Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder Holds a Press Briefing

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

64% : So to my knowledge, that initial statement was coordinated in consultation with his doctors.
64% : But again, to my knowledge, that initial statement was coordinated in consultation with the medical care professionals.
63% : To my knowledge, no.
58% : At this time to my knowledge there has not been any specific requests but we'll of course continue to keep you updated.
54% : To my knowledge, he has not talked to the President today.
52% : Well - so the Department of Defense Inspector General of course is a independent office, and so I can't speak for them and what they may or may not do.
52% : Just cause we working off a lot of examples, could you now or perhaps take the question provide us what exactly are the full authorities of the Secretary Defense and what you define that as because it seems like, you know, there's some confusion among our readership and amongst ourselves of what exactly are the full authorities of the Secretary of Defense?GEN.
51% : Now certainly there's a lot of other things that a Department of Defense does that doesn't require secure communications or it doesn't require the Secretary of Defense to personally make those decisions but what we're talking here is strategic level operational authorities related to, you know, the Department's business.
50% : Also, Dr. Michael Chase, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for China, Taiwan, and Mongolia, began talks yesterday with People's Republic of China Major General Song Yanchao, Deputy Director of the Central Military Commission Office for International Military Cooperation, at the Pentagon for the 17th U.S.-PRC Defense Policy Coordination Talks.
50% : And at the - you know, for the sake of not doing the review here from the podium, as I highlighted, the Director of Administration and Management has been directed to lead a thorough review to look at exactly those kinds of questions, the relevant facts and circumstances during the period in question, to evaluate the processes and procedures by which the Deputy Secretary of Defense was notified and the associated timeline.
50% : When it comes to the Secretary of Defense and him executing his duties as the Secretary of Defense, you will never find a more dedicated American public servant who cares about this country and cares about the security of this country, works seven days a week, and, you know, he's extremely dedicated, and I'll just leave it at that.
50% : So to answer your question, you know, no, it's not my sense that there was any, you know, slowdown in terms of the things that we've already been working on.
49% : And as I highlighted to many of you yesterday, nothing is more important to the Secretary of Defense and the Department of Defense than the trust and confidence of the American people and the public we serve, and we'll continue to work every day - work hard every day to earn and deserve that trust.
49% : Considering that a review was underway, it'll take a while for that, but just the question in the interim that I have is what's the order of the communications chain from the Secretary of Defense down to the team and out to the President and to others, what does that order look like?GEN.
48% : But again we will continue to actively discuss and expect that they conduct those operations in accordance with international laws of armed conflict, and international humanitarian law.
48% : But what we can do within the Office of the Secretary of Defense is we can take immediate action to review where we can do better, how this happened, the relevant facts, as I highlighted, and then importantly, implement some immediate change to address some of the things that needed to be addressed.
47% : As I highlighted earlier, when it comes to the necessary authorities to carry out the operational business of the Department of Defense, the Secretary or the Deputy Secretary had positive control at all times.
46% : The Secretary continues to remain focused on recovering, but more importantly, on carrying out his duties as Secretary of Defense and defending the nation.
45% : Finally, as some of you may be aware, the United States of America Vietnam War Commemoration was launched in 2012, authorized by Congress under the Secretary of Defense, in support of a national 50th anniversary commemoration to help thank the nation's Vietnam veterans and their families for their service and sacrifice on behalf of our nation.
45% : And we certainly have very capable senior leaders, not only at the Office of the Secretary of Defense but throughout the Department.
45% : So, the Secretary of Defense serves in an advisory capacity in the nuclear command and control system.
42% : When it comes to the longer lead policy items, you know the Department of Defense is a team sport.
36% : We in the Department of Defense, of course, wish him a speedy recovery.

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