12/21/2017

DEFENSE/JAMES MATTIS/MILITARY: “Defense Secretary Jim Mattis left Washington Wednesday [12-20-17] on an unannounced trip to visit U.S. troops for the holidays, officials said.
Mr. Mattis will visit American forces stationed at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; Camp Lejeune, N.C.; Ft. Bragg, N.C.; and the Mayport naval base in Jacksonville, Fla., Defense officials said. He is being accompanied by one member of the media, although the trip wasn’t disclosed by the Pentagon until officials received questions about it.
While visits by high ranking U.S. officials to combat zones often are kept under wraps for security reasons, Pentagon press secretary Dana White didn’t say why this trip wasn’t announced previously.”

-Gordon Lubold, “Defense Secretary to Visit Troops for Holidays,” The Wall Street Journal online, Dec. 21, 2017 07:30am