UNITED STATES
PACIFIC COMMAND

Rear Adm. Holmes: Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. My purpose this afternoon is to update you on the planning to return the crew of the EP-3 aircraft home. As you’ve probably already seen, our crewmembers are currently inbound to Guam. They should arrive there about 6 p.m., Hawaii Time. On Guam, they’re going to have the opportunity to decompress for about three or four hours. They’ll have an opportunity to freshen up, put on clean clothes, relax a bit and most importantly make some phone calls home to family and to friends. In addition to that, they’ll also have the opportunity to have a few hot meals.

After the layover in Guam, they’ll board a C-17 aircraft and will depart for the next leg of their mission, which will be conducted here in Hawaii. We plan to welcome our crewmembers tomorrow morning around 6:30 a.m. at Hickam Air Force Base. Again that’s local time, Hawaii. Upon their arrival, we will take the crewmembers to the Naval Base in Pearl Harbor. Later in the morning the crewmembers will begin a series of debriefs, which will take two days to complete. The crewmembers will board a plane on Saturday morning, depart, and arrive at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island in Washington state at approximately 4 p.m. local time, Whidbey Island. There they’ll be reunited with their families and their friends and take part in a big homecoming celebration at that point and time. I’ll take a few questions at this time.

Question: We were told that the families that wanted to come to Hawaii were told that they might only have a few minutes with their family members as little as 30 minutes. Why not have some family time here in Hawaii instead of going all the way to Whidbey?

Rear Adm. Holmes: I think it’s important to understand that in the minds of the crewmembers, their mission is not complete as of yet. The plan is to bring them back to Hawaii so they can commence that process, the debriefing process, and complete the mission. Next we want to reunite the family members as quickly as we possibly can. The debrief, as I said, will take about two days. It is a very constrained time frame. We have been in constant communications with the family members since the word they were released. We have encouraged them to attend the big reunion, the big homecoming celebration that will take place in Whidbey Island. The Navy will provide them with transportation and all the accommodations. We’ll take care of their needs, and we’re welcoming everyone, including the families that are in Misawa to come to Whidbey Island for the big celebration.

Question:When you do the debrief, is it everybody in one room or individually? Give us a sampling of the type of questions you’ll ask.

Rear Adm. Holmes: The debrief will, as I said, take a period of two days. There (are) several groups of debriefers. I think there (are) about 12 groups of debriefers to talk to the crewmembers, and that will be broken up into a two-day period. The timeline is pretty compressed.

Question: What will you be seeking to learn from that debrief?

Rear Adm. Holmes: Again the mission is not complete. So typically when a crew comes back from a mission, they have an intelligence portion that has to be debriefed. They have an operational piece that has to be debriefed. In this case also, we’re going to provide some medical facilities, some medical care that routinely would be about an hour and a half medical piece that they have to go through as well.

Question: We all know that they were supposedly treated well, but do we know if they were questioned about top-secret equipment and their mission?

Rear Adm. Holmes: You saw the reports over the last week as far as the treatment. They have been treated well and that’s coming from the ambassador as well as the general…they had the meetings with. In the debriefs, we’ll get into the specifics…as far as the questioning from the Chinese.

Question: Have they actually spoken about what happened on the flight amongst themselves?

Rear Adm. Holmes: I have no knowledge of that.

Question: But would they be trained not to talk about things like that?

Rear Adm. Holmes: Again, there are escorts on the airplane, and they’re there for a reason. They got about a 12-hour period to get back here and so I assume that there (are) some discussions going on in line with the debriefs that will take place.

Question: The plane is still there, right? Any concerns that important information will be stolen?

Rear Adm. Holmes: Well, we want the airplane back. There is consultation, I understand, that will be taking place on the 18th. There (are) a lot of details that we don’t have the answer to yet, but we’re working to determine what it would take to get the airplane back. We have people. We have crews. We have parts standing by to go in if the details are such and it’s worked out that we can do that. You’ve got to understand the airplane was in pretty bad shape…so we’re not sure what it takes at the moment.

Question: What are your concerns about what they’ll learn?

Rear Adm. Holmes: I can’t respond to that.

Question: Will the crew get a chance to go back on the plane to get anything they left there?

Rear Adm. Holmes: I don’t have any knowledge of that.

Question: Will the medical brief include psychological questions, questions about how they’re adjusting?

Rear Adm. Holmes: Yes. On the team there is a medical doctor, psychiatrist as well. So the answer to your question is yes.

Question: Will that take place at Tripler or here at Pearl Harbor?

Rear Adm. Holmes: All the debriefing will take place here at Pearl Harbor.

Question: The medical also?

Rear Adm. Holmes: The medical also.

Question: Where will they be staying?

Rear Adm. Holmes: They’ll be staying at Pearl Harbor.

Question: Will all 24 members come here?

Rear Adm. Holmes: Yes, all 24 members will come here for the debrief, and all 24 members will continue on to the homecoming in Washington. All the families of all 24 crewmembers will be afforded the opportunity to be there as well.

Question: This will be the first time, will it, that senior naval officers have the chance to talk to these people and to ascertain precisely what the Chinese learned from them, if anything? Is that correct?

Rear Adm. Holmes: That’s correct.

Question: Have you had the chance to speak to any members of the crew?

Rear Adm. Holmes: Personally, no I have not.

Question: What do you think of the pilot? Is he a hero?

Rear Adm. Holmes: In my mind, he is a hero. In my mind, he is a hero. His actions, today, are responsible to allow 24 people to come home. Any actions other than that, we can only surmise that maybe 24 people would not.

Question: Do you think he has anything to apologize for?

Rear Adm. Holmes: Not to his boss, and that’s me.

Question: I know the family members -- you’re trying to direct to the reunion. Do you know if any family members will come here to meet crewmembers on their own time?

Rear Adm. Holmes: I don’t have any knowledge of any family members having expressed a desire to come here. Again, we had encouraged them all to participate in the huge celebration that we’re planning in Whidbey Island. We’re expecting thousands of people to come to that celebration. We’re going to open the gates up…that’s their home, so that’s where the homecoming should be.

Question: Will anybody from Washington be there?

Rear Adm. Holmes: I don’t have any information on that.

Question: What if a family member…insists on seeing a loved one here in Hawaii, what would they be told?

Rear Adm. Holmes: We would accommodate those needs. Again, I think it’s important for the family members, and they understand this, and certainly the crewmembers understand, that the mission is not complete. They want to come here and finish that mission, and that includes the two days of debriefing. And then we quickly reunite them in a great homecoming affair in Whidbey Island.

Question: What will happen to the pilot after the homecoming…their careers?

Rear Adm. Holmes: I can’t get into that. We’ll be doing a normal investigation. I can’t comment on that.

Question: Will they be given a holiday period?

Rear Adm. Holmes: When the ceremony is over in Whidbey Island, they will be allowed to go on convalescent leave and that’s a period of about 30 days generally. They’ll go spend time with their families, as they choose to do so.

Question: What can we hope that the schedule you gave us will stay, the fact that they’ll arrive 6:30 tomorrow morning?

Rear Adm. Holmes: That schedule is pretty firm. You’ve got to understand now that the airplane is traveling with tailwinds, and you can’t really predict what the winds are going to be. But, within those constraints, the timelines are firm.

Question: What is the flight time from Guam?

Rear Adm. Holmes:The flight time from Guam to here I believe is about six hours. They’ll arrive 6:30 local time tomorrow morning.

Question: Can you tell us something about what the ceremony will be when they arrive here tomorrow morning?

Rear Adm. Holmes:Again, Hawaii is an intermediate stop. (There will) be a reception by myself, the commander of the Pacific Fleet, Adm. Fargo, will be there, some local dignitaries, a band. We’re going to have – shipmates will be there, from our headquarters, from our squadrons. They’ll come off, there will be a few words, we’ll put them on a bus and we start the debriefing process.

Question: How long do you expect that to last, as far as the ceremony?

Rear Adm. Holmes:It’s going to be very brief.

Question:A few words from whom, sir?

Rear Adm. Holmes:Adm. Fargo may make just a brief statement – very, very short.

Question:What about the crew then?

Rear Adm. Holmes:Possibly some of the crewmembers, if they so desire. Then it’s off to Pearl Harbor for the debriefing process. One more question, and that will be it.

Question:Will any of the crewmembers be available to comment on this at all?

Rear Adm. Holmes:Not in the area of the interview process or the debrief process. After the debrief is complete, prior to our departure on Saturday morning, possibly a press conference can be set up for a few minutes with select members of the crew. Thank you very much.

Lastly I would like to express that I’m very, very proud of my Sailors. Everyday, men and women in uniform can be put at risk on a moment’s notice. And Americans around the world should be very, very proud of the conduct of our 24 servicemen and women and what they have done. So we welcome them back. Again, thank you very much.