Pentagon Press Secretary Sean Parnell held his first press briefing on Monday.
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NewsTranscript
00:00All right, so thank you, everybody.
00:03Good afternoon.
00:04I hope everybody had a really great weekend.
00:07I wanted to say welcome to the new
00:10Pentagon Press Briefing Room.
00:12In line with the Secretary's vision
00:14to make this the most transparent
00:16Department of Defense in history,
00:18I gave you my personal commitment
00:21to make these briefings more routine.
00:22So today is the first of many,
00:25and considering the significant
00:28U.S. military operations as directed
00:30by the President this weekend,
00:32now seemed as appropriate time as any
00:34to fulfill that obligation to all of you.
00:37Additionally, I'm glad to be joined
00:38by Lieutenant General Alex Grinkevich,
00:41affectionately known as Grinch.
00:43Now, despite his call sign,
00:47he's actually a very pleasant and delightful human being,
00:49and we're glad to have him here at this podium.
00:51He's the Director of Operations of the Joint Staff.
00:54He's gonna be able to provide a much richer context
00:57in the ongoing series of U.S. military operations
00:59against the Iranian-backed Houthi terrorists in Yemen.
01:01So thank you for joining me, General.
01:03Thank you, sir.
01:05As many of you all know,
01:05we had an election back in November,
01:07and as a result of that election,
01:09an overwhelming mandate from the American people,
01:13there's a new President in the White House,
01:15and that, of course, is our President,
01:16President Donald Trump,
01:18who has immediately gotten to work
01:19on his America First agenda for the Department of Defense.
01:23Among those are four top-line points
01:26that I think are very important
01:27for those in this room to understand.
01:28Those are protecting the U.S. homeland,
01:32deterring China, and maintaining the ability
01:35to strike America's enemies anywhere in the world,
01:39and then also asking our allies to do more.
01:44We all know that this is a tall task, to be sure,
01:48so President Trump knew he needed a certain type of leader
01:50to bring the Department into the 21st century,
01:54and he found that leader in now-Secretary Pete Hegseth.
01:58So in less than two months,
02:00Secretary Hegseth has taken monumental steps
02:04to return the Department of Defense to its core mission,
02:08which is warfighting, lethality, meritocracy.
02:11In a very, very short amount of time,
02:14Secretary Hegseth has restored the warrior ethos.
02:17He's declared DEI dead at the DOD.
02:21He's made the sovereignty of our borders
02:23a matter of national security,
02:25and we are refocused on training, fitness,
02:29and high standards across the board
02:31here in the Department of Defense.
02:33So before we get into our updates today,
02:39I just wanted to take this opportunity to say
02:43that this Department of Defense is committed
02:47to achieving our mission of maintaining
02:50the greatest fighting force the world
02:53has ever known and returning the Department of Defense
02:57back to the American warfighter
03:00and making it more transparent to the American taxpayer.
03:04So starting out, as I'm sure you've all seen
03:07over the weekend, U.S. Central Command Forces
03:10initiated a series of operations
03:13consisting of precision strikes
03:14against Iran-backed Houthi targets across Yemen
03:18to restore freedom of navigation
03:21and reestablish American deterrence.
03:25For years, the Houthis have targeted
03:27U.S. military ships and aircraft.
03:30They've hit commercial ships as well,
03:32including U.S. flagged vessels,
03:35and they threaten our personnel overseas.
03:38Houthi terrorists have launched missiles,
03:41one-way attack drones at U.S. warships
03:43over 170 times and at commercial vessels
03:47145 times since 2003.
03:52I know what it's like to be in a situation
03:57when you're under fire by the enemy,
04:00your life is at risk, the life of your friends
04:03and your battle buddies is at risk,
04:05and you're prohibited from returning fire.
04:09That's a hellish situation that I wouldn't wish
04:11on my worst adversary.
04:13It's a tough position that we put
04:15America's sons and daughters in.
04:18Under President Trump and Secretary Hegseth's leadership,
04:21we will defend our sons and daughters.
04:23If you shoot at American troops,
04:26there will be consequences.
04:29As President Trump and Secretary Hegseth have made clear,
04:32these actions by the Houthis will not be tolerated.
04:37In his first two days back at the White House,
04:39President Trump signed an order laying out a process
04:42to redesignate the Houthis
04:44as a foreign terrorist organization.
04:46After the previous administration revoked their designation
04:49within weeks of taking office.
04:52Under the previous administration,
04:54America's enemies were emboldened
04:57and billions in frozen funds were unlocked for Iran.
05:00With President Trump and Secretary Hegseth's leadership,
05:03an era of peace through strength is back.
05:07We will use overwhelming lethal force
05:10until we have achieved our objective.
05:13With that said, and this is a very important point,
05:18this is also not an endless offensive.
05:23This is not about regime change in the Middle East.
05:28This is about putting American interests first.
05:32As I said over the weekend,
05:34there is a very clear end state to this operation.
05:40And that begins the moment that the Houthis pledged
05:43to stop attacking our ships
05:46and putting American lives at risk.
05:49Shifting focus to Africa,
05:51at the request of the federal government of Somalia,
05:54U.S. Africa Command Forces
05:56conducted collective self-defense airstrikes
05:58against al-Shabaab on March 15th.
06:01The airstrikes occurred about 150 kilometers northeast
06:06of Mogadishu, Somalia,
06:07and AFRICOM's initial assessment
06:10is that enemy combatants were killed
06:12and that no civilians were injured or killed.
06:16And so U.S. forces will continue to partner
06:18with Somali armed forces
06:20to take the fight to these terrorists
06:22and degrade their ability to plan and conduct attacks
06:26that threaten the U.S. homeland,
06:28our forces, and civilians abroad.
06:31Now on to homeland defense.
06:34President Trump and Secretary Hegseth
06:37have been very, very clear
06:38that border security is national security.
06:41We spent decades defending foreign nations' borders
06:45while our own U.S. border has been invaded
06:48by criminal illegal aliens,
06:50human smugglers, drug traffickers,
06:52and transnational gangs.
06:55The Department of Defense is proud to defend our homeland
07:00and the territorial sovereignty of the United States.
07:03Although we've seen a 93% decrease
07:07in illegal border crossings,
07:08we will not stop until we have 100% operational control
07:14of our southern border.
07:16And over the weekend, Joint Task Force Southern Border
07:19assumed the mission from Joint Task Force North
07:22and reached initial operating capacity.
07:24Additionally, U.S. Northern Command announced on Saturday
07:28that the Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer,
07:31the USS Gravely, departed Naval Weapons Station Georgetown
07:35for a scheduled deployment to the Gulf of America.
07:39We're actually making some history from the podium today.
07:42It's the first time we've recognized the Gulf of America
07:45in the Pentagon Press Briefing Room, which is kind of cool.
07:48So it's not only vital for the United States
07:50to have control of our border via land,
07:53it's equally important to control our territorial waters.
07:57And this deployment directly supports
07:59U.S. Northern Command's mission to protect our sovereignty.
08:04And lastly, Secretary Hegseth spoke with Qatari Minister
08:08of State for Defense Affairs, His Excellency Sheikh Saud Al-Thani
08:12to discuss operations to eliminate the Houthi threat
08:16to American commerce
08:18and restore American freedom of navigation.
08:20The Secretary acknowledged Qatar's strong partnership
08:24in addressing shared security challenges across the region,
08:27including Syria and the Red Sea.
08:29And with that, I'll turn it over to my counterpart, Grinch,
08:33for some more opening comments on CENTCOM strikes.
08:36General, the floor is yours.
08:38Okay, thank you, sir.
08:39Ladies and gentlemen, thanks for the opportunity
08:40to provide you a brief operational update
08:43on our operations against the Houthis.
08:45On Saturday, the 15th of March,
08:47shortly after 1 p.m. Eastern time,
08:48at the direction of the President,
08:50U.S. Central Command began precision strike operations
08:52against the Houthis to restore freedom of navigation
08:55and American deterrence.
08:57The initial wave of strikes hit over 30 targets
09:00at multiple locations,
09:01degrading a variety of Houthi capabilities.
09:04These included terrorist training sites,
09:06unmanned aerial vehicle infrastructure,
09:08weapons manufacturing capabilities,
09:11and weapons storage facilities.
09:12It also included a number of command and control centers,
09:15including a terrorist compound where we know
09:17several senior Houthi unmanned aerial vehicle experts
09:20were located.
09:22On Sunday, strike operations continued
09:24against additional headquarters locations,
09:26weapons storage facilities,
09:27as well as detection capabilities that have been used
09:30to threaten maritime shipping in the past.
09:33Today, the operation continues,
09:34and it will continue in the coming days
09:36until we achieve the President's objectives.
09:38Thanks, and I look forward to your questions.
09:40And with that, in this very crowded briefing room,
09:45I'll take some of your questions.
09:46And the first, I'll go to Logan from Newsmax.
09:50Sean, thank you for taking my question.
09:51This really is for both of you.
09:54Question about the Bashad.
09:55That's Iran's spy ship that has been directing
09:57the Houthis throughout this conflict.
09:59Is it still operating in support of the Houthis?
10:02If so, do you know where it is?
10:04General, I'll turn it over to you to address that.
10:06Sure, we know that the Iranians have provided
10:08a variety of assistance to the Houthis over the years,
10:11including some suspected intelligence.
10:13We do know that some had previously come from the Bashad.
10:16The Bashad is not currently being used for those operations,
10:19but we do know that other vessels are contemplated
10:22for those sorts of operations,
10:23so we're watching very closely
10:24to see if they return to the AO.
10:27I would also say that when you look at how
10:30the previous administration conducted business with Iran,
10:36they really empowered Iran to fund and export terror
10:40all around the world, whether it's with Hezbollah, Hamas,
10:43specifically with the Houthis.
10:44I mean, it's very clear, I think President Trump
10:47has made it very clear that he's put Iran on notice.
10:50I mean, I'm sure that you saw his tweet today
10:53that essentially saying, and I'm paraphrasing,
10:55that any shot fired at U.S. forces by the Houthis
10:58would be considered a shot from Iran,
11:00and this is the president showcasing leadership
11:03from the Oval Office, and frankly,
11:07bringing moral clarity back to the United States of America.
11:10We know who the enemies of this country are
11:13and the enemies of a free world are,
11:15and President Trump has put them on notice,
11:18as you saw with Iran this morning.
11:20But okay, Gabby.
11:23Thank you for taking my question.
11:24I wanted to run back to TDA and MS-13 deportations
11:28to El Salvador's terrorism confinement center.
11:31Do we anticipate to renew that partnership
11:33as it will conclude after one year?
11:36If yes, what does that look like from a cost perspective?
11:39And how is Guantanamo Bay factored into dealing
11:42with criminal aliens and terrorists,
11:43considering this new Pentagon is more focused
11:46on securing the border?
11:47Well, that's a great question.
11:49So I think part of your question about El Salvador
11:52should be referred to the State Department.
11:54But I'll say that the Department of Defense
11:57is proud to defend our homeland and our sovereignty
12:02in helping to deport transnational criminal organizations
12:05like Trinidad.
12:06We're proud to support that mission.
12:08Admiral General, do you have anything to offer
12:10about Guantanamo Bay and our force posture there?
12:12Sure, I just had a couple of things for you, Gabby.
12:16We do continue to have a substantial presence
12:18at Guantanamo Bay to ensure that we're ready
12:20to receive any illegal aliens
12:23that the Department of Homeland Security
12:25would like to send there.
12:27We're monitoring their requirements closely
12:29and we're in daily contact with them
12:31to make sure that we can meet them
12:32to the best of our ability.
12:34Tom?
12:35Sean, if the Iranian ships that are operational
12:38start helping the Houthis, will they be targeted?
12:41And for the general, any sense of,
12:45a number of military casualties so far
12:47or any civilian casualties in Yemen?
12:50Well, that's a great question, General.
12:52You'll permit me to answer it?
12:54Sure, go ahead.
12:54So I think that I certainly don't wanna get out
12:57in front of the Commander-in-Chief and the Secretary
12:59as it pertains to clearance of strikes
13:01and who will be targeted.
13:03But I think the President's made very clear
13:05that all options are on the table.
13:09Yeah, Tom, just on your question of casualties,
13:12military casualties, we have some initial estimates.
13:15I hesitate to say what they are
13:16because they're very much estimates at this point.
13:20But I think in terms of dozens
13:22might be a safe overall characterization.
13:24Dozens of military?
13:25Yeah, dozens of military casualties so far.
13:28But I really can't characterize it much better
13:30than that at this point.
13:31We'll learn more as we go.
13:32On the civilian casualty side,
13:33no indications of any civilian casualties.
13:35We, of course, have seen some of the accusations
13:37by the Houthis.
13:38We look at those closely when they do come in,
13:40but we have no credible indications
13:42of any civilian casualties.
13:43I'd like to add to what General Grinch said.
13:46Any time you're close to an operation like this,
13:48having been in combat front towards enemy before,
13:53the fog of war is a real thing.
13:54So before we announce something here from the podium,
13:58we're gonna make sure that we get it right.
14:00And I think part of that is just taking the time
14:02to evaluate and doing a proper battle damage,
14:06BDA, battle damage assessment,
14:07sensitive site exploitation.
14:09And frankly, that stuff just takes time.
14:12And so before we make any sort of those announcements,
14:14we're gonna do a real hard look
14:15and make sure that we get it right
14:16before we announce it to you.
14:19Charlie, from CBS.
14:21Yes, thank you, John.
14:23Changing the subject slightly.
14:25Is the DOD considering rescheduling the performance
14:27of young musicians in the Marine Band
14:30that was canceled because of the anti-DEI executive order?
14:34And in a broader sense, is there a concern
14:38that anti-DEI initiatives may have
14:41a negative impact on recruitment?
14:43Well, I think the President and the Secretary
14:46have been very clear on this,
14:48that anybody that says in the Department of Defense
14:52that diversity is our strength is frankly incorrect.
14:57Our shared purpose and unity are our strength.
14:59And I say this as somebody who led
15:01a combat platoon in Afghanistan
15:03that was probably the most diverse platoon
15:06that you could possibly imagine.
15:07I mean, we had black serving next to white,
15:10Christian serving next to atheists,
15:12Northerners next to Southerners,
15:14and yes, Democrats and Republicans,
15:17and the very same foxhole.
15:19But the reason why we were so lethal in Afghanistan,
15:24and again, my platoon took an 85% casualty rate
15:26over 485 days, but part of the reason why
15:31we were able to accomplish the mission
15:33and the commander's intent was because
15:35we put aside our many differences as Americans.
15:40There were no hyphenated Americans with us
15:42in that isolated hilltop
15:44in the border region of Afghanistan.
15:45We were all just Americans.
15:47And really, when you talk about
15:51America's greatest strength, yes, we've got,
15:53as I'm sure the General can attest,
15:55yes, we've got lots of cool, sexy equipment
15:58and lots of exceptional military training.
16:00I think it helps set us apart from everybody else.
16:04But what makes us exceptional fighters
16:07on the battlefield is our ability
16:08to put aside our many differences
16:11and unite under a common banner as Americans.
16:15I mean, for goodness sake,
16:17when we put aside our many differences as Americans,
16:19we went to the moon with less technology
16:22than many of you all have in your pockets
16:24in your cell phones right now.
16:26We're talking about a force that stormed
16:28the beaches of Normandy, scaled the cliffs
16:30at Point Duhoc, fought through hedgerows
16:34and beat back the Nazi war machine
16:38and saved the world when we put aside
16:40our many differences as Americans.
16:42And I know President Trump understands
16:45that our focus on unity and shared purpose
16:47is what makes us lethal, and so does Secretary Hegseth.
16:50So their guidance has been clear on this,
16:54and we're gonna continue to focus on that guidance.
16:57Okay, in terms of the concert,
16:58are you thinking about rescheduling that?
17:01I don't think, I'll have to take that question for you.
17:05I don't have an answer for you,
17:06but we'll get back to you on that.
17:10Oh, let's go to the phones.
17:11I'm getting a signal we should go to the phones.
17:13Okay, let's, we got JJ Green on the line from WTOP.
17:19Hey, Sean, thank you for doing this.
17:21I have a question about Ukraine.
17:22Can you assess how the US military,
17:27assess the status of US military aid to Ukraine
17:31and the intelligence sharing, how that's going,
17:34since it was disrupted a few, maybe a week or so ago,
17:38and then restarted, what's being shared,
17:42what's being given, what's happening with that?
17:45Well, I can tell you that US military aid to Ukraine
17:49has been turned back on,
17:52as well as intelligence sharing with our Ukrainian partners.
17:56But I'll tell you this, the president has been very clear
18:00since his time on the campaign trail
18:02that his focus with the war in Ukraine
18:06is bringing about peace
18:08and putting a distinct focus on peace,
18:10and really to stop the dying.
18:13And so President Trump, along with his national security team
18:17have been heavily involved in,
18:18along with Secretary Hegseth as well,
18:20heavily involved with Ukraine and Russia
18:22to try to broker that peace,
18:24understanding that there will likely be difficult
18:27conversations to be had on both sides
18:29when you're talking about the release of hostages,
18:33when you're talking about potential ceasefire agreements,
18:36when you're talking about territory.
18:39As someone who's negotiated
18:40with some tough people on the battlefield,
18:42I can tell you it's a tough, imperfect,
18:45nuanced, and complicated process.
18:47And President Trump and Secretary Hegseth
18:49certainly understand that,
18:50with on the forefront of their mind,
18:52peace as their first and foremost priority.
18:55General, do you have anything to add?
18:57No, I would just echo what you said, sir,
18:59which is, yeah, the status of U.S. military aid,
19:01it has been turned back on.
19:02We've got confirmed reports that it is continuing
19:04or is flowing back into Ukraine.
19:08And of course, daily reports on the outcome
19:09of the intelligence sharing and those efforts.
19:11So all of that is as it was previously.
19:14So I'm gonna stick with the phones here just a second.
19:16I got Christina from Breitbart on the phones.
19:19Do I understand that?
19:21Yes, thanks so much for doing this, Sean.
19:24Two questions.
19:25After U.S. strikes against the Houthis on Saturday,
19:28the Houthis fired drones and missiles at the Truman.
19:32Will there be a response to those attacks?
19:35And secondly, the Pentagon has deployed the U.S.S.S. bravely.
19:40And can you tell us a little bit
19:42about what it will be doing there,
19:44exactly what its mission will be?
19:47So I guess I'll address the first part of your question
19:50first, Christina, and then General, I'll let you chime in.
19:55The question of the Houthis, I mean, what was,
20:00remind me what the first part of your question was, Christina.
20:02I'm curious, the shots we took at the.
20:03Yeah, I.
20:04Will there be a response to the Houthi attacks
20:06on the Truman?
20:08Sorry, it was that, I gotcha.
20:09So first of all, we did get reports
20:12of the Houthis firing ballistic missiles
20:15and some one-way attack drones
20:17against U.S. forces in the region.
20:19Those attacks were largely ineffective
20:21and didn't come anywhere near U.S. forces in the region.
20:25Again, the commanders in command of those vessels
20:28were, I mean, they were completely on point
20:31with regards to defending.
20:32They were not effective attacks.
20:33And so I would also say the second part,
20:36the answer to the second part of that question
20:38is that the response is ongoing.
20:40I mean, this isn't, there's gonna be, as I mentioned,
20:43a very clear end state to this.
20:46And I think a lot of that has to do
20:47with how the Houthis respond.
20:49Firing at U.S. military personnel in the region
20:52and shooting at our ships and shooting at our drones
20:54and putting American lives at risk
20:56is not a good way to end this conflict.
20:58The Houthis could stop this tomorrow
21:00if they said, we're gonna stop shooting at your people.
21:03But they've clearly chosen not to do that.
21:06And so this campaign will be relentless
21:09to degrade their capability
21:11and to open up shipping lanes in the region
21:14and to defend our homeland.
21:17But General, you have a question?
21:19Thanks, Sean.
21:20The only thing I would add is the Houthis
21:22claim to have tried to attack the Harry S. Truman.
21:24Quite frankly, it's hard to tell
21:25because while we're executing precision strikes,
21:27they missed by over 100 miles.
21:29So I would just tell you, their effectiveness,
21:31I would question anything that they claim in the press
21:33that they're doing or not doing.
21:34It's very hard to tell what they are
21:36just based on their level of incompetence
21:37that they've demonstrated so far.
21:39Sorry, they missed on this by 100 miles?
21:41Yes, that's correct.
21:42There's also been a number of other attempts
21:46to interdict vessels in the Red Sea
21:48using UAVs and some cruise missiles as well.
21:50All of those have been easily defeated
21:52by our fighter aircraft that are there.
21:54General Grinch throwing shade at the Houthis
21:56from the podium, I love it.
21:59Some of the folks in here know that my previous job,
22:01I dealt with the Houthis quite a bit.
22:03Yes, you did, yes, you did.
22:04Happy to throw shade at them.
22:06On the question about the USS Gravely
22:08that you had, Christina.
22:10So she's deploying under General Guillo,
22:13the commander of U.S. Northern Command's authorities
22:16for maritime homeland defense missions.
22:18She'll go down, as Sean mentioned,
22:19into the Gulf of America and surrounding areas
22:22and be involved in the interdiction mission
22:24for any of the drugs and whatnot that are heading in.
22:27It'll be partnered very closely
22:28with the United States Coast Guard.
22:30So we won't share, of course,
22:32her actual schema maneuver here,
22:33but know that that's a mission
22:35that she's going down there for
22:36and we look forward to seeing what she can do.
22:37And on that point about the USS Gravely,
22:40I think it's really important that
22:43the president and the secretary have made very clear
22:45100% operational control of our southern border.
22:48I mean, we've got probably close to 10,000 troops
22:51on our southern border.
22:52We're surging a striker brigade combat team down there
22:55to reinforce the land border as well.
22:58But there is a sea component to this as well
23:00and that's part of the mission of the USS Gravely
23:02is to secure those, the water routes,
23:06in defense of our southern border.
23:10And so, Erin, Daily Caller.
23:11Thank you, Sean.
23:12Will the Department of Defense commit to firing
23:15or otherwise disciplining any remaining leadership
23:18that were directly involved in the Afghanistan withdrawal?
23:20So we're in the process of figuring out
23:24what that investigation will look like.
23:27But I'll tell you, as somebody who served in Afghanistan
23:30and watched that unfold, I mean, I was horrified
23:35in a lot of ways.
23:36You know, you think about how much time and blood
23:39and treasure and American life that was lost
23:41in Afghanistan over 20 years.
23:42You think about that for a second.
23:44You know, I'm 43 years old.
23:46This country was at war in Afghanistan for 20 years.
23:49So almost half of my life,
23:52this country was at war in Afghanistan.
23:55And I personally watched, you know, the men in my platoon
23:58but also my larger brigade combat team,
24:00which was a part of the 10th Mountain Division,
24:023rd Brigade.
24:03We bled the ground red in Afghanistan.
24:06And I watched my men do extraordinary things
24:10in support of a grateful nation
24:12and in support of the mission there.
24:14And to watch Afghanistan be surrendered
24:19in the way that it was was extremely difficult.
24:23And I think something that President Trump
24:25and Secretary Hegseth really understand
24:29is that when America makes a decision to get involved
24:32in any conflict, we have a moral obligation
24:38to have a clear-cut end state
24:39to what that operation looks like,
24:42a clear exit strategy to what that operation looks like,
24:45and to make sure that victory is clearly defined.
24:48And I think in Iraq and certainly in Afghanistan
24:51over the last 20-some years,
24:54I think maybe we've struggled a little bit
24:57with those finer points.
24:59But I'll say that President Trump and Secretary Hegseth,
25:02they understand that when America gets involved in a fight,
25:04it's our job to also end that fight
25:06as fast as humanly possible
25:08because we have a moral obligation
25:10to win and win decisively.
25:12Otherwise, you're gonna have an entire generation
25:15of American warriors wondering
25:17what the hell it was all for.
25:19And I know, listen, I know that every day I wake up
25:23and I draw breath, I think about the men
25:27who I served with who were my friends
25:29who never came home from that fight.
25:30I've lost 30 friends in my support of the Afghan war, 30.
25:35And you ask yourself, you look yourself in the mirror,
25:38you ask yourself, what do we have to show for it?
25:41Not a whole lot.
25:42And so your question of will those,
25:44will people be held accountable,
25:46I think we have an obligation both to the American people
25:49and to the American war fighters who fought in Afghanistan
25:53to hold the leadership accountable in some way.
25:56Now, we don't know what that looks like right now,
25:57but to hold the leadership
25:59that was in charge of the Afghan withdrawal accountable.
26:02Because look, if you have a private
26:03that loses a sensitive item,
26:05that loses night vision goggles, that loses a weapon,
26:07you can bet that that private
26:08is gonna be held accountable.
26:09The same and equal standards must apply
26:13to senior military leaders, so.
26:16I just wanna follow up on what you just said.
26:18Sure.
26:19You said that there needs to be a clear end state.
26:21And I know the goal is to have the Houthis
26:24stop their attacks, but what is the end state?
26:26What happens if the Houthis don't stop their attacks
26:28or don't agree to say they'll stop their attacks?
26:31It doesn't seem like there is a clear end state,
26:33that this could just go on and on.
26:34Well, in fairness, I mean, it's a great question,
26:37but in fairness, the operation's
26:38only been going on for 48 hours.
26:40And the president and secretary
26:42have been very clear on this,
26:43that the Houthis can determine when this ends.
26:47And until then, the campaign will be unrelenting
26:50until we, one, protect our homeland,
26:52and two, open up the shipping lanes there
26:56so make sure that we have freedom of maneuver in that area.
26:59But I, General, you have something to add?
27:02I mean, what I might add is,
27:04while we won't talk about it publicly,
27:06just know that there is a design to the operation.
27:08There are specific effects that we're trying to achieve,
27:10and there are specific targets that have been selected
27:12and approaches that we're taking
27:14in order to achieve the president's end state.
27:15So it isn't that we're just striking capabilities.
27:18There's an intent behind every strike
27:20and every target that we go after.
27:21To that point, you mentioned that
27:23this is not like it was before.
27:25So what is different about the targeting
27:26that you're doing this time
27:28that wasn't true under the Biden administration?
27:30Yeah, I'll give the short answer to that.
27:32And again, without going into too many operational details
27:35for security reasons,
27:36but it's a much broader set of targets
27:38that we've been able to action in this case.
27:40And the other key differences are
27:42the delegation of authorities from the president
27:44through Secretary Hegseth down to the operational commander.
27:46So that allows us to achieve a tempo of operations
27:49where we can react to opportunities
27:51that we see on the battlefield
27:52in order to continue to put pressure on the Houthis.
27:55Thank you very much.
27:56Will this operation include sending ground troops into Yemen?
28:01If so, how do you achieve your objective
28:04of making them say enough without sending ground troops?
28:08Well, I'll tell you, it's very difficult,
28:10if not impossible, for us to talk about
28:12forced posture from this podium
28:14because as a commander who's been on the battlefield,
28:17it's very, very important to keep the enemy guessing,
28:21keep your adversaries guessing.
28:22Now, that's not to say that we've got ground troops
28:26in Yemen, that's not to say
28:27that we're sending ground troops in,
28:30but it's difficult to talk about that stuff
28:32for operational security reasons from the podium.
28:34But General, do you have anything to add?
28:36No, nothing to add to that.
28:37I think that's exactly right.
28:38General, can I follow up on that?
28:39You said that one of the things
28:41that you were waiting to do for the BDA
28:42was sensitive site exploitation.
28:44Does that include U.S. boots on the ground
28:46or any kind of American personnel on the ground to do that?
28:50Can't talk about that stuff from the podium,
28:52but we have ways of conducting
28:54sensitive site exploitations
28:57without ground troops on the ground.
28:58Yeah, it does not always require boots on the ground.
29:02I'll just leave it at that.
29:02General, could I also ask you about
29:04if there's any U.S. military assessment?
29:06I know that BDA is ongoing,
29:08but is there any military assessment
29:10about how much of the Houthis' capabilities
29:12were degraded by these first couple of rounds?
29:14And can you say anything,
29:15the president's truth social mentioned going after leaders,
29:18which seems to be one of the things
29:19that's different here.
29:20Can you say anything about any of the leaders
29:22that were targeted here?
29:23Yeah, on the second part of the question,
29:25I'll just go to my opening statement
29:27where I mentioned that there was
29:28a unmanned aerial vehicle facility
29:30that was struck with several key leaders.
29:32Those were key individuals
29:33who led their unmanned aerial vehicle enterprise
29:36and were some of the technical experts in there.
29:37So think those types of individuals
29:40that we might be targeting
29:41as part of the command and control.
29:43And so we have destroyed command and control facilities,
29:48weapons manufacturing facilities,
29:50and advanced weapons storage locations.
29:53But again, this campaign is ongoing.
29:54It's difficult to talk about all this stuff from the podium
29:56and we're not gonna say anything from the podium
29:58until we're 100% sure that we have it right.
30:00I got time for one more question.
30:02John.
30:04You mentioned the president's truth social.
30:07Is the U.S. military considering
30:09a military options for Iran?
30:13I don't wanna get out in front of the president
30:15or the secretary, but clearly,
30:17I mean, I think the president's truth social
30:20was pretty clear.
30:21And I think the meaning is right there for everybody.
30:23I think everybody understands what he means.
30:25I don't wanna get out in front of the president,
30:26but all options are on the table at this time.
30:29And that's all I got.
30:32You said 30 targets.
30:33Is that over all three days?
30:35No, that was on the first day.
30:38And it was over 30 targets.
30:39So not a specific number for you,
30:41but over 30 targets, multiple locations,
30:43and then additional targets today
30:45and additional targets, I'm sorry,
30:46additional targets yesterday on Sunday
30:48and additional targets today
30:49that obviously I won't go into
30:51because they're executing now.
30:52So thank you, everybody.
30:53Listen, we're done.
30:55There'll be more of these, I promise.
30:56But thank you.
30:58It was a great first press briefing.
30:59Really appreciate you all and your commitment
31:02to telling the story of the war fighters.
31:03But thank you.
31:04We'll see you next time.
31:05Thanks.