Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen will conduct a briefing at 1 p.m. EST on Monday, Feb. 1, in the Department of Defense (DoD) Briefing Room, Pentagon 2E973, to discuss President Barack Obama’s fiscal 2011 budget proposal to the Congress, as well as two defense reviews and a fiscal 2010 supplemental war funding request.                  

At 1:45 p.m., Under Secretary of Defense (Policy) Michele Flournoy will provide an overview briefing on the Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) and Ballistic Missile Defense Review (BMDR). At 2:30 p.m., Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller/CFO) Robert Hale will provide an overview briefing on the fiscal 2011 defense budget proposal and a fiscal 2010 supplemental war funding request. Vice Adm. Steve Stanley, director, force structure, resources and assessment, Joint Staff, will accompany both Flournoy and Hale. Following these overviews, representatives from the Department of the Army (3:15 p.m.), Department of the Navy (4 p.m.), Department of the Air Force (4:45 p.m.), and the Missile Defense Agency (5:30 p.m.) will conduct briefs and answer media questions.

Navy Adm. Mike Mullen drew quite the laughs at the expense of political elites here last night at the annual Alfred E. Smith Foundation dinner, but still managed acclaim for the nation’s military members.

“I accept this kind of invitation for, and only, on behalf of the 2.2 million men and women serving in uniform today,” the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said in his keynote address. “As we dine here tonight in comfort and fine company, more than 250,000 of them are deployed around the world, keeping peace and keeping watch over our freedom and our national interests.

“They are the finest military this or any nation has yet produced, and they are, after eight long years of war, still defending us magnificently.”

Mullen, the services’ senior officer and military advisor to the president and defense secretary, is in the forefront of the Afghanistan strategy debate. Despite increased violence there and waning American support for the war, he urged the gathering of business people, celebrity journalists and politicians to stand by their soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines and Coast Guardsmen.

“Please continue standing up for them,” the admiral said. “It is right that we do so. War is an ugly, messy, bloody business, and no one in uniform, no matter high or low in the chain of command, welcomes the task of waging it.”

The chairman, who has spent 41 years in uniform, reflected on his early years of service as a Vietnam War veteran. He said he never wants another servicemember to experience humility and disgrace when wearing their uniform.

“As a Vietnam vet, I have lived and served in a time when America walked away from her military, when wearing the uniform was the last thing you wanted to do in public,” he said. “No returning warrior should ever feel that scorn again.

“The men and women of your armed forces are the best we have ever had, and they believe in what they are doing for you,” he continued. “All I ask is that you continue to believe in them.”

While Mullen expressed much appreciation and gratitude for servicemembers, he also offered a bit of good-natured humor — a trademark of the annual dinner.

He poked fun at the similarities in his haircut and that of CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric, and at the confusion most people have when he tries to explain his role at the Pentagon.

“To be fair, the position of chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is often misunderstood and more than a little confusing,” Mullen said. “I am the nation’s most senior military officer, but I do not command any troops … and I am not responsible for any particular region of the world.”

Mullen went on to say that his job is simply to give advice to the nation’s leaders. “I make suggestions. I prod, and I poke. I advocate. I’m like a Fox News analyst,” he joked.

Roman Catholic Archbishop Timothy Dolan hosted the 64th annual dinner at Manhattan’s Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. It honors Smith, the former four-term New York governor and the first Catholic presidential candidate selected by a major party.

Smith was the Democratic candidate who lost the 1928 election to Herbert Hoover. Smith died in 1944, and the foundation was established the next year. The dinner has raised millions of dollars for children’s health care in New York.

Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said his visit today with his Polish counterpart, while “routine,” also was one of great importance to the U.S. military. 

“It’s a representation of the strength, commitment, and importance of the relationship to both countries,” Mullen said following a military honors ceremony welcoming him to Warsaw.

“This is a vital relationship that from my perspective should continue,” he said. “The Polish military has provided great capability and great results in Iraq and does so today in Afghanistan under the auspices of [the International Security Assistance Force.]”

The United States is very committed to its partnership with Poland and the modernization of that country’s military, Mullen said.

“We’ve had good initial discussions today, and throughout the day those discussions will continue to do exactly what General [Franciszek] Gagor spoke of, which is to deepen the relationship,” Mullen said. “Thank you for the partnership that is so strong. We look forward to it becoming stronger in the future.”

Mullen also praised the “young people” who fulfill the commitments Poland has made in places like Iraq and Afghanistan. “I’m always reminded … of the young people who make this possible, those who sacrifice and, in cases have … given their lives, to support what we share in common and what we believe in,” he said.

The chairman left here June 24 on a week-long trip that has already taken him to Russia where he spoke with his counterpart, Russian Gen. Nikolai Makarov. He spent today talking with Gagor before departing for his final stop in Germany where he and Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates will preside over the European Command’s change of command ceremony.

Army Gen. John Craddock will turn over EUCOM’s reigns to Navy Adm. James G. Stavridis at Husky Field on Patch Barracks tomorrow.

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said he was pleased with what he described as frank discussions with his Russian counterpart on regional and international security during his first visit to Moscow.

The talks come after the two countries’ recent efforts to repair their relations, which were strained by the Russia-Georgia war last year and NATO’s expansion eastward.

“I’m very encouraged by our meetings and also by our mutual commitment to continue to address these issues and to strengthen our military-to-military relationship,” Navy Adm. Mike Mullen said today. “We have many common challenges … whether it’s Afghanistan, or the challenges in missile defense, or Iran, or particularly for security in Europe.

“[I] can’t emphasize enough my belief that we need to work these very, very hard challenges to improve security, not just in Europe, but also globally so that the world can actually move forward in a more stable way,” he added.

Mullen’s counterpart, Russian Gen. Nikolai Makarov, stated after a 90-minute meeting that the two countries will sign a military cooperation agreement for this year and beyond, but Mullen offered no confirmation. He said only that he was looking forward to the outcome of the summit between President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in two weeks.

Obama is scheduled to travel to Moscow to discuss an agenda that includes U.S. plans to set up an anti-missile defense system in Europe.

Mullen, who left for Russia on June 24, will round out his weeklong trip with a stop in Poland for talks with his counterpart there. He’ll also stop in Stuttgart, Germany, where he and Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates will preside over the European Command’s change of command ceremony. Army Gen. John Craddock will turn over EUCOM’s reigns to Navy Adm. James G. Stavridis at Husky Field on Patch Barracks on June 30.

Source: Department of Defense