KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan, June 9, 2014 – Marine Corps 1st Lt. Manuel Ruiz is helping Afghanistan’s national security forces learn about accountability.

Ruiz is a Miami native who serves as officer in charge of the NATO-based End Use Monitoring Program and as platoon commander with Landing Support Company, Combat Logistics Regiment 37, 3rd Marine Division, currently serving here with the International Security Assistance Force’s Regional Command South.

On June 6, 1944, nearly 160,000 Allied troops landed along a heavily-fortified, 50-mile stretch of French coastline in the historic operation known as D-Day. More than 9,000 Allied soldiers were killed or wounded on the beaches of Normandy, but by day’s end, the Allies had gained a foothold to begin liberating Europe. DOD salutes their bravery in the Defense.gov Special Report: D-Day and the Invasion of Normandy.

6/3/2014

WASHINGTON, June 4, 2014 – NATO European allies must dedicate more money to defense spending, and all are ready to do their part in the follow-on operation in Afghanistan, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said at NATO headquarters in Brussels today.

The secretary spoke at a news conference after meetings with alliance defense ministers.

Russia’s actions in and around Ukraine were a major concern for the ministers, Hagel said, adding that Russia’s actions “constitute the most significant and direct challenge to European security since the end of the Cold War.”

WASHINGTON, June 3, 2014 – Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel met today in Brussels with the defense ministers of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia.

Hagel and his Baltic nation counterparts discussed a number of common security concerns, Pentagon officials said, including recent actions by Russia in and along the Ukrainian border and the subsequent reassurance measures taken by the United States and NATO.

The secretary thanked the three nations for their continued participation in these reassurance measures, officials added.

WASHINGTON, June 4, 2014 – Deputy Defense Secretary Bob Work discussed areas of United States-United Kingdom cooperation during a Pentagon meeting with a senior British defense official yesterday.

Work met with Philip Dunne, the British Defense Ministry’s minister for equipment, support and technology, Navy Lt. Cmdr. Courtney Hillson, a spokeswoman for Work, said in a statement summarizing the meeting.

WASHINGTON, June 3, 2014 – Ongoing ties with Turkey are vital to the Defense Department’s productivity and efficiency, the undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics said here yesterday.

In remarks at the 33rd Annual Conference on United States-Turkish Relations, Frank Kendall said strong relations with partners such as Turkey -- a country with a vibrant, healthy economy and developing aerospace and defense industrial sectors -- has mutual benefits, even as the specter of sequestration defense spending cuts looms in fiscal year 2016.

Responding to a request by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki for U.S. assistance in the wake of increased violence in that country, the United States has accelerated delivery of weapons and ammunition to Iraq. 

The Security Assistance Command is playing a major role in supporting that effort by providing equipment and ammunition including 300 Hellfire missiles to Iraq through the Foreign Military Sales program. 

WASHINGTON, June 2, 2014 – A team of senior Defense Department leaders recently returned from two days of “productive meetings” with Ukrainian leadership in Kiev, Ukraine, Pentagon spokesman Army Col. Steve Warren told reporters today.

Derek Chollet, assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs, led the team meeting in advance of Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel’s meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart and President Barack Obama’s upcoming visit with president-elect Petro Poroshenko in Warsaw, Poland, Warren said.

SINGAPORE, May 31, 2014 – Reaching out to new countries is part and parcel of President Barack Obama’s new foreign policy approach and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel reinforced that push, meeting today with the Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the People's Liberation Army Lt. Gen. Wang Guanzhong.

The meeting took place on the sidelines of the annual Shangri-La Dialogue, a major annual forum for key leaders in the Asia-Pacific region to discuss security challenges and opportunities, said Pentagon officials.