This weekend, Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen H. Hicks will visit several locations in Alaska to meet with experts researching how climate change will affect the Defense Department’s capacity to protect American interests in the area and talk with service members about the quality of life issues.
Hicks will visit Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Fort Wainwright, and Eielson Air Force Base while she is in Alaska, according to a briefing today by Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh.
The deputy secretary will host roundtable discussions with service members at each post to discuss access to mental health care, quality of life issues, and suicide prevention initiatives, Singh said.
To see firsthand how the U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force are working to improve quality of life and ensure that we are taking care of our people serving in the Arctic, she will also meet with senior leaders and tour housing, barracks, childcare, commissaries, health care, and recreational facilities.
According to Singh, the deputy secretary’s travel to Alaska also centres on security matters. To learn about climate change affects military readiness and research initiatives aimed at enhancing resilience in the Arctic, Hicks will travel to the Army’s cold weather research facility in Fairbanks and the Ted Stevens Center for Arctic Security Studies in Anchorage.
