As the United States continues o
face challenges from other globl
powers and tensions continue to rise,
the man in charge of much of
our fleet wants to reassure
Americans we are in good shape.
four-star Admiral Daryl Cottle s
the US Fleet Forces commander.
He's in charge of the entire Atlantic Fleet,
all ballistic submarines,
including the Trident Subs at Bangor,
he sat down exclusively with
King Five's Greg Copeland.
The partnership We have this area. What we
do here in the Pacific Northwest is a vital
part of the greatest Navy
in the world. Obviously,
we have a big military community here,
a lot of Navy between the partsf
the carrier groups and the subgroups.
What would you tell those
sailors and their families?
I would tell them that they're
just part of something special.
They're part of a Navy that is global.
It's it's so vital, so much as,
as goes over our seas,
our sealings of communication or just
never been more important.
The Navy is the one out there
protecting that. It is also
the Navy that is part of the por
projection of the United States.
You have been very vocal about
making sure that the Navy is
prepared for anything the lies ahead.
And I heard you say recently
that I want to quote this,
no adversary in their right mind
wants to confront the surface f.
What do you mean by that?
Well, it's just so lethal and so capable
and so combat ready and so when those
ships are out there deploying in these
oceans that we have in our far .
That that is a force that is re,
really ready to conduct combat operations.
And they're trained at the highest level.
The the technology on board
is just extraordinary.
And the lethal they bring with e
ordinance and missile systems on
board really just can't be matc.
Now, am I concerned about hostilities
kicking off in some place?
Of course. So we try to deter t.
That's our primary effort to deter conflict.
And we do that by deploying
these forces around the world.
We do that by the strategic deterrent forces,
much of which is home ported
here in the Bangor area.
Make no mistake about it that you know,
the People's Republic of China
fields a very capable Navy.
There are certain places that
they just don't match us.
And one of those is another reason I'm
here this weekend is the unders,
Our submarine force and our unda
forces really just sustain and overmatch.
Over everyone else that it is so
important to the Navy and to our
country's national security and national
interest. We don't want any* in
the armor of that overmatch.
So we continue to invest and
build the world's greatest
submarine force and it's such a
powerful part of that overmatch.
So when strategic competitors.
China, Russia, whoever,
think about confronting the Nav,
they know they have to go againt
that world class undersea force.
Usually we don't know where thoe
are going, what they're doing.
When they come back.
It's very quiet and I think proy
the Navy likes it like that.
However, for the first time since 1981,
we're going to park one in
South Korea very publicly.
What kind of message does
that send to North Korea?
Oh, I think it sends a very powerful message,
a message of commitment to South Korea,
a message to the world that we have extended
deterrence. For many countries t
don't have nuclear weapons and strategic
return mechanisms themselves tht
we are going to partner with thm
and make sure that the United Ss
cares about that relationship deeply.
To have a worldclass Navy,
you have to have a worldclass
maintenance organization.
And so part of the maintenance
enterprise is to make sure that these
dry ducts are in good condition,
that they're not susceptible to
falling apart in a big seismic event.
As you know,
that's been a big concern for us
and we're working very hard to
get that squared away up in this
area because this is an area whe
earthquakes are prevalent and we
don't want that to disrupt our
ability to conduct that mainten.
The mental health crisis is
obviously something that has ben
a problem all across the countr.
The Armed Services is no differ.
To lose a shipmate due to suicie
is one of the most devastating d
horrible things that can ever happen.
So we take this extremely serio.
I was just in the process a fews
ago of doing an all hands call d
I asked the the audience there f
sailors that were in that group,
how many have knew someone within the
service that had committed suice
and most of them raise their ha.
That to me is unacceptable and o
we're taking this extremely seriously
to get after this on many front.