afternoon . Um As you
know we have a special guest briefer
today . General steve Lyons , Commander
of U . S . Transportation Command and
I'm going to turn it over to the
general in just a minute uh to update
you on the incredible effort that Trans
Transportation command uh and all their
suborn commands and and air crews are
expending on trying to get as many
people out of Afghanistan as possible .
So he'll have his uh he'll have a brief
set of comments and then we'll start
taking questions . But before I do that
I do want to give just an update on
Haiti . If you don't mind , life saving
aid and assistance continues arriving
as our Joint Task Force , Haiti under U .
S . Southern Command continues to move
people and equipment uh to ease the
suffering of the people of Haiti to
date . Joint Task Force Haiti has
conducted more than 200 missions saved
more than 300 people and delivered over
£88,000 of vital aid as Department of
Defense capabilities and U . S . Coast
Guard assets which are now underneath
the JTF . The joint task force continue
to rapidly respond uh by delivering aid
assistance where it's most needed . Um
Just to give you a sense , US
government assets are providing unique
air medical and logistical capabilities
under the G . D . F include 19
helicopters , both U . S . Military and
Coast Guard A U . S . Coast Guard C 1
30 an H . C 1 40 for two U . S . Navy p
eight maritime reconnaissance aircraft ,
the U . S . Naval ship Burlington which
is providing scan eagle so more eyes on
overhead ? Uh the USs billings
providing a refueling station afloat ?
The USs Arlington providing refuelling
and logistics and two U . S . Coast
Guard cutters , the Coast Guard cutters
Tampa and reliance . We are of course
working with allies and partners as
well in this whole of government effort
in support of us I . D . So there are
many nations like great Britain France ,
Netherlands contributions from
neighboring nations . Colombia ,
Dominican republic , chile Panama ,
Argentina . The Dominican republic .
I'm sorry I mentioned that one already ,
Costa rica , Mexico and spain . We know
there is much , much more work to do in
Haiti to help the Haitian people and
we're committed to being there into
doing that for as long as possible .
We're very proud of all the men and
women of the department that are
assisting in this effort uh and truly
making a difference on the ground . And
speaking of making a difference on the
ground and making a difference through
US military capabilities . I do want to
know , turn the microphone over to
General steve Lyons again Commander U .
S . Transportation Command . He'll have
some opening comments and then we'll
get the Q . And A . I will come back to
the podium and monitor the Q . And a .
Uh we have a limited amount of time
with the general obviously got a lot on
his plate today . So we'll try to keep
it moving And with that general sir ,
can you hear me ? And are you ready to
go john I got you . Can you hear me ok ?
Yes sir , loud and clear . It's the
floor is yours sir . Uh You sure ? I
am pleased to join you today as well as
the press to talk about Transcom
payroll in this monumental logistics
efforts of 40 noncombatant evacuation
operations . I just would say that from
the time Transcom received orders to
commence deployment , initial elements
were airborne in less than three hours .
These forces were critical to quickly
secure the Kabul International airfield
simultaneously . We commence support to
neo operations and continue around the
clock operations to ensure the safe
evacuation of american citizens , our
afghan friends and those cleared by the
State Department . I'm just reminded
that the United States is the only
nation capable of rapidly deploying
forces and providing non stop airlift
operations at this scale . I'd like to
specifically highlight the role of our
outstanding air component , the Air
Mobility Command led by General Jackie
Van overdosed Air mobility command
continues to operate the C seventeen's .
You senior news footage less visible
but equally important is their
Contingency Response group operating at
the Kabul airport and a multitude of
other forces providing en route support .
This incredibly dedicated team of air
force professionals is the best in the
world . I did have the opportunity this
week to speak with the crew callsign
reached 871 the C17 flight that carried
the 823 Afghans from Kabul to safety .
The iconic photo of hundreds of Afghans
on the floor of the C17 illustrates the
desperation , fear and uncertainty of
the afghan people but also the life
saving capability and compassion of our
military members . These herculean
efforts underscore the United States
commitment to our afghan allies and
provide them an opportunity for a new
beginning , a safer life and a better
future . To be clear . This is a global
effort . I want to thank our many ,
many coalition partners . We could not
be successful without the more than two
dozen like minded nations that expand
our global logistics network by
providing important access and transit
centers . And finally I want to
acknowledge and thank our industry
partners who routinely provide airlift
and supported defense needs Many of you
reported on the secretary's decision to
activate stage one of the Civil Reserve
Air fleet and we greatly appreciate the
teamwork and contributions of our
commercial aviation partners . Let me
just close by saying that for me , like
all of our veterans who served in
Afghanistan , this mission is very
personal . I assure you that we will
not rest until the military is complete .
The mission is complete and we have
evacuated americans who are seeking to
be evacuated as many afghan partners as
humanly possible . I could not be more
proud of the Transcom team . Our
relationship with the U . S . Central
Command and our contribution to this
vitally important effort and john will
be happy to take any questions the
press may have . Thank you . Thank you
general . We'll start with the bob
Burns associated Press thank you
general . This bob burns with a P .
Thank you very much couple of questions
currently . What is what is your
maximum capacity for airlifting out of
Kabul airport ? In terms of the number
of people you can get out in a single
day based on the aircraft and crews and
so forth that you have available to you
as of today . And the second question
is regarding fuel . I'm wondering if
you could describe how are you managing
to keep sufficient fuel on hand at the
airport given the limitations of that
facility ? Thanks . Mhm . Yeah bob .
Thanks for the questions . Let me take
fuel first . Uh We do manage fuel and
uh we are we we intentionally do not
take fuel on on the ground . So we we
make sure we have enough fuel to go in
and go out without taking fuel on . So
we don't stress the logistic posture
there and and if the legs are longer
coming out uh well area , you know ,
will provide area refuel and route uh
if necessary . We had The last
24 hours as you saw on the news more
than 10,000 , well more than 10,000
evacuees moved . I'm very very
confident that will will sustain that
effort and improve that effort . To be
honest with you . My commitment is to
ensure that airlift is never the
constraint in this operation and and as
you know and appreciate and I've seen
your reporting ? I mean airlift is
extremely important but critical to the
throughput is also ground operation and
we're trying to synchronize that as we
go . But we are we are clearly razor
focused on clearing the Kabul
International Airport of every
evacuated that can move dark . Thank
you for doing Mr Lyons . Could you talk
a little bit about the threat that your
aircraft are facing as they fly into
and fly out of Kabul ? We've seen a
french cargo plane have to shoot out
flares as it was taking off . What are
your crews preparing for ? And can you
put this in context of other threat
environments that your cargo aircraft
had to fly into over the last couple
years ? Yeah , thank you . I mean , the
threat is significant as as you know ,
I won't get into details were closely
aligned to centcom and other agencies
on threat reporting a potential threat
to airlift operations . I would just
say as we watch that , you know , our
our crews are the best in the world Uh
that that machine , the C- 17 is the
best in the world . And and and I'm
confident that we're taking the right
measures to mitigate the threat and
we're connected to the right sources
and taking the right kind of measures
and I'll probably leave it at that uh
for reasons for good reasons . Uh huh
ground operations . We were discussing
earlier today , the briefing about just
the one hour on the ground quick
rotation . Can you talk about how
you're managing that , How the planes
and the crews are managing that ? Yeah ,
it's uh it's quite remarkable . Um you
know , we've got a number of planes in
the system but we have twice as many
crews and the idea is to keep those
planes moving all the time . Either by
extending the crew day or preferably by
swapping cruise and keeping the iron in
motion . And so there's a very uh , you
know , it's a very tight detailed
management system to do that . Critical
to that of course , is what you
mentioned , which is ground time . The
faster we can turn either loaded or
discharged , the faster we can turn
that aircraft and we're razor focused
on bringing down and I really
appreciate the work ongoing and in
Afghanistan to bring down the time on
ground to under an hour
nancy . Can you give us a sense how you
foresee the mission ? Um changing as
the US draws down the number of ground
forces in Afghanistan in the final days
of the month and what the mission will
look like if there is one post august
31st . Yeah , I mean every day we take
as the day comes um we are we are
razor focused on Neo . We know and are
linked very closely with central
command on potential operations to
close out the mission by the 31st .
That was the direction given by the
president . We're committed to do that .
And my commitment is to ensure that
airlift is never the constraint to
execute those operations and were well
sync with with Central Command have a
great relationship , great teamwork .
And so I think we're we we we are we
are we are pushing the limits uh to do
everything we can to get every single
evacuate out of Kabul . Do
you foresee fewer flights in the , say
the 28 , 29 , 30 31st of the month as
there are fewer ground forces
presumably in Kabul ?
Well , I prefer not to get into numbers
of flights by day . I would not say
that uh , we're gonna let up , we're
not gonna let up uh , you know , full
accelerator . We're not gonna let up as
long as there's a mission to be
accomplished . Uh , we'll be out there .
I forgot to ask you to introduce
yourself because the general can't see
you . So Courtney . Okay . General
Lines , this is Courtney QB Calling ,
calling this Courtney QB from NBC News ,
you said that you're pushing the limits .
Um , can you just explain a little bit
more what you mean by that when you say
you're pushing the limits to get as
many people out and then are you able
to kind of give us like a big picture .
Look at how many um , C . 17 and C .
One thirties out of the total Air Force
fleet are dedicated to this mission
right now out of the entire U . S .
Military fleet . Well it's ,
you know , it's all mobility resources
are focused on this , on this effort .
Uh There's a number of ways I could cut
the numbers that might not be helpful
to you to be honest . Um You know right
now the air component has uh uh well
over 200 aircraft committed operations .
Some some of these are even Casey tens
are committed to the operation in some
way or some fashion . So when I say ,
when I say we're all in uh I mean to to
present to meet the President and
secretary is directive to ensure that
every evacuee that is cleared and
cleared to move can move and uh and and
our crews are absolutely incredible . I
won't lie to you . They're tired . Uh
They're probably exhausted in some
cases . I know that the leaders from
time to time are pulling crews out to
make sure we don't have safety issues .
But they are motivated . They are fired
up and they are committed to complete
this mission . One more about any
covid mitigation efforts that you're
taking ? Are you doing anything to
ensure that your crews are safe from
covid ? And can you give us a little
bit of the detail of what that that is
that looks like ? Well all the it's a
great question . You know , we
shouldn't forget that we're doing this
operation in the middle of a pandemic .
So all the crews are obviously masking .
Uh , but , but the afghans that are ,
that are , you know , on the aircraft
are not masked . So that's one of
mitigation . There is some , uh , some
screening that occurs before they load .
And then as we reach the temporary safe
havens , these other hubs and lily pads ,
uh , there are , there are resources
being applied to further test the
evacuees upon arrival to these various
temporary safe havens . Are you all of
your cruise vaccinated or are they
getting tested periodically to ensure
that they're safe ? You know , the vast
majority are certainly tested . I can't
say conclusively that they all are .
Although great news today from the ,
from the FDA . So pretty soon they'll
be vaccinated jennifer General Lyon ,
Jennifer Griffin from Fox News . Can
you talk a little bit more about some
of the constraints you faced and how
you resolve them ? And also in the last
24 hours you've gotten 18,000 or 11,000
passengers out of Kabul clearing the
backlog ? Are you concerned that there
are not enough people cleared through
into the airport that you may have to
take off with empty planes . Is there
any sign that you're having to take off
because that quick turnaround with
empty planes . Great question . Uh ,
not , not at this time . And uh , you
know , I'm in , we're in contact with
centcom constantly . I talked to john
McKenzie on a continuous basis . So
we're sync up . And the idea is we
never want to leave Kabul Airport on an
empty plane or even a partially full
plane if we can avoid it . So we are ,
we are not doing that . As a matter of
fact , we're filling the aircraft Uh ,
to about 400 , uh , passengers
in the floor load configuration . I
just say to the , to the , to your
first question . It's an excellent
question . You know , any , any time
that we move this fast in an operation ,
there's going to be fog and friction .
And it's , you know , it's , it's
trying to achieve equilibrium in a very
large network of not just airplanes ,
but ground operations and multiple uh ,
nodes throughout the network . And so
there's a , you know , initially it's ,
it's moving quick . You're trying to
grow capacity or they're moving as fast
as you can . Sometimes you get ahead of
yourself and then it's trying to
equalize out and making sure you got a
critical path open . But again , right
now we'll sacrifice the back end of the
uh , of all of all the architecture in
the notes to make sure that we're clear
in Kabul International and that's what
we're doing . Now , I need to go to the
phones . You haven't done that yet .
Stephen Lucey Hi , yes , thanks very
much . Uh , so there are the reports
about the some of the threats that ISIS
is made and I know you're not to speak
about a specific threat environment ,
but can you talk to us a little bit
more about how the military is
communicated with the taliban regarding
these threats ? Are you telling the
taliban it's their responsibility to
keep ISIS away from the airport . And
what happens if ISIS decided to
embarrass the taliban by launching
terrorist attacks on the perimeter or
the civilians trying to get into the
airport steven ? I'll take that .
That's that's more appropriate for me .
I think then for General Lions . Um as
we've talked about many times over the
last several days , we are in uh daily
communication with taliban leaders
outside the airport , sometimes
multiple times a day , uh , to again
deconflict as best as we can and
to help ensure healthy access to the
airfield for american citizens in
particular . Uh and that that
communication continues to happen . We
are also mindful of the threat that
ISIS poses . And without speaking for
the taliban . And I think it's a safe
assumption to assume that that they too
are mindful of that threat . I won't
begin to hypothesize uh
what could or could not happen . And I
think you can understand that at the
podium , we wouldn't get into specific
intelligence streams or what we're
watching . Nobody wants to see um
anybody else hurt . And and certainly
nobody wants to see anything that could
impact our ability to continue to
conduct this evacuation operation . All
I would tell you is we're focused on
this every single day , hour by hour .
We're monitoring the threat environment
very very carefully . Um And as I said
the communication with the taliban
continues so . Uh huh . Thank you .
This is Lauren Seligman with politico .
First of all . Can you tell us the
total estimated cost of the evacuation ?
And then also can you explain the
discrepancy between the state and D . O .
D . Numbers on the number of people
evacuated state is saying 25,000 since
the operation began . But Major General
taylor earlier today I believe you said
37,000 . So what is that discrepancy
the numbers question I mean I can't
speak for I don't know uh I don't know
where the the other number came from
but um but I think we're all in the
inter agency were all tracking these
numbers . The numbers that we put out
this morning . You I think you saw the
the White House actually put those
numbers out before we did so that
37,000 since the 14th is is what we're
counting on . Um And I'll turn it over
to the general on your first question
but it's whatever the costs are gonna
be laura are bigger than just the
airlift . Um And I can tell you that we
don't have an estimate right now . Our
focus and the focus of the entire inter
agency is to get as many people out as
fast as we can and as safely as we can .
Um And we're not uh letting cost
drive the factor here cost drive the
operation . Uh The operation is driving
the operation and the need to do this
in a very urgent and orderly way . But
I'll turn it over to the general if he
has any more data for you in terms of
the cost from his perspective . Yeah I
I couldn't have said it any better than
Mr Kirby just said it . I mean we're
aware and we're tracking costs but
we're nowhere close to accumulating uh
that that data for public dissemination .
And I'm sure laura that when when all
is said and done . I mean uh at the
appropriate time will certainly be able
to provide an overall sense of what the
cost is . I just would add that the
real costs that were Focused on now is
human life . That's the cost that we're
focused on . Just follow up during
Lions . Are you concerned about the
Taliban's ultimatum that they issued if
the US has to stay past August 31 to
complete the evacuation and what is the
plan to protect our forces and the
evacuees in that case ? Well , again ,
as I said , you know , we watched the
all risks and threats very closely
and you know , I I would defer to us ,
Central command on most of the parts of
those questions were in direct contact
with them regularly continuously . And
then uh we you know , we have our own
processes and defensive measures and
techniques , tactics and procedures to
to take uh you know , to protect our
crews and to protect our aircraft going
in and out . We got time for two more .
I'm gonna go to Sylvia and then Therese
go ahead Sylvie . Um you know , General
Sylvie , long term from a F . P . Can
you speak to us about the cooperation
with the Turkish forces at the airport ?
Uh What kind of relationship do you
have with them ?
Yeah , I would defer to us Central
Command for that question . Um I would
not be able to characterize the
relationship on the ground . I know
there is a relationship but I would not
be able to characterize that for you .
So if you remember the Turks are on the
ground , really more of a security
perspective . And so it is really more
of a central command relationship that
they're that they're managing with the
Turks every day . The Turks are still
there . And of course , you know , at
what scale that were there to race . Uh
Thank you john , I'm curious Garnier
with newsy um General Lions are medics
being provided for each flight . I know
there's a concern about capacity
because you're trying to get as many
people on . But our medics being
provided . And the reason why I ask
that is because there are reports that
a woman had a baby during one of the
flights . And so do you have medics
that will be on board that will be able
to handle any sort of emergency
situations that may come up if someone
has a baby or you know , falls and gets
sick or something in that instance .
Yeah , that's a great question . We do
not have medics on every flight . Uh
There is a medical screen as part of
the screening and boarding process and
but I'll confess to you that many
people would have to self identify any
kind of medical issue . Uh Really
exciting . I mean , I really appreciate
the news reporting on the baby being
born as that flight came into Ramstein .
Matter of fact , uh There's actually
been more than that . So it's just uh
just an incredible incredible operation
ongoing . Uh You know , just just
impressive work by our great airman .
Alright , Chicago . Yeah , I'm sorry .
What did you mean ?
More than one baby ?
Yeah . My my my my well my last data
point was three . I don't have a formal
tracker but those were , you know , so
we'll keep you posted . All right sir .
All right , we'll follow we'll follow
up and try to get you information on
the other to listen . We gotta let the
general we have to let the general get
supplies at General Lions . We've
had heard some concerns that there
wasn't enough food or water for all the
evacuees at the airport . Could you
just talk about the efforts to fly in ?
More sanitation , More cameras . More
water for those that are trying to flee
cobble . Sure . Uh Well you see all
those aircraft going in there and we
never want to send an aircraft empty if
we can't if we don't have to . So uh
centcom is managing that . We've got
plenty of capacity going in there and
there and there is sustainment on those
flights coming in that we're taking
evacuees out . So uh you know , centcom
is addressing that issue . Thank you
general . We're gonna let you go unless
you have any closing thoughts .
Anything that you might want to just
hit at the end here . Well john I just
again thanks for being part of this
today . But I you know again how proud
I am of our mobility airmen just
operating around the globe . It's just
impressive to see . And uh you know
everybody is just in this all
in uh rowing as hard as we can and
we're going to make this happen . I'm
absolutely confident that . Thank you
general . Thanks for your time today .
Thanks everybody . We'll see you back
here mid morning tomorrow . Thanks very
much . I
don't know I please and asking
sure you want , yeah ,
could be evacuated from Kabul
after the U . S . Military leave the
airport . So who would be uh
secure who would secure the apart the
Turks ? How would it work ? I don't
know . So my point was simply that
that it's certainly
possible that the airport would
maintain operations going forward . I
mean that would be for local
authorities to figure out but that um
but it is certainly possible that
commercial traffic and charter traffic
can still flow once the U . S .
Military mission is over . I couldn't
speak to that with you know with great
specificity because that would be
beyond what we're doing . But I just
was making the point that just by
virtue of the United States military
leaving doesn't mean that everybody
else is going to leave and not and not
continue to fly aircraft out of there .
That's all that's all that's all I was
saying . So it means that you would
count on the taliban to accept that
people would live . It's not us
counting on the taliban sylvie . Uh We
have a mandate to continue to conduct
this evacuation until the end of the
month . You heard the general we're
focused on that . Uh that's the goal
we're shooting for . Uh Beyond that
when there's no U . S . Military
mission there , it's I'm not I'm not
able to speculate or hypothesize of
what that would look like . I'm just ,
all I was saying to Courtney's earlier
question was it's possible that other
carriers and other aircraft would be
able to take off and land out of Hamid
Karzai international airport ,
recording the incident outside the
North gate . The at the airport . We've
heard reports that actually american
gunfire caused the injuries of the
afghans . Can you confirm that I
cannot uh I've seen similar reports . I
think it's really important wafa that
we uh that we let the that we let the
people on the ground uh get their best
estimate an idea of what happened and
that we don't try to do the forensics
here at the pentagon um fluid situation ,
dynamic situation , serious threat
environment . Our troops have the right
to defend themselves . They believe
they were under threat and they reacted
accordingly . I don't want to get into
a second guessing that right now and
certainly in such a short span of time
after the event . And those ones that
were civilians or armed do you have it
is my understanding and I caveat this
with all reports coming out originally
usually are not always completely
accurate but it's my understanding that
the wounds were sustained by other
afghan forces . When you said one
member of the Afghan forces was killed
during this incident . How did you
identify that he was like the
commanders on the ground ? He in
uniform ? How you can you couldn't tell
if he's Taliban or ? Well if I don't
know what what clothes he was wearing .
Our commanders on the ground reported
that it was a member of the Afghan
forces who was killed in action . We
have no reason to doubt that . Report
anything else . Laura . Yeah . Just you
mentioned earlier today , I can't
remember if it was your general taylor
that there was a second rotary airlift
evacuation mission out of Kabul . Can
you talk a little bit about what U . S .
S . Is the threat to these missions and
these aircraft from ISIS K . From the
Taliban . Um Are there issues with RPGS ?
How do you make sure that these , Yeah ,
I think you can understand , I want to
be a little careful here laura , I
would just say that commanders on the
ground have the authority to conduct
local missions as they deem appropriate
to the need and we charge them with
assessing the risk with anything that
they're doing . Um And the secretary
trusts that they understand what the
risks are and are appropriately
factoring in whatever the risk
environment is before they actually
before they do anything . So while I
can't speak and won't speak to a
specific threat streams around the
airport . I can tell you that our
commanders are factoring in all all
manner of potential risk before they
conduct any operation , Jake Sullivan
earlier and talked about the threat
from ISIS K . To the airport . Is there
a threat from ISIS K . To these
operations as well ? I won't speak to
specifics of the threat but uh we know
that ISIS uh is uh is certainly in
Afghanistan . Um And uh and we're
mindful of the potential threat that
they compose to security at the airport
and to the safe movement of of people
or has the US paid the taliban for the
freedom of movement or transport of any
U . S . Citizens ? Yeah . Has there
been any financial consideration to pay
to the Taliban ? Over that I'm aware of ?
Okay , you bet . Thanks guys .