10.25.11

Murkowski Meets With Nation’s Highest Ranking Military Officer

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Takes Time During Alaska Stop

ANCHORAGE, AK – Senator Lisa Murkowski today met with General Martin E. Dempsey, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson during his first visit to Alaska since being confirmed in late September.

General Dempsey serves as the principal military adviser to the President, the Secretary of Defense and the National Security Council – by law, he is the nation’s highest-ranking military officer.

Taking advantage of the Chairman’s brief stop in Alaska, Senator Murkowski spoke with him this afternoon about:

  • The necessity of support for Alaska’s military families
  • Alaska-based soldiers will be approximately 10% of America’s Afghanistan presence by April
  • A robust approach to Arctic policy, with Alaska’s waters are increasingly opening up, and
  • The need for the United States to ratify the Law of the Sea Treaty.

After sharing their conversation over lunch, General Dempsey presented Senator Murkowski with his military coin, in the form of a dog tag.

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