‘A threat to the homeland’ - the Navy’s role in controversial boat strikes

Speaking of the South Carolina area of responsibility, there's obviously been no shortage of news stories coming out of that region right now, specifically regarding the U.S. military strikes against alleged drug carrying vessels in the Caribbean and the Eastern Pacific Ocean

How do you see that mission progressing and evolving and what does success look like there

Well, I think the president has made it very clear, along with the Secretary of War

that a threat to the homeland, which is a primary focus of the national security strategy

the Western Hemisphere, is a concern of theirs. They view, and I share this view, that drug flow into the United States is a big threat to the United States

So they have taken on the actual daunting task to actually try to counter that

and working really hard day to day with using military force, Coast Guard, law enforcement, intelligence agencies

to try to counter that flow of drugs into the United States. It's my job to provide those forces and then Southern Command's job to employ those forces

in accordance to the rule of engagement that are provided to the combatant commander and those mission priorities

It's currently the holidays, as we can see from the declarations. The Army recently announced a service-wide initiative to check in on service members during the holidays, checking on their mental health

How's the Navy checking in on service members' mental health during the holidays and then overall just in terms of the whole year

There is nothing that hurts me more than to lose a sailor to suicide and to know that a sailor is struggling or their family members with mental health challenges

So it is a big priority of me and the Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy

we both have this as a focus here and we use every resource possible to ensure we're doing that

But as you said, I think, and it's the best way to say this, nothing, regardless, I can do

medically or I can check in on them at my level is more important than sailors checking in on sailors watching each other back seeing and being intrusive and knowing when they struggling

understanding simple things like are they financially challenged? Are they having marital

or relationship problems? Are they coming in late to work? Are they having trouble sleeping

These basic cues that makes us know that we need to do more. Are the high-risk sailors in a command

really being managed properly? Are we making sure we're being aggressive and giving them the

resources they need? How do you hope that the Navy will be different between now and the end of your

time as CNO? What's the legacy that you hope to leave behind? I hope that the Navy I leave behind

is one that every sailor knows that I value them greatly, that they know I value their families and

the contributions they do every single day, that they know how much I appreciate them volunteering

to serve in something bigger than themselves, to wear the cloth of the nation, to serve with honor

courage, and commitment. That I leave the Navy in a better place to be ready to fight. That the

readiness of the Navy is really at a world-class level. The things I told you before, that the

ship's magazines are filled with the ordinance, that those deliveries are happening on time

that there are no more gaps at sea. It's that captains are having to be creative with how they

man the watch bills because they got the right number of people that they need. When ships are

at sea, they have the, sailors have the competency they need and the repair parts to fix their ships

to keep those ships at sea. And that the quality of life and quality of service initiatives that

we need to put in, along with the foundry initiatives, which are things like schoolhouses

the infrastructure of our bases, piers, the hangars, that all those things that we typically

want to neglect so that we can buy capabilities, that we've actually prioritized those in just

over this four-year period that we put the energy and resources in to make the founder of our Navy

world class