The Defense Department’s Principal Director for South and Southeast Asia, Brig. Gen. William B. Crowe, was making his first visit to the three nations that have Compacts of Free Association with the United States.
Crowe said in Majuro that he normally deals directly with military officials in countries in South and Southeast Asia, but was specifically directed by his superiors at the office of Asia and Pacific Security Affairs three weeks ago to make this visit to the freely associated states along with Brian Harding, director for Australia, New Zealand and Pacific Islands at the Office of the Secretary of Defense.
Meeting island leaders and seeing the islands first hand provides an understanding of the area that cannot be had from a desk in Washington, he said.
He emphasized that top-level Defense Department officials in Washington understand the strategic importance of this area.
In talks with Marshall Islands elected leaders, Crowe said his message was to confirm the special relationship between the two nations, and to thank the Marshall Islands for the many young people serving in the U.S. military.
He said that Micronesians serving in the military in the Middle.
East have paid the ultimate price by dying in battle. I served in Iraq, he said. I know how it is to lose a soldier who serves in your command.
He mentioned that under the Compact, the U.S. is committed to defending the Marshall Islands just as if it were a state of the U.S.
Crowe also made the point that each of the freely associated states has different needs and requirements, which he appreciates more from his visit to the islands.
While in Majuro, he also visited the Sea Patrol facility and toured the marine surveillance vessel Lomor.
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