Deputy Secretary of Defense nominee Kathleen Hicks reacts to a statement during her Senate confirmation hearing in Washington, D.C. Feb. 2, 2021. (DoD photo by EJ Hersom)

By  Gary  Raynaldo    DIPLOMATIC  TIMES

Deputy Secretary of Defense  Kathleen Hicks held an introductory phone call with U.K. Permanent Secretary for Defense Sir Stephen Lovegrove Wednesday to reaffirm the continuing importance of U.S.-U.K. defense cooperation. The two leaders exchanged views on defense priorities and discussed the expected release of the UK’s Integrated Review later this month, according to a Pentagon statement.  They also discussed Carrier Strike Group 21, an upcoming joint U.S.-UK deployment which will include U.S. Marine Corps F-35s, Marines and Sailors, embarked onboard the HMS QUEEN ELIZABETH on her inaugural deployment.  Hicks is America’s first female deputy defense secretary and is the second in command of  the behemoth Pentagon.  Gen. Lloyd Austin serves as the U.S. Secretary of Defense. 

Sir Stephen Augustus Lovegrove KCB is a British civil servant and presently the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Defence.

Lovegrove and Hicks congratulated each other on their new appointments: Hicks to Deputy Secretary of Defense and Lovegrove to U.K. National Security Adviser. Both leaders expressed their commitment to deepening the U.S.-U.K. defense relationship.

 The U.S. Must Strengthen Defense Cooperation with the U.K.’s New Boris Johnson Government –  Heritage Foundation 

“Winston Churchill made it clear during his 1946 Iron Curtain Speech in Fulton, Missouri, that the Special Relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom is first and foremost based on defense cooperation. More than seven decades later, the U.K. is the number one military partner for the United States. Britain is probably the only country under whose command the U.S. military will happily place American service personnel. As the two most powerful members of the NATO alliance, Washington and London are best placed to work together to confront the rising threats from Iran and China, as well as the Russian bear in Eastern Europe. “