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    Deputy Secretary of Defense Bob Work spent Thanksgiving at AUAB with troops

    Deputy Secretary of Defense Bob Work spent Thanksgiving at AUAB with troops

    Photo By Tech. Sgt. Terrica Jones | Deputy Secretary of Defense Bob Work coined hundreds of service members at Al Udeid...... read more read more

    AL UDEID AIR BASE, QATAR

    11.28.2015

    Story by Tech. Sgt. Terrica Jones 

    379th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs

    AL UDEID AIR BASE, Qatar - Deputy Secretary of Defense Bob Work visited service members on Thanksgiving at Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar.

    Work showed off his carving skills Thanksgiving Day as he carved turkey and served turkey to members of the Armed Forces in the Blatchford-Preston Complex dining facility.

    After serving the dinner he dined and talked with 14 selected service members about their deployment.

    “My entire life has been around military men and women and extraordinary civilians supporting our military, and there is no one else I rather be around. As far as I am concerned, they represent the best of America,” said Work. “Every Thanksgiving I like to travel to tell them, look them in the eyes and thank them myself.”

    “I know it’s hard to be away for Thanksgiving, but what we are doing here is very important. I want to thank those at Al Udeid for the sacrifices they have made in the last 14 years and the sacrifices that their families are making. I need them to drive on, they’re doing a great job,” he said.

    During the visit Deputy Secretary Work coined military members for their service. Later, he also took a moment to answer questions about our partnership with the Qataris, Operations in Syria and having a strong and balanced strategy on Russia.

    “The United States is extremely grateful to the government of Qatar and the Qatar Emiri Air Force for hosting us here and I expect this partnership to remain strong and get stronger in the future. This platform really enables U.S. and coalition operations throughout the central command theatre, in Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan,” said Work.

    Deputy Secretary Work shared his thoughts on operations in Syria and how our current operations impact missions in Afghanistan and Iraq.

    “Previously we had a direct strategy where we used our own forces to try and solve problems in the region, which was enormously expensive and we spent 1.5 trillion dollars,” Work said. “Our strategy now is an indirect strategy where we are working with partners and whenever you have an indirect strategy it goes slower. First you have to find and vet your partners then you have to train and arm them,” he said.

    “An indirect strategy like the one we have now is slower but I would argue that it is the best. We are going to have to have local forces on the ground to take care of these local problems once we are able to destroy Da’ish,” said Work.

    “We have a very strong coalition, and we are doing more and more. There is still no intention for us to have large scale operations. We think this indirect strategy will work and what we are doing in Iraq and Syria is really not detracting at all from what we are doing in Afghanistan.”

    “The president has decided to keep 9,800 troops through the next fighting season and 5,500 troops beyond 2016 to allow the government of Afghanistan to get its feet under itself and to remain strong. So a lot of stuff is going on in the region and what we are doing here is important,” he said.

    Work also discussed the U.S. strong and balanced strategy for Russia.

    “We have a strategy, our President and Secretary Carter has called a strong and balanced strategy; strong in that we will continue to confront Russia when their aggression steps beyond international norms, but we want to maintain the opening to allow Russia to become a viable partner in the future. That is why we call it strong and balanced.”

    “We are not currently coordinating with Russia. The only thing we are doing right now is notifying each other when our aircraft and our missiles are flying through a particular air space,” said Work. “We hope that over time the Russians will recognize that they are supporting the wrong side and perhaps in the end try to and convince Assad to leave. Until that happens we will not coordinate with Russia,” he said.

    The Deputy Secretary of Defense ended by reiterating. “Thank you so much for what you are doing. On behalf of Secretary Carter and I, we could not be more proud of leading the finest fighting forces of the U.S.,” said The Deputy Secretary of Defense Bob Work.

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    NEWS INFO

    Date Taken: 11.28.2015
    Date Posted: 11.28.2015 01:43
    Story ID: 183019
    Location: AL UDEID AIR BASE, QA

    Web Views: 48
    Downloads: 0

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