and needed. I don't off-hand have a good alternative -- (inaudible) -- for unmanned. We have all these programs that begin with "U." And I guess you can have a tech challenge for somebody who comes up with a word that begins with "U," which is -- which -- which doesn't specify whether it's a man or woman, but makes sure -- but specifies that homo sapiens isn't driving the thing. (Laughter.)
But somebody here smarter than I is going to be able to figure that out, and that would be -- that would be appropriate. But the larger meaning is really clear. We're very clear in the department that having access to and making use of all of the talent of this country is an imperative for our -- our national security and we're dead serious about doing it.
STAFF: Last one over here. I want to get to as many as I can.
Q: Mr. Secretary, you've seen a lot of different things today, from ferries to drones, unmanned boats.
SEC. CARTER: Whiskers -- don't forget the whiskers.
Q: Whiskers -- SEAL whiskers. Setting aside the common thread that you obviously are having a lot of fun (laughter), is there a common thread --
SEC. CARTER: It's true.
Q: -- or a sort of a particular project that you've seen today that leaps out, that connects to your wider objectives of, (A), innovation, and (B), this offset strategy with its sort of grand themes of keeping that competitive edge you talk about?
SEC. CARTER: Well, I'll take -- you're asking two things there. What -- one of the things that's very inspiring to me and that cut through all of the projects I've seen is the fact that the Navy here at this facility is doing what we all need to be doing everywhere in the department, which is speeding up the pace at which ideas get into the fleet.
So the essence of what is being done here is to try to go from having an idea to something that can be fielded. Many of the things that they're doing here, even if fielded in very small numbers, not in tens or hundreds or big industrial builds, but in small numbers can make a decisive difference.
So you can go from the laboratory to the field. You see all that again and again. That's across all the -- all the projects here, and it's an innovative method that's critical. Because to be competitive, you have to be fast and you have to be agile.
And strategically, I'll just call that one thing, which is important, and that is connecting the undersea domain in which we have this tremendous superiority to the surface and air domains, where the challenges are in some ways greater.
So for example, our undersea fleet operates from a situation of covertness and invulnerability that our surface fleet and our air fleet don't enjoy. how can we use that to good advantage for their purposes? So what used to be, I think, if I were to have come here 10 years or so ago, would've been an exclusive focus on the undersea domain is now growing a much larger undersea contribution to multi-domain warfare.
That's something new. That's something that's a strategic idea that's part of what we're trying to do; to use technology to make the whole greater than the sum of the parts of our already substantial investment in our military, give surprising new capabilities to old platforms or at least platforms that have been with us for a long time. That's what our Strategic Capabilities Office does.
And so that is strategically just one -- and there are other things that are going on here, but if you asked for one sort of technical theme, that would be the technical theme that I -- I -- I would say one of many that really jumped out at me and one of the reasons why I'm so glad to be here today.
So both the innovative style and the strategic content of what is being done here are both very significant for the department.
Q: And the fun was a byproduct?
SEC. CARTER: And the fun -- yes. I -- I -- I shouldered the hateful burden of leadership and came and looked at technology today.
(Laughter.)
It was difficult, but it was -- I needed to do it.
STAFF: Thanks, everybody. Appreciate it.
SEC. CARTER: Loved it, loved every minute of it.
Thank you all. All the folks who work here, so proud of you. Absolutely superb. And Mary? Well done.