Secretary of Defense Ash Carter will travel from Nov. 1-3 to New York, Missouri, Nebraska and Ohio for a trip that will highlight steps the Department of Defense is taking to ensure the future strength, readiness and technological edge of the men and women of the U.S. military. During the trip, he will take part in the change of command ceremony at U.S. Strategic Command.
On Nov. 1, the secretary begins his trip in New York City, where he will deliver a speech unveiling the next link to the Force of the Future at City College of New York. He will announce personnel and policy changes that will build on previous Force of the Future announcements he made last November, January and June. He will also deliver remarks at the reception for the Stand Up for Heroes event, a charity fundraiser for injured service members and their families.
The next day Secretary Carter will visit Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri, home of the U.S. Army Maneuver Support Center of Excellence and the U.S. Army’s Engineer School; Chemical, Biological and Nuclear School; and Military Police School. Fort Leonard Wood trains nearly 80,000 service members per year in critical battlefield skills, such as obstacle clearance and breaching, demolition, and mine detection. Secretary Carter will observe training and demonstrations, and will deliver remarks to service members. He will hold a media availability at the end of his visit.
On Nov. 3, Secretary Carter will deliver remarks at the change of command ceremony for U.S. Strategic Command, or STRATCOM, at Offut Air Force Base in Nebraska. He will thank Adm. Cecil Haney for his distinguished service, and welcome Air Force Gen. John Hyten as the incoming commander of this critical combatant command, responsible for the nation's strategic arsenal as well as its missile defense, space operations and global communications missions. The change of command ceremony is open press.
Later that day, Secretary Carter will conclude his trip with a visit to the Air Force Research Lab at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio. He will meet with military and civilian personnel conducting innovative research leading the discovery, development, and integration of affordable warfighting technologies for our air, space, and cyberspace force.
Additional media opportunities could be added to this trip. Press interested in covering any of these events locally can request contact information from OSD Press Operations at 703-697-5131 or
osd.pa.dutyofficer@mail.mil.