U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth will be on Guam this coming week, where he is expected to tour military facilities and receive briefings on capabilities before flying to the Philippines and Japan, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell confirmed on Friday.
Hegseth’s Guam visit is part of his first official tour of the Indo-Pacific region, expected to underscore the Trump administration’s commitment to the region in the face of China’s growing assertiveness and North Korea’s recalcitrance.
“Secretary Hegseth’s trip comes as the United States builds on unprecedented cooperation with like-minded countries to strengthen regional security,” Parnell said in a March 21 statement.
Hegseth will also be the first Cabinet-level official under the second Trump administration to visit Guam.
“These engagements will drive ongoing efforts to strengthen our alliances and partnerships toward our shared vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific,” Parnell said.
This comes at a time when the military is putting together a 360-degree missile defense system for Guam. Contracts awarded to defend the island from missile threats have already topped $1.3 billion, while troops from Okinawa have started relocating to Guam.
The Enhanced Integrated Air and Missile Defense system, commonly referred to as a 360-degree missile defense system, is intended to supplement existing systems and better protect Guam from different types of missiles, especially with threats from China and North Korea.
Hegseth will first travel to Hawaii to meet with civilian and military leaders from the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command.
“From there, Sec. Hegseth will travel to Guam, where he is expected to tour the military facilities and receive capabilities briefs,” Parnell said.
Next, he will travel to the Philippines, where he will advance security objectives with Philippine leaders and meet with U.S. and Philippine forces, Parnell said.
Hegseth will be in Manila on March 28 to 29, to meet his Philippine counterpart, Gilberto Teodoro, and President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. amidst increasingly assertive actions by Beijing in the South China Sea and “more significant support” to Philippine security forces by the Trump administration, the Associated Press reported.
Japan, Battle of Iwo Jima 80th anniversary
In Japan, Hegseth will participate in a ceremony commemorating the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Iwo Jima and will later meet with Japanese leaders and U.S. military forces.
“And as always, the Secretary looks forward to some great PT (physical training) with the troops,” Parnell added.
Hegseth will be joining World War II veterans in Iwo To, formerly Iwo Jima, for the 80th anniversary commemoration and Reunion of Honor ceremony.
More than 18,500 Japanese and 6,800 American lives were lost in the Battle of Iwo Jima during WWII.
Nonprofit organization Eagle Society announced in a release that it will be supporting the Iwo Jima Association of America in escorting seven WWII veterans back to the Pacific battlefields.
The WWII veterans’ trip will begin by visiting the Battle of Guam site where U.S. forces liberated the island in 1944. From Guam, they will travel to Iwo To/Iwo Jima for ceremonies that Hegseth would also attend.
Their journey concludes in Okinawa, visiting the U.S. Marine Corps base.
Skipping South Korea
Since last week, South Korean media have been reporting that Hegseth will be skipping South Korea, a U.S. ally, during his first official trip to the region as political uncertainty continues in the Asian country after a 2024 martial law declaration.
But South Korea’s Ministry of National Defense stated only that the visit was “unavoidably postponed due to scheduling adjustments by the U.S. side.”
(8) comments
Hegseth's head may overload in all the "DEI" he'll see here in all of our diverse faces! Better keep him on the bases and in our beautiful blue skies... maybe he'll see all those beautiful rainbows...which may just make the DEI ax fall even faster... close or downsize the bases... because they care much more about their new allies and much less about the rest of the world.Guam, can we offer any precious minerals? Is our skin the right shade to make America greet again? Or maybe it's just the right shade to serve diet cokes and wipe sweat off of king orange 's forehead.
If I'm not mistaken, DEI is about those individuals who claim they are what they are surely NOT. You can take the parts and turn them upside down, wring them out, cut them off, add a part, and no matter what, they are still the parts of that gender, more particularly, MAN or WOMAN.
One can feel they are the opposite of what GOD made them, but they will forever be the gender they were when it/he/she/him or herm was born. If that person is still confused, a whack a few times or more will surely make the individual admit the truth.
Ask Hegseth if it is the same playbook in the Pacific as it is in Europe? That is ask countries to spend more on their own defense and then pull out of longstanding alliances such as NATO eventually. Only naive local officials in particular the Delegate would believe that a white supremacist administration that is erasing non-white service members contributions would stick around in these parts to promote democracy even as they are choking it off at home. (Don't sign up for the military anymore as Trump pursues an all-white military and promotes segregation.)
You're right on...sadly for many who do enlist it's a way "out" of their small town , island...but to swear an oath for a country who's leaders from the very top are yelling to the world that the color of your skin , your s*x, or if you're LGBTQ is what defines you as a human, but "we" believe you are irrelevant ...is not worth risking one's life within the military just to risk your life defending it at any given moment. 😢🇺🇸
If the "human" doesn't know their biological sex, they should not even try to convince anyone they are in the right mindset and maybe need to see a veterinarian.
Not only shameless, but you are telling lies. No one is erasing non-white servicemembers contributions. No one is pursuing an all white military. In fact, Trump is expected to award the Medal of Honor to a black man, James Capers, and yet Biden refused to upgrade to the MoH. You can yell and scream all you want it doesn't make it the truth.
Right On!!!
I truly don't believe President Trump is a White supremacist. He simply wants those without legal standing to be in the USA sent back to their country of origin. No more illegals PERIOD! You want to enter the USA, do it the proper way through legal means.
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