Provocativive actions against alliance members. We met with a secretarygeneral to ask what can be done and to explain natos southern flank strategy. I am concerned about reports saying that russian airstrikes were not targeted against isil, especially i am concerned because there has been no real ide to do the russian conflict the airstrikes in syria with ongoing, usled c Coalition Fighting isil. Play arussia to constructive and cooperative ,ole in the fight against isil and to strive for a negotiated political solution to the conflict, and to support bashar notssad will not help, will be a constructive solution to a political problem. Thingk that the important now is that all efforts are focused on a political, negotiated solution. When it comes to the strategy of nato related to the challenges we cm and aiding from the south, mainis one of the challenges we face as an alliance, the increased turmoil, state, terror,ng whicich we see in the middle eat and north africa. But what nato does is we work with partner countries in the , from afghanistan, where we do training and advice to assistance to the afghan forces, and we will now do Capacity Building in iraq where we will work with the Defense Forces of iraq to increase their capacity to defend and protect themselves. We work with jordan. We work with tunisia, and we work with other countries in the region. The whole id do you is that we try to is that we will protect stability without deploying combat forces. If we succeed in making them more stable, we are more secure. At workingy is aimed with partner countries in the region and helping them to be more capable in stability and , by themselves, supported by no. The violence we see in syria underlines the importance and comprehensive approach also of nato playing a role with partner countries to stabilize the region. Given the mimigrant crisis is such a priority for europe, and russia now being centrally involved in the campaign with its own agenda, at what point does nato itself have to take this on as a mission to get involved both inyria and in iraq in much more forceful way rather than just training . And i have a followup. , including allies to the u. S. Ibutes Coalition Fighting i sold. Some contribute with airstrikes. Fighting isis. Some contribute with airstrikes. Others with forces or with training forces. All contributed in one way or another to the u. S. Coalition. I think you have to remember nato allies as well as many rtner countries participating in the coalition have developed skills and capabilities to work to conduct large military operations together. Tghave developed this our joint efforts in afghanistan, and now these skills are used in the usled Coalition Fighting isil. So, even if it is not a nato organized Coalition Fighting isil. Isil, all nato lies or parts contribute to the coalition. We will start to do defense , training helpng the afghan army to modernize and increase its capabilities of defending themselves and fighting isis. Say russiaanalysts is going to use syria as a bargaining chip to get off the sanctions houck in ukraine sanctions houck in ukraine in ukraine. Given that russia is the elephant in the syrian room, how does nato keep pressure on russia in ukraine or does ukraine become a bargaining chip. First of all, we will never acceptpt that ukraine becomes a bargaining chip, especially not related to any of the events taking place in syria or the middle east. The important thing is that nato support for the territorial integrity, for the sovereignty , is unwavering. We continue to support ukraine and we support new crane politically. But also, we provide suppot ukraine politically. Also, we provide practical support. We went to expand and move forward on the cooperation between nato and ukraine, and we will continue to support them. I would like to add that it is encouraging that t ceasefire now is holding, and that is the First Time Since the ceasefire , and sincelast fall the first of september, the ceasefire has mainly been respected. Agreedtion, the parties trilateral workingroup today to remove all heavy weapons with less than 100 millimeters caliber. Yet another step forward. So, the situation is still fragile. There are still Russian Forces in eastern ukrai, but at least it is encouraging to see that ofre is an agreement removing heavy weapons, and the ceasefire is respected, and this provides the grounds, the basis for a renewed effort to , peaceful,tical lasting resolution to the crisis. Vago there was some acknowledgment thahat everyone would have to increase spending in the alliance. Some members are stepping up and increasing spending. What is the alliance doing to help guide and shape that spending and what arare you doig to succeed in generating the capacity and building the alliance is looking for . We decided to increase defense spending, as stated, in three steps. Firsrst, stop cuts. Then, gradually increase spending. Then, a met 2 within a decade. Then, aim at 2 within a decade. How a bit too eatorly to say far we have come in implementing the decisions we made in ilation to the budgets, but will make it one of my main priority is to make sure we are delivering on a promise to increase defense spending, partly because we need defense spending to respond to a more challenging environment, but also because we need a more fair share of the burn then europe and the United States. Paysnited states of all75 of the costs nato allies. This is not a fair burden sharing. Sowe are looking to even the amount of spending in europe. , we have developed fferent metrics, both measuring how much we spend, and what we get out of the investments we make. Is extremely important. And in the long run, the only reason to get input is output. Vago does the alliance have to spend more time helping everybody better shape how they do the investment . Does nato have to play a more central role in what each of the countries is bringing to the party . We can always improve the way we work. One of our important tasks here is defense planning. Is a key toolng to make sure we spend money and in a strategic way and that we coordinate between positions. We are always focusing on how we can do better, how we can improve. This morning, i met with folks to discuss exactly how we can develop our tools to be even better in develong the way develop our tools to be even better in develong the way somehow it felt like everything was moving in slow motion. If i didnt react, things could have gotten messy in a hurry. I mean just got that sweet ride with a great rate from navy federal. I was not about to let anything happen to her. Just looking out for my wingman. Hes still in training. Open to the armed forces, the dod and their families. Navy federal credit union. Action month and the u. S. Army, one of the worlds leading energy users, is working hard to become more efficient. Joining us to explain these moves is catherine hammock. Thank you for joining us. Thank you f inviting me. National energy month and what is the army doing to commemomorate it or do its part . Part of it is reminding our soldiers and our force that energy is imrtant to everything we do. Mobile,nables us to be to have commandnd control, manage our i. T. Systems. Without energy, the army stands still and silent. We need to b be prudent users of ener to enable the force to be morere resilient and accomplish our r mission. Also reduce casualties by gting a necessary fuel convoys s off roads. Youre absolututely riright. The army is the biggest electricity user in the department of defense but the smlest liquid fuels user in the department of defense. But we do watch how we use both of those to ensure we are prudent users. Resiliency is realally what we e focused on. In march, you issu the armys sustainability strategy. Talk to us about the core elements of that strategy. The elementnts of the strategy are to help people understand why Energy Security and sustainability is important. I am an engineer. We like talking about Renewable Energy and energy efficiency. We like to talk about what we are doing. But in order to o better inform our uniform service memembers, e neneed to talk about why it is important to them so ican form decisions that they make, so they can have assured access to energy when and where they need it for resiliency. Incorporating at advanced technologies to give us the nd oflexibibility and adaptability we need to win in the complex world we are involved in. Fox think of your job and they focus on the energy benefit. Andolks think of your job th focus on the energy b of it, not to the water bit of it. Why is water so important . It takes energy to pump water outt of the e ground. It takes energy to process that water, to purify it. It takes energy to distribute the water, and it takes energy to reprocess the water before you injected back into the ground. Going to, if you are look at energy, you have to o lk at water. In california, they have a drought siation. They are looking a at how they ,ould how they use waterer where they use water, and what kind of water they use. We are doing a lot of work on graywater systems. The water may not be Drinking Water quality, but it is good enough to water your lawn or flush your toilet. Vago or redirected to crops or any other sort of thing. Goingo be making an insulations resilience address. Talk to us about what you mean by that. About resiliency in our soldiers, we talk about soldiers being trained and rdy w world and the unexpected. We dont know what kind of challenges they will face, whetheher it is storms that coud come uthe east coast, hurricanes, whether it is Drought Conditions or flood conditions. We nd to ppare insulations to be more resilient. Increase an power interruptions over the last 10 years. When our insulations are resilient with Renewable Energy, resilient because they use energy morefficientl then we sure that theand mission can be accomplished. You have worked on a lot of pilot programs to find innovative ways to power bases. Brings up to speed on how some of those have paid off. They are really working well. One of the things we are looking at his Energy Storage on the microgrid. We want the ability, if you have a reduced amount of energy available, we want thehe ability to distribute it to the most critical requirement. That is why a smart grid or a microgrid is important. Renewability might come from solar energy. When you have battery storage, you can use solar energy at night. You have the best infrasastructure, asas you said. You have the Large Network in the United States military. What are some of the things you can do, because all of these things cost money to implement . So what are the things you can invest money to save money . Craig some are simple things. Last week, ias in alabama some are simple things. Last wk, i was in alabama. They have put in energyefficient led lighting, which is saving energy, but at quality time, the like is improved. Not only did it work to improve their productivity, they are using less energy and saving money. Do smsmartngg to sayings to enable the military morebe more efficient and capable of doing what this nation asks of us. Vago thank you for joining us. Vago the American Enterprise instituthas developed a plan to comprehensively rebld the u. S. Military into a more modern, more capable, and larger force. While it prides itself on thoughtfully shaping policy, this report is aimed at t republican president ial campaigns. It joining us is one of the authors, a former congressma and senator who is now the director of the center for securitytudies. Much. Hankou very the report is coming out this week and you are here to previ it, and we appreciate that. What are the core recommendations you are making . First, we are convinced the next administration will restore and rebuild the military, so we a a size andrt to plan shape of military that can deter conflict in ree theaters, to build up our capacy substantially. We are going to have to be present. We are going to have to have a reserve at home. And to rush throh some things we need for the navy in particular. Vago this report is very detailed. You spend a lot of time talking about capabilities. What are some of the core capabilities you think our priorities . We have to have the longrange bomber. More than half of our bomber fleet is o enough to collec social secity. Wewe have to buy out the f 35. Marines need a large deck amphious ships. The navy, we have to do more undersea and virginia class. What we need other kinds of submarine design. All of the services desperately need recapitalization. There is a debate about how large the military should be. It hasinistration say bebeen constricted by the budget controact. What would a larger military do and why is it so important . , we have to step up our troop strength in europe. We are not deterring putin. The administraration has said we must have a stronger naval presence in the far east. Purposenow, the primary of the military is to deter aggression. We have aggression and growing armed conflict, so clearly, it isnt working. We need a forward presesence wih a reserve at home so we dont have people going on tours of duty 3, 4, 5 times as we have in the past. Quality of its own, and that is what our report says. You are aiming this to all of the candidates,ut paicularly the r republican candidates. Whwhat is the plan to get some f these ideas inculcated . Well, remember where these candidates get these ide. A whole lot of democrats i have served with are just upset as happenining inat is the military. They get their ideas from the kind of network you and i reported in all the time. We do get calls from all the campaigns, and they are scrutinizing what we are saying. Now look, if you are thinking of being the next presint of the United States, you have to be thinking about this. The military is the foundation of our diplomatic and soft power efforts as welell as a deterren. Vago and your e effort is to gt the ideas into the system as early as possible. To begint, but also thking about these things and get the policy staff thinking about it so they can move quickly ce the election is over. Vago you were a Congressional Republican with a reputation for strong for being strong on defense. Some people think there is too much money being spent on defense. E. The is the debate within Republican Party and congress more broadly . First of all, we have to focus the fiscal hawks and i always considered myself a fiscal hawk on what the real budget is. We are like a family that has spent 50 of our budget on shelter but cant afford food for the kids. And then we say we c cant feed the kids. Yes you can. Youre spending too much on your apartment. We either have to get more money to pay for these entitlement programsms or we have to bring t cost down. N. If we do, we will have plenty of money for defense. Vago i think othat you will find bipartisan agreement. Quakes stated it pretty neutrally. For joining us. Coming up, why we should talk to our adult kids about money. Its never too late to talk to your kids about money. Just because they have reached they are doesnt mean done learning. Millennials have the lowest average credit score as an eight crew. It is more as an age group. It is more important now than ever to continue having money talks with your kids. Ask to see their budget, and make sure they are making realistic financial goals. Show them that paying billsls is easy. Help them set up automatic payments online or a mobile device for recurring bills. Any y, they wont make they wont miss any payments. Remind them to pay themselves first. Havingthe importance of a savings plan and encourage them to contribute regularly to a savings account. You dont have to be a guru. Just taking the time to talk to them can be all ththey need to t on the financial road to success. Vago think you very much. We will see you next week. If you have any being detected was not an optption. If i was recognized the whole operation was blown. The element of surprise was imperative. Wow. He wont even recognize you. Seriously. I dont even recognize myself. And thanks to my cashrewards credit card from navy federal wi neverexpiring rewards its gonna be a killer honeymoon. Woo maui boom open to the armed forces, the dod and their families. Navy federal credit union. Mergers anand acquisitions will problems,he dod may move to stop take future deals. This after the Justice Department approved l lock he martinins plant 7 billion acquisition of a helicopter maker from lockheed martins 7 billion acquisition of a helicoer maker. Two decades of consolidation have left a handful of giant u. S. Defense contractors, each with tremendous political clout over dod. In other industriess, competitin and innonovation have suffered. Dod would stillnd could still allow large future deals among potential defense contractors, but could also accelerate reforms s to bring in other compitors to counterbance their power. Defense giants are here to stay and soso is the pentagon. They have had a large a long and constructive relationship and they must find ways of working more closely with each otother. Thanks for watching. Visit us at defensenews. Com for ntinuing coverage. If you have anany suggestiononsr this show or future coverage, please email me. Have a gat week. [musicic] dr. Charles stanley god wants the best for your life, but youve got to cooperate with him. Hes going to do his part. Hes going to show you the way. Hes going to make a way. Hes going to provide the way. Hes going to do eveverything tt a sovereign, loving god cado to help you on your way in life. But if you violate that, and you decide youre going to do it yoyourself, youre going to getn trouble. Male announcer next on in touch, the fulfillment of a promise. [music] what do you do. Wheyouve done all you can. And it seemems like you cant tell me what do you say. When your friends turn away,