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Immediate Release

Secretary Carter Travels to North Dakota, New Mexico, California and Hawaii

From Sept. 26 to Oct. 1, Secretary of Defense Ash Carter will embark on domestic travel, highlighting two areas of critical importance to the long term security of the United States:  the nation’s nuclear enterprise and the future of the Asia-Pacific.

The first leg of the trip begins on Sept. 26 with a visit to Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota, home to the B-52H Stratofortress bombers of the 5th Bomb Wing and the Minutemen Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles of the 91st Missile Wing, for a speech on the future of America’s nuclear capability.  

On Sept. 27 and 28, Secretary Carter will be in New Mexico. He will thank personnel at Kirtland Air Force Base, home of critical operational, testing, storage and development units, for their work to ensure the readiness of the nuclear force. He will also tour the facilities at two Department of Energy research labs, Sandia National Laboratories and Los Alamos National Laboratories, to thank the scientists and engineers at these facilities for their ongoing work involving the development, assessment and security of the nuclear triad. 

On Sept. 29, Secretary Carter will deliver a speech in San Diego on the future of rebalance to the Asia-Pacific and ongoing security challenges in the region. Following this speech, the secretary will travel to Honolulu to host the U.S.-Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Defense Informal. This gathering will include defense ministers from ASEAN member states, and will follow up on the commitments and issues raised at the 2016 U.S.-ASEAN Summit in Laos earlier this month. The ministers will discuss common security concerns and opportunities for further cooperation to build and sustain a rules-based international order in the Asia-Pacific.

Secretary Carter will participate in a press conference at the conclusion of the gathering. He will also host the ministers for demonstrations of U.S. military capabilities and a dinner aboard the USS Missouri in Pearl Harbor.

Press interested in covering any of these events locally can request contact information from OSD Press Operations at 703-697-5131 or osd.pa.dutyofficer@mail.mil.