WASHINGTON, July 22, 2016 — According to a Defense Department press release, Defense Secretary Ash Carter is scheduled to travel to Boston, North Carolina, and Illinois from July 26-28.
The trip is intended to advance the defense secretary’s top priorities, the release said -- delivering a lasting defeat to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, ensuring that DoD recruits top talent for the Force of the Future, and building bridges to America's innovative technology community.
At Fort Bragg, North Carolina, Carter is scheduled to meet with soldiers from the XVIII Airborne Corps, the release said, including its commander, Army Lt. Gen. Steve Townsend, who will soon be deploying and taking over the lead of the counter-ISIL military campaign from III Corps commander, Army Lt. Gen. Sean MacFarland. Carter plans to thank the troops for their service and to provide them with an update on the campaign and the mission they will execute -- enabling capable, motivated local forces to deliver ISIL a lasting defeat.
In Boston, the defense secretary is scheduled to deliver remarks to announce the next step forward in his innovation agenda, the release said. He also is scheduled to meet with military recruiters from the region to discuss DoD's efforts to build the Force of the Future, particularly by drawing talent from every part of the country.
Boston is the site of the East Coast hub of Defense Innovation Unit Experimental, or DIUx, which stood up in May, following the establishment of DIUx in Silicon Valley, California, last year. The unit is intended to establish pathways to quickly get ideas and products from the private sector into use within the Defense Department.
The secretary is then scheduled to travel to Naval Station Great Lakes, Illinois, to visit with some of the Navy’s newest recruits as they go through boot camp and prepare to join the Force of the Future. He is scheduled to meet with instructors at Great Lakes to discuss the challenges and opportunities they see as they train recruits during their first stage of military service.
Carter was scheduled to visit Great Lakes last month, but the trip was postponed due to severe weather.
