Defence Turkey: You are assigned as the Senior Defence Official and Defence Attaché (SDO/DATT) to Turkey. First of all, we would like to congratulate you on your new mission.  As the SDO/DATT, you wear two hats as both the US Defence Attaché and the Chief of the Office of Defence Cooperation (ODC).  Could you please inform us about your missions and responsibilities with this two-hat approach? 

First and foremost, I thank you for your kind words and the opportunity to share some perspectives with you.  As the SDO/DATT, I represent the US Secretary of Defence and lead the US DoD Team here in Turkey.  Serving in direct support of the US Ambassador’s larger team, this DoD team is a joint, Army-Navy-Marine Corps-Air Force organization that engages our Turkish host and partner across a broad spectrum of defence matters of mutual interest.  One part of the DoD team – the ODC – coordinates with the Turkish government on security assistance concerns and security cooperation programs to include defence industry participation in Turkish defence initiatives.  The ODC also supports the U.S. portion of historical US-Turkey military activities in Turkey, facilitating and managing military-to-military agreements, exercises, training and basing. The other part of my DoD Team – the Defence Attaché Office – engages and manages the official diplomatic representation, diplomatic clearances and relationship for national defence matters between Washington, DC and Ankara.