source on c-span, unfiltered, unbiased, word for word. from the nation's capitol to wherever you are, you get the opinion that matters most -- your own. this is what democracy looks like. c-span, powered by cable. announcer: marine corps commandant eric smith spoke on the conflicts in ukraine and israel at the military reporters and editors conference in washington, d.c. general smith highlighted the readiness of the marine corps before taking questions from the audience. [indistinct chatter] >> i think there are 11 or 12 journalists thus far killed in the conflict in israel. there was also a journalist wearing the pin. thank you for what you do. often putting your own lives in danger by doing that. as a marine, i would tell you we are purpose built and trained to come get you. i have evacuated journalists out of liberia and members of my company evacuated them out of the central african republic in 1996. i hope you do not get in harm's way but many of you have already been. you can rest assured that if you need something, the marines will get you. that is what we do because that is what you do. i will leave it at that. thank you for what you do to defend the first amendment and i will turn it over to your questions. i will stay as long as you will have me. i know that joe is following me. thank you for letting me go first. [laughter] thank you very much for having me. >> thank you. we really appreciate having you here. i am the pentagon correspondent. we are honored to have general eric smith joining us. i wanted to start off -- how many jobs are you doing these days? is your assistant commandant in place? gen. smith: the assistant commandant nominee, chris mahoney, is not confirmed. there is no assistant commandant, as is true the other services. there is either an assistant with an acting service chief or service chief acting as vice chief. i do not have a vice service chief. carla: have things changed significantly since you stepped into your post? gen. smith: the workload remains the same. there are the two full-time jobs filled by one person. that has not changed. i moved houses but i am still doing both of those jobs. and using my staff to fill in where the assistant commandant would be full-time. i cannot be in two places at once. carla: still needs more confirmations. gen. smith: i am mindful -- i am grateful i was confirmed but mindful that i have 360 and growing officers who are not confirmed that need to be in their positions in the middle east, the pacific. they need to be there to have the hand selected person for hand selected jobs marry as soon as we can make that happen. i defer to the senate and defend the constitution but it does affect our readiness. the sooner that i have the people in place to do the jobs i need them to do, the better for the young marines. carla: we have a lot going on in the world right now but i want to start with one of your top three priorities. you said one of your top three priorities is the quality of life for marines. gen. smith: yes, ma'am. carla: i know the marine in north carolina that just got deploy orders. this marine has a young child. the spouse is currently deployed in asia and they are trying to figure out who can raise their child for months on end while both are deployed. is this a fair scenario? is there a way to avoid the scenario in order to improve marines' quality of life? gen. smith: the situation you described is a tool service couple -- dual-service couple and that does happen. each couple is required to have a family care plan for such a contingency because we are ready to fight for all riflemen. that happens. that family care plan may involve family, a neighbor, but it is still possible for two marines, married, to be simultaneously deploy. commandant tries to not make that happen but if we need you, you will deploy. it reminds us that we need the quality of life throughout so that when that unusual circumstance happens you are ready. you have had the child development center, the leave to solidify your family so that for that six-month period, it is less rocky than it was. but that is one of the contingencies of being a marine. carla: and that is a hard part when it comes to quality of life. gen. smith: very. and most of that quality of life i am focused on is child development centers, barracks, gyms, family housing, looking at ways to improve our barracks for our youngest marines. the youngest deserve the most protection, and my opinion. the old the marines, i love you, but we take care of the younger marines. carla: when it comes to prepare to deploy orders we know about not hundred folks have been deployed. can you tell me how many marines have been given prepared to deploy orders and have any deployed to the middle east? gen. smith: i will be mindful to not get ahead of the department and/or official orders. we have marines forward already because they are always forward. we are the crisis response force. we always have marines forward, like the 26th expeditionary unit. we do not discuss their location. they can move 500 miles in a day, we just do not say which way. i expect marines to expect orders and that is a warning. it is possible you will deploy so double check your gear. we live in that world of 24, 48, 72, 96 ours ready to deploy. we do that in djibouti right now. when a marine gets a prepare to deploy order, not anything new. but i will not get into specific numbers because those have not been solidified. and i will not presume any marines will be sent forward. carla: could you say if any in the united states have deployed in the marines? gen. smith: i will hold until i can from what is and is not public. something could have changed on my drive over here from the pentagon, which is 25 minutes. [laughter] carla: you mentioned the expeditionary unit near israel. what is their mission at the moment? gen. smith: well, the mission is to be prepared to do any of their 10 tasks which is what they have 24/7. they deployed along with the amphibious ready group for about six seven months,. they have amphibious assault, raids, non-combat operations, maritime interdiction, search and seize. that has been disaggregated or extended. one of the ships in the high north works with our allies like spain and italy. the other two ships have been down ensuring any possible aggression in and around the gulf of oman is prevented. they may split apart -- which is a are designed to do -- which they are designed to do -- and the secretary of defense holds the authority. carla: could we see u.s. marines inside gaza? gen. smith: i would never speculate. there is no intent i am aware of to have any personnel on the ground in gaza. we are here to ensure american citizens are safe and that this crisis does not expand or escalate. from the president on down they have been clear those who would seek to extend or escalate this conflict, you should be careful. carla: is there not yet potentially going into gaza. another idea is using the hospital for potential casualties to treat any wounded when this ground invasion that has kind of started -- is that something that the 26th is capable of? gen. smith: the marine expedition and the fighters are all on board. they have operating rooms and that is why we fight so hard for amphibious ships. an amphibious worship is a floating airfield, floating gas tank, floating hospital. all those capabilities. those operating rooms on board though ships are agnostic do they treat. the decision is made by the national command authority but they are capable of treating anyone at a truly high level of care. that is why these ships are so important. carla: a couple more questions because i know there is an audience dying to ask questions. gen. smith: i am speaking as fast as i can. [laughter] carla: i can tell. in all seriousness, this week marks the 40th anniversary of the beirut bombing. the deadliest attack on u.s. marines since iwo jima. with the threats we are seeing in the middle east with near daily attacks on u.s. forces, missiles being shot down, how do you make sure that marines are not attacked like that again? gen. smith: there is two-- we t. i am responsible for training, organization, equipment and to see that they are properly trained to project power against those who may seek to do them harm. what i can do is i prepare forces and pass them to a commander who employs them. i did not have operational control over any marines. the biggest thing we can do is train them and armed them with the equipment to defend themselves. i nine people, as i did in camp vision -- lejeune -- were part of the operation in lebanon who led to the bombings that killed marines, sailors, soldiers, i can remind them that you do not want to target a u.s. marine. that will lead to one of your worst nightmares. i will remind people that we are fully prepared and capable of dealing with threat to us. we are not who you seek to tamper with. i will leave out the one lane i used in their. -- there. i was talking to a bench of beirut veterans. it was not preplanned. if you target us, someone else will raise your children. that is not a joke, not fido. that is just how many -- not bravado. that is just how marines think. the careful about trying to broaden the conflict. carla: the strike the u.s. conducted in syria on a weapons and ammunition storage facility, is that enough in your union -- opinion to deter aggressors from targeting this forces in the middle east? gen. smith: i would never offer an opinion. that is a decision made by political leadership. i would offer it should be. if you are on the receiving end, it should the. -- should be. and you can ... at the end of that. carla: ukraine, israel, everything going on right now, how have wars affected your preparations for modernization of the force and your preparations for a potential conflict with someone like russia or china? gen. smith: we are capable of walking and chewing gum at the same time. there is always a fine balance between forced modernization, the destination where we have to go to modernize the force for the next conflict, and making sure we have near-term readiness to respond to crises. we are able to push the expeditionary unit out and we have task forced 51.5, which operates out of bahrain. it is a constant balance for me. how much effort and funding do i put into modernization versus flight hours, schoolhouses, ammunition to train with stop aisles, ordinance? it is always a fine balance and it is constant. you cannot stand still. always shifting. that is what i do a service chief, constantly moving between readiness and modernization. it is a real challenge, especially when it is all undergirded by the marine. retaining the marine, caring for that marine, preparing that marine, recruiting that marine, all that has to be balanced. the marine is first. if you do not take care of your marine having marine to take care of. carla: hear from politicians and advocates. some will say the words are taking away from u.s. resources and time to train. hear from someone like the ambassador today pointing out that while the united states is giving certain supplies to ukraine, the united states is replenishing its stocks with newer equipment. how do you view the situation right now? do you see that as a place where you can capitalize on it? is it hindering your plans for the marines? gen. smith: not hindering. they initiated an action which was meant, i think by the fighting spread of the ukrainian citizens and shook soldiers in a manner they did not expect. when we replenish, our job is to defend the constitution. sometimes people will say what does that mean. you are supporting ukraine or israel after they were brutally attacked by hamas. how is that constitution? when the president issues an order, that -- would we support the orders we are given, that is defense of the constitution. that is how it works. it is not an opportunity or a negative. it is what we do. i have been doing it for 36 years. i have been in iraq, afghanistan, liberia, cuba. this is just what we do. this is somewhat normal. there is sadly always a conflict around the corner, which is why we get paid to be prepared. you do not know when the next fight is coming. carla: i want to open it to questions from the audience. megan? gen. smith: ted i am speaking as fast as i can speak. -- and i am sleeping as fast as i can speak. my normal southern accent is a lot slower. >> thank you for being here. you mentioned force design 2030. what are the decisions that was made was to move to a smaller force to free up money for modernization efforts. now that you are seeing these requirements could be more present in the pacific and responding to crises in the middle east, i wonder how that smaller force is playing out and how your monitoring force readiness, things like that to make sure you are not overworking the smaller force? gen. smith: i monitor deployment to dwell and individuals who may move between units. we are ok. the change in our sizes not to generate dollars. we said, what do we want to look like to deal best with the threat, best of the peer competitor? and we we prioritized certain systems. we did that, we said the unit required for this capability is not this big. it is this big. the force size is on the same size the marine corps was on 9/11. i have seen record of 172, 2 02 and everything in between. nothing here. the force size we have right now is sufficient. for our photography plans, we do top down targeting, bottom-up refinement. for forces, we are always refining. if the data shows that we need to change our force structure, we will do so, verena -- but right now, i am comfortable with where we are. >> general j price with the american home front projects. we have talked before about 2030. you just went where i wanted to go, which is refinement. it never struck me as a static plan, we will exit -- execute this precisely. what do you see that is going to be most likely to need the most refinement ahead? things will shift quickly or in big ways. secondarily, there was a pretty concerted push you're obviously well familiar with by previous generations of marines. is it my imagination or has this slowed down? gen. smith: the first one first, there is not a particularly i am most focused on that. it is a combination of better training, better systems on which to train and better systems to give longer range. if we have seen anything out of ukraine, it is that range does matter. the right balance is we are a combined onto marine air force task force we have to keep command-and-control logistics, intelligence, intelligence reconnaissance. it is not just that. it is keeping them in balance. that is always my challenge. if a force that i provide forward, whether it is expeditionary force, it has all the tools it needs. there is nothing in particular i am most concerned about. i have an open mind to everything. i think we are in a good place. i just finished touring the marine corps. if you ask the young marines, all they are saying is i am ready to go. to include my own son, who calls me old man it tells me he is ready to go. with regard to criticism, we welcome criticism. i have personally spoken to every living former confidant and marine combatant commander. i keep that dialogue going. i think i talked to four of them last week, had dinner -- have dinner with when next week. i am fine talking. we are all in agreement there is one commandant is time. right now, that is me. i have got it. what i would say -- it is hard to talk to them at one time. there is a lot of them. that is good. i was raised and trained under many of them. you could trust me that the we -- the marine corps is going in the right direction. we are still a combined global crisis response force. on the weapons change and training and tactics change, we are still making marines. we are still making steely eyed marines. whether it is tied down or not, i do not really track. i am focused on making core better and marines better in their quality of life better. i think we are ok. >> is uninteresting. i guess today. looked like you were in the barracks. you stopped and spoke to a marine. you said something that made me curious. he said, two years ago we did not have hurt. we lost out. it mainly me think two years from now, who is the person you do not have, the capability you do not have, in 10 years, you will say we lost out. gen. smith: corporal ramirez, the requirement is you move a shell. you meet the standard, you have the job. have a nice day. i voted to hurt in the barracks. that was my normal in that video. she was doing her job. candidly, you see comments, mostly from people who claim to be former marines but they are not. and you are seeing righteous places thank she can do the job, not yourself. our goal for recruiting, i will not say or what i am right about not having intent years. what i want is access to 100% of erica's talent -- black, white, male, female, gay, straight. are you willing to serve? step up. i am not going to beg you to join the marine corps. you want to be a marine? come try out for the tea. no guarantee, but i want access to everybody. i want everybody out there who is in high school saying, hey, that could be me. i am not recruiting to any particular market. i am america. those who wish to step up, there is a place for you here. carla: right in the middle. gen. smith: thanks for being here. my name is drew lawrence, a reporter with military.com. you recently returned from a trip from camp lejeune, looks like you are checking out the barracks there. you give as examples of good, the bad, and the ugly that you saw there? additionally, what is the marine corps doing to ensure that public works response to work orders in a timely manner? and the 10,000 you -- what is it going to take to get the approximately 17,000 marines living in substandard housing out at substandard housing? i offer that number from the ga report knowing that many other branches do not track that. gen. smith: thanks for asking. quality of life is my first priority. i am responsible for them. full stop. that all comes to me. we are doing several things to modernize the barracks. what i saw at camp lejeune was our least good barracks, are better barracks, and our best. we want to move toward best. there is 652 eric's in the marine corps, far too many. the average occupancy rate is about 60-ish percent. we have to put all of our people into our best barracks, which will change how we do unit integrity. you have marines sharing a room. before that, we would never do that. the lost barracks -- quality barracks are empty. we do fs rm, which is maintenance. it is cheaper and often faster to increase the quality of the barracks, add an air conditioner -- year we will put two or three air-conditioned -- conditioning into barracks at horno, which is spanish for the oven. we have never had air conditioning there that we will do it next year. we are also looking to professionalize our barracks managers. i will put a young sergeant who is not a barracks manager in charge of the barracks. you put a professional to a professional. and what i have control of, i have to reflect that i putting more money to get them up to speed. a combination of consolidation, modernization, construction, and professionalizing inside the barracks. we are in a hole that will take us years to get out. i am committed to getting that as far as i can in four years. carla: you think you will fix this in four years before you leave? gen. smith: i will get it done, my part. but the next commandant help i think it is a 10 year problem to get out. there is not enough construction companies to do it. costs are high right now. it is a multiyear challenge to get every marine in the barracks. and the final thing, my sergeants want to live out in town, which i get. read 55, you do not
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